Flemish Heritage Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) has scaled back the protected status of the Fort Napoleon site in Ostend at the city’s request, clearing the way for development on part of the land sold to construction group Versluys.
The city applied last year to have part of the protected area removed from the heritage register. Weyts has now approved that change.
According to the minister, the site has already lost much of its heritage value in several areas.
Fort Napoleon was granted protection as a cultural-historical landscape in 1976. That protection has now been reduced.
Weyts said the original dune landscape had already disappeared in several places many years ago because of the construction of the Vuurtorendok dock and the establishment of industry.
Parts of the landscape that were still officially protected as heritage have for years been used as industrial land and car parks, he said.
Protection will remain in place for the fort itself, Battery Hundius, the Lange Nelle lighthouse and a total of 12.38 hectares of land. The rest of the area’s former protected status has now been definitively removed.
Weyts based the decision on findings by the Flemish Heritage Agency, which also took into account 157 objections submitted during the process.
He said the old heritage protection was based on a landscape that had in practice not existed for years and could no longer be restored.
The minister stressed that the decision concerns heritage value only, and not other factors such as environmental value or any future development plans, which fall under separate authorities and procedures.
Fort Napoleon is a unique military stronghold in the dunes, built in 1810 by Napoleon against the English threat. The fortress' military use ended with the fall of the French empire.
During both world wars, the German soldiers had their residence there. For a while it was a local museum, later a playground for children. Then a period of decay began.
The Flemish Heritage Foundation took care of the restoration and has organised contemporary events here.
