Photo: Herman Stover/DG De kassen staan op landbouwgrond achter de stallen van WUR. Het gaat om zes tunnelkassen van 6 bij 40 The greenhouses are being erected on WUR’s farm grounds behind the stables. The tunnel-shaped greenhouses are 6 by 10 metres and 3 metres high. WUR violated the rules by starting construction a few weeks ago, while the permit was still being processed.
The municipality put a stop to the construction after a complaint was submitted and imposed a 10 thousand euro fine for violations. One of the complaining parties is Mooi Wageningen, an organisation which endeavours in favour of nature and open space around the city. The greenhouses will remain for now, but no further construction is permitted.
We feel the edges of the city are sufficiently cluttered
Jasper Lamers, Mooi Wageningen
‘We feel the edges of the city are sufficiently cluttered’, says Jasper Lamers, board member of Mooi Wageningen. He says the greenhouses negatively impact animals such as partridges and small owls. ‘They prefer to live in open fields and are increasingly disappearing. If you construct greenhouses there, they lose their habitat.’
According to Mooi Wageningen, the location where the greenhouses are being erected is meant to remain open. Municipal spatial plans stipulate that no greenhouses are to be built there to protect the landscape and the animals inhabiting it. According to the municipal Biodiversity plan, the fields have been designated as critical living environments for partridges and little owls.
This should not have happened
Vincent Koperdraat, WUR spokesperson
‘This should not have happened’, says WUR spokesperson Vincent Koperdraat. ‘There was a lack of clarity about the correct procedure. We assumed it would be processed quickly because it is a temporary, one-year project. When we became aware that construction had started too soon, all construction work was immediately halted.’
Wait
The university disagrees that the project is at odds with the Biodiversity plan. ‘We take this plan very seriously’, Koperdraat says. If the permit is eventually not granted, the construction must be removed. Whether the project can continue as planned is up to the municipality. Until then, the greenhouses may remain as they are.
The article was previously published in De Gelderlander/Bart Eulen
