What's Up In Zeeland: Zeeuws-Vlaanderen
01 November 2024The local politics of our two provinces is often forgotten because of all the chaos in The Hague, but that certainly does not make it any less interesting or important! Any newsletter we highlight the politics of both provinces. This newsletter we have an article on the asylum reception in Bernheze, Brabant written by Quintin van Zuijlen, and an article on how Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is often forgotten, by our chairman, Bart Leloux.
This is Bart's article, Quintin's article is also on our site, check it out here!
Zeeland Flanders: Forgotten and poisoned
By Bart Leloux
The other side. That's what Zeeland Flanders is called in South Beveland, the Zeeland peninsula where I come from. It's a place you don't go unless you have to. It is almost Belgium and the tunnel is too expensive to go there without a good reason, I was told. It sometimes seems like the whole of the Netherlands, including Middelburg and The Hague, thinks that way about this region. Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is an afterthought, a region that is often simply forgotten.
This has major implications for this region. Due to its location as an exclave (a region that is politically connected to its mother country but not on the map) in Belgium, it has always been more difficult to reach this region in the same way as the rest of the country. This was greatly improved in 2003 with the construction of the Westerschelde tunnel. Still, for many people, the toll, which is levied until 2025, is too high a barrier to actually include Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the rest of the province.
Bredabus
For many residents of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the well-known ‘Bredabus’ was the solution. For residents not in possession of a driving licence or car, this was the best connection to the rest of the country. These people often study and work in Breda. Many young people from Zeeuws-Vlaanderen have built their lives in Breda, precisely because of the easy connection with the region. With the disappearance of this bus, there is a great fear that these people will lose the connection with the region. The Breda bus, which has been around since the flood disaster, is now being discontinued because it is no longer profitable. This view of public transport and the region is typical of how Zeeuws-Vlaanderen has always been treated. Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is an ‘afterthought’, a place that is only thought of when it is convenient. When it needs to be polluted, for example.
Industrial pollution
With large Dow sites in Terneuzen and Yara in Sluiskil, Zeeuws-Vlaanderen is one of the largest chemical clusters in north-western Europe. Besides providing jobs, this also generates a lot of pollution. The Westerschelde, for instance, is full of PFAS, so it is not recommended to eat fish, shrimps and shellfish from the Westerschelde and even eggs from chickens from your own garden are no longer safe.[1]
Due to industrial pollution in the Canal Zone around Terneuzen and Sas van Gent, there is so much industrial air pollution that in some years there was more than 20% of ‘severe odour nuisance’ in Sas van Gent and Sluiskil. By comparison, in the region around Tata Steel, this is only 8%. More than 40% of residents in the Sas van Gent and Sluiskil region say they are concerned about their own health due to industry in the area.[2] Most shockingly, children in the Channel Zone have lower birth weights. Mothers living close to industry give birth to babies 75 grams lighter on average. In addition, children between 7 and 13 years old who live near industrial areas score worse in lung tests, suffer from chest wheezing and dry cough.Adults living near polluting industries use up to 15 per cent more cardiovascular drugs.[3]
These polluting companies came here in the 1970s. Back then, the gas field near Slochteren had just been discovered and the government wanted to use it to stimulate big industry. Meanwhile, Yara, a fertiliser producer whose 90% is for export, is in the top 10 of the Netherlands‘ biggest energy consumers and CO2 emitters. The company consumes 2 billion cubic metres of natural gas a year; that is as much as 1.3 million households and 5 per cent of total consumption in the Netherlands.[4] The idea was that these big companies would receive tax rebates on their gas (now infamous as the ‘fossil subsidies’), but contribute to the Dutch economy by providing jobs and paying taxes, among other things.
Tax evasion
Yara is just not a big fan of paying tax. Yara's Dutch subsidiary had to pay back a huge amount to the Dutch tax authorities in 2012 for allegedly underreporting profits. While Yara Netherlands reported that it made a profit of over €29 million at the time, the tax authorities found that the profit was over €162 million. Among other things, Yara wrongly transferred 43 million euros in profits to a subsidiary in Switzerland.
