2023-09-27 15:03:00
While Revolht is still awaiting news concerning its two appeals filed in the Boucle du Hainaut case, Flanders is active on Elia’s Ventilus project by launching the public inquiry. An approach which might seem insignificant for some Walloons but which is not for the Walloon MP, François Desquesnes (Les Engagés), who recalls that this project does not consider the possibility of running away from the direct current line. Faced with this situation, he questioned the Walloon minister, Willy Borsus (MR), to find out if actions would be taken on his side to prevent the Ventilus project from going any further. The latter’s response did not reassure the Sonegian, quite the contrary.
Related projects
”As we know, the Elia high-voltage line project aims to connect the off-shore wind turbines of the North Sea to the interior of the country. It is therefore a single line but which, for reasons of regional competence, is presented in the form of two permit requests subject to different constraints and regulations,” recalls François Desquesnes, Walloon MP (Les Engagés). “The procedures and the timetable are obviously different. On the Flemish side, the government approved on July 7 the launch of the regional land use plan with the aim of putting Elia’s request to public inquiry. While on the Walloon side, the request from the regional authorities is to analyze the Elia project and its geographical alternatives but also to consider switching the line to direct current, this is not at all the case in Flanders. We are not talking regarding direct current or a 100% buried line, we are talking regarding an overhead and partly underground alternating current line.”
Faced with this observation and the progress of Elia’s file on the Flemish side, François Desquesnes is worried. The line bringing together the Ventilus project in Flanders and Boucle du Hainaut in Wallonia will not in fact use two different technologies. “It seems normal to me, if we want to remain consistent with the decision taken by Wallonia concerning the direct current option, that there is reason to react following the launch of the public inquiry on the Flemish side to demonstrate our disapproval,” adds François Desquesnes, who therefore wonders if the Walloon government will intervene in this public inquiry.
Wallonia not consulted since the consultation committee
The minister who recalls that a point had been added to the consultation committee in order to address the point with the Flemish and federal governments. “At my request, the Walloon government had the point included. I had the opportunity to forcefully plead the Walloon position, particularly with regard to the need to leave open all hypotheses and, of course, to give priority attention to the impact on health of a high-voltage line. can have on local residents and the environment. During this consultation committee, I was not followed by the Flemish and federal governments,” indicates Minister Borsus (MR).
Since then, Wallonia has no longer been consulted as part of the Flemish government’s progress in the Ventilus file. The minister therefore hopes that the European directives relating to the assessment of the impacts of certain plans and programs on the environment as well as the Espoo convention will be applicable and will therefore require Flanders and Wallonia to have the same vision for the project.
A wait-and-see position which does not reassure the Sonegian deputy. “The consultation committee phase took place six months ago. In the meantime, governments have moved forward. The minister has a relatively wait-and-see position, relying on the Espoo convention. If it really applied, Flanders should have consulted him, which it did not do. It is therefore not enough to make this observation but to act well. We must challenge the Flemish government on the subject otherwise the decisions of the Walloon government will have been purely theoretical with no impact on the reality of the facts. We cannot admit this. I expect the minister to write to the Flemish government so that we do not let this happen,” concludes François Desquesnes.
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