The Vivaldi majority rejects the N-VA bill on opening Laeken Park

The federal parliament voted down MP Peter Buysrogge’s bill to open Laeken Park to the public. This is remarkable, since most majority parties are themselves openly in favour of making this domain public, including in the Brussels Parliament. “They didn’t even bother to discuss our proposal. While various parties have already openly shown their support and the Ecolo-Groen party even has its own resolution,” says Peter Buysrogge.

Green lung in the heart of Brussels

The domain of Laeken Palace, with its gardens, greenhouses and pond, forms a large green lung of 180 hectares in Brussels. The densely populated north of the Brussels-Capital Region is facing a scarcity of public green space. “That is why, together with my colleague Tomas Roggeman, I have been arguing for some time now that a large part of this domain should be opened up, taking into account the necessary guarantees regarding the safety of the Royal Family and the protection of nature,” says Peter Buysrogge.

It should have been open for 100 years

The entire park and buildings are now 100% the property of the State. Nevertheless, the Royal family continued to keep the park to themselves. “A huge opportunity is being missed here. In 1903, a so-called law was passed on accepting the donation. This has ensured that royal domains have an arrangement with usufruct for the heirs to the throne. But that is not the case for Laeken. So the gardens should actually have been completely open for more than a century since the death of Leopold II in 1909.”

Hypocritical attitude

The Vivaldi parties slavishly voted against our bill, even though they themselves announced several times that they wanted to open the park. Peter Buysrogge: “This government is always talking about political renewal, but today we reached a new low. Without any discussion or argumentation, the majority parties decided to vote the proposal down, even though they are actually in favour of it.

Was it just for a laugh?

Brussels MP Cieltje Van Achter also expressed her dissatisfaction: “Last year, the Brussels MPs of the Groen, Open Vld and one.brussels parties announced with great fanfare that they wanted to open up Laeken Park. We are still waiting for their proposal. Now those parties are voting against it in the Chamber. Was it just for a laugh?”