The Flemish Permit Disputes Council has suspended an environmental license that had been issued for part of Elia’s 82-km Ventilus high-voltage line project in West Flanders, forcing work linked to that permit to stop.
The decision concerns the expansion of the Gezelle high-voltage substation in Bruges.
The non-profit group Groen had lodged appeals seeking both a suspension and an annulment of the permit. It had requested an emergency suspension, arguing that the start of the works could destroy a historic ecosystem, namely a grassland area.
The council found that an emergency procedure was justified. It will rule at a later stage on the request to annul the permit altogether.
This is not the first setback for the Ventilus project. The same council had previously suspended a permit covering works in Izegem.
Several other appeals against the project have already been rejected.
These are among legal challenges brought by associations, local residents and even municipalities along the route of the planned high-voltage line between Zeebrugge and Avelgem.
Elia says it has taken note of the ruling. According to the grid operator, this means most works at the Gezelle substation will now be halted. However, some works covered by a separate permit will continue.
According to Elia, it is too early to determine the impact the suspension will have on the timetable for the wider Ventilus project.
The company says it will now examine the exact scope of the council’s decision.