Economic contraction
And even if Yara neatly paid its taxes, the company still has major negative effects on Zeeuws-Vlaanderen. To make 3.5 million tonnes of fertiliser annually, the Sluiskil plant produces as much as 1.9 million tonnes of ammonia, in addition to the huge CO2 emissions already mentioned. This huge polluter should not be welcome in a region whose economy shrank by 5.5% in 2023. This puts Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, after Overig Groningen region, in second place among the fastest economically shrinking regions in the Netherlands. This trend is only expected to continue in 2024. [5]
Nuclear power plants
To top it off, the cabinet is now looking at Terneuzen as a site for building new nuclear power plants. In the coming months, Minister Hermans plans to consult with municipalities, provinces, port companies and landowners to determine which sites are suitable. [6] The investigation into Terneuzen as a possible site does not come as a big surprise. Tennet is already working on a new high-voltage substation with lines in the area, which should be ready in 2034. This would provide opportunities to also transport the supplied power from a nuclear power plant. Moreover, heavy industry in this area obviously needs a huge amount of electricity. [7]
What does the Zeeland Fleming himself want?
What just doesn't seem to be understood here is that there is a self-reinforcing effect. An area where there is already a lot of heavy industry automatically becomes more attractive for large-scale power generation. But to what extent are the needs of the region itself considered? As the mayor of Borsele said last year, Zeelanders are not exactly eager for additional nuclear power plants. “The plans have a major impact on the quality of life and sense of safety,” he said.” [8]
And now the current cabinet also wants to introduce border controls. This will make it even more difficult for the many Zeeuws-Vlaanderen people working in Belgium to reach their jobs and homes. This is another good example of how politicians simply do not think about Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.
Investment needed
But can anything be done about this? There is an urgent need to invest in the region. Not only must public transport and the road network be improved, but a plan must also be worked on so that the region is not dependent on a small number of big companies. Investment is needed in a diverse and multifaceted economy. Zeeuws-Vlaanderen must become a region where non-chemical companies also want to locate. There is plenty of space and cheap land in the region that companies would love to use. If these investments are made smartly, this can be done in a future-proof and green way. In this way, the inhabitants of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen will finally be freed from the negative spiral the region seems to have been in for decades.
Take action!
But as this piece has hopefully made clear, current politics does not seem to understand this. That power lies with you, whether you live in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen or not. Your voice matters. Go take action. Protest. Mobilise and organise your immediate community. Write to ministers. Become politically active yourself. Or simply take a good look at which political parties are doing something for your area and vote out the political parties that brought about these policies. That is the only way Zeeuws-Vlaanderen can once again become more than the forgotten dustbin of the Netherlands.
SOURCES
[1] https://www.zeeland.nl/milieu/pfas
[2] https://www.ggdzeeland.nl/rapportage/industriele-luchtverontreiniging-en-gezondheid-in-de-kanaalzone-terneuzen-sas-van-gent/luchtkwaliteit-in-de-kanaalzone-terneuzen-sas-van-gent/
[3] https://www.pzc.nl/zeeuws-nieuws/luchtvervuiling-industrie-schaadt-gezondheid-van-zeeuwen-wie-er-gevoelig-voor-is-heeft-er-veel-last-van~aedbe429/?cb=3a340e40-3345-4d86-8e6f-836d33d84cd2&auth_rd=1&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
[4] https://www.ftm.nl/artikelen/yara-kunstmest-belastingschuld-650-miljoen-euro
[5] https://www.omroepzeeland.nl/nieuws/16357830/economische-krimp-in-zeeuws-vlaanderen-op-een-na-grootste-van-nederland
[6] https://nos.nl/artikel/2536766-kabinet-terneuzen-en-tweede-maasvlakte-in-beeld-voor-nieuwe-kerncentrales
[7] https://www.omroepzeeland.nl/nieuws/16810352/terneuzen-in-beeld-als-locatie-voor-nieuwe-kerncentrales
[8] https://www.volkskrant.nl/economie/mogelijk-ook-kerncentrales-in-terneuzen-en-op-tweede-maasvlakte~b019802c/?referrer=https://www.google.com/