Tervuren Mulls More Houses In Last Green Corridor

Property developer Matexi’s plans to build 20 detached homes on the former British School of Brussels’ (BSB) sports grounds have triggered fierce opposition from nearby residents since formal notice in 2023. Residents cite the loss of vital green space next to their very own houses built decades ago in the idyllic area. They point to increased traffic congestion, flooding risks, and the gradual erosion of Tervuren’s remaining rural character.

The Matexi project has become than a profitable 20-unit housing project. It stands as a symbol of the continued risk of private project developers creating an almost uninterrupted urban landscape stretching from Brussels directly into Tervuren.

At the last town council, Tervuren Mayor Thomas Geyns (Anders, Voor Tervuren) sought to cool the controversy, insisting the town council was not the proper place to discuss an individual planning application while it remains under environmental and administrative review.

“This council should debate policy principles, not individual permit applications,” Geyns said. The mayor also rejects suggestions that the land has been recently re-zoned to allow the housing development.

“This has been residential land since the regional zoning plans of the 1970s,” he told councillors. “There has been no change of designation,” said Geyns, Tervuren’s undoubted expert in planning law.

The mayor doubles as alderman with competence for urban planning (stedenbouw). And he has kept up his daytime activities as a lawyer, even pleading cases for clients at Belgium’s Court for Permit Disputes. That’s despite telling Flemish broadcaster VRT just after 2024 elections that he would not be combining the mayoralty with other activities.

The latest town council exchange over Matexi reveals wider political tensions about the future of real estate development in Tervuren. Groen councillor Bram Peters, himself a new build owner on former repurposed Council land, challenged the mayor’s assertion that the municipal executive had little knowledge of the project, arguing that large-scale developments affecting hundreds of residents deserve public debate. Peters was Tervuren alderman responsible for spatial planning until December 2024.

The town council debate was triggered by Tervuren Unie-Volt’s Councillor Tracey D’Afters, reading out a long list of prepared questions for a full ten minutes. Ever diplomatic, council chair Mario Van Rossum praised her increased detail and ignored the stumbling Dutch pronunciation. He then told D’Afters to ditch reading out full texts in the future. “I think you are losing the attention of the council members,” he said.

Member of the town council for over 40 years, Van Rossum is also chairs the town’s ethics committee. And by daytime, he’s a paid adviser to former mayor Jan Spooren, now governor of Flemish Brabant (Vlaams-Brabant). Spooren is of course the spouse of alderwoman Annemie Spaas and as governor he may well see official appeals regarding Tervuren planning decisions.

The new planning controversy comes after Belgium’s Council of State struck down a key element of Tervuren’s planning framework designed to protect open space and preserve the municipality’s semi-rural character.

Looser old planning rules helped drive population growth from 15,261 in 1970 to 20,181 in 2000, boosting town revenues but increasing traffic through the centre’s narrow streets. Today, Tervuren has 23,246 residents, 44% of whom are of non-Belgian origin, compared to 29% in 2000.

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