The producer is right in case of permit to place residential units

A winegrower in North Brabant has, without the authorization of the municipality, placed housing units for the accommodation of employees. The producer also applied for an environmental permit, but the municipality refused to accept. The District Court of Zeeland-West-Brabant has therefore ruled in a case in which the producer is seeking an interim injunction after the producer received a penalty order this summer.

In a December 22 decision, the court ruled in favor of the Wouwse Plantage tomato grower. The city council of Roosendaal was ordered by the court to revoke its decision to refuse the requested environmental permit at the end of July 2022 and to take a new decision. There is a prospect of a positive decision from the municipality.

New decision, obsolete penalty order
The producer wants a ten-year license. During the processing of the case, it turned out that the municipality mainly has problems with this duration. The municipality fears a precedent if it accepts the arrival of housing outside the building zone. The winegrower houses the employees in his own premises and also fulfills the conditions for good housing.

The producer also applied for a three-year temporary permit. The municipality seems to agree with this, as it turned out during the hearing of the case. Accordingly, the court decided that the order could be lifted subject to penalties. This is only possible in special circumstances. In this case, the court recalls that there is a concrete prospect of realization, so that the interests of the planter prevail in this respect over the interests of the municipality.

The municipal council must decide again on the application for an environmental permit. The producer’s appeal against the rejection of the application was declared well founded. No provisional measure is taken because the order must be lifted under penalty.