The council chamber of Brussels City Council gave the green light on Monday evening to buy back a feeder road in the Grimbergen commune. Even though the road only exists on some document. Furthermore it is buried underneath Parking C (Car Park C), the planned location for the future National Stadium.
There are currently opposing legal views as the existence of this road, which has now been hidden for several decades. If it does exist, the procedure for its administrative removal would take considerable further time before construction could then begin.
There are procedures to follow with a view to obtaining the required planning permissions for the construction of the sports arena and the other connected infrastructures. The Brussels City Council and the project promoter wish in any case to remove the additional risk linked to a simple oversight, whether or not intentional, when the site in Grimbergen was purchased by the Council decades ago.
The Council has realized that, in fact, there is no document proving to the assignment of the ownership of this road, executed by the two communes.
The decision taken on Monday, did not escape sarcastic remarks from the opposition. This revolved around the purchase of the aforementioned road, the only evidence for which is in some old official document or other, for 557,400 euros.
The First Alderman Alain Courtois (MR - the Conservative/liberal party), said that Brussels City Council will stump up two-thirds of the cost of the purchase, with the project promoter, Ghelamco, paying the rest.
(Source: Belga)
