01 Feb '16

Commotion over football stadium

10263
door Luc Vanheerentals

The Ghelamco construction company's plans to build a new national football stadium on what is now the Parking C of the Heizel complex in Strombeek-Bever has caused quite a stir in the region. The Grimbergen and Wemmel municipalities are not at all amused by the project commissioned by the Brussels authorities and have set a whole series of preconditions that have to be met before they rubber-stamp the initiative. Representing local residents, the Parking C Committee is vehemently opposed to the project and threatening to take legal action. One or two light-hearted stunts have already been staged by the Taalaktiekomitee (Language Action Committee) and the Vlaamse Volksbeweging (Flemish People's Movement) to protest against the plans. As far as the project promoters are concerned, time is pressing, as the stadium has to host four competitions in 2020 during the European Football Championship. So everything has to be completed by 2019. Whether this deadline can be met or not remains to be seen. (RK, feb 2016)