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In 2004, 6 mayors* enthusiastically decided to join forces for a nice ambition: put the Maritime Scheldt valley on the international map. Their idea arose in the margin of the “Development scheme 2010 - Scheldt estuary". This scheme presents an ideal picture and a long-term vision for the Scheldt estuary by 2030, the three pillars of which are accessibility, protection and naturalness. These 6 mayors’ dynamics prove infectious and their appeal launched in August 2004 soon won over the other Scheldt mayors. On 1st December 2004, no less than 25 municipalities, the provinces of East-Flanders and Antwerp and the Flemish authorities signed the Scheldt charter.
This initiative’s power lies in that it brings about administrative cooperation among Scheldt municipalities, but also with the various agencies and superior administrations involved. This creates dynamics allowing the municipalities to play an active and constructive role in the Scheldt estuary’s long-term evolutions. It allows active response to challenges such as: tourism-recreation, quality and quantity of housing, landscape management, preservation and development, water control, nature conservancy and landscape restoration, revaluation of agriculture, opportunities for (local) businesses to settle. This way, the “Schelde-Landschapspark (Scheldt-Landscape Park) creates an opportunity to set up various types of projects by involving various partners, authorities, municipalities and participating agencies.
An important approach for the sub-projects consists of the provincial and municipal master plans elaborating in detail on the desirable and backed up evolutions in the Maritime Scheldt valley. The collaboration of various (local) administrations and agencies is to shape the Maritime Scheldt valley in terms of nature, landscape, economy and town and country planning. |
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* The 6 initiating mayors from left to right: Dirk de Kort, Brasschaat |