The regional body that examines appeals submitted against environment permits has rejected an appeal by a residents’ group from the Anderlecht (Brussels) district of Neerpede against an environment permit that had been granted for a new bathing lake in Neerpede Park.
The Brussels environment agency Leefmilieu Brussel has confirmed that an appeal by the local residents’ group Sauvegardons/Red Neerpede (Save Neerpede) has been rejected.
The plan to create a bathing lake in the Neerpede Park has been the subject of heated discussion since the idea was first mooted by the Brussels regional government. The lake would be the first lido in the capital since closure of the Evere Solarium in the 1970s. In recent years a temporary openair swimming facility has existed during the summer months. The Flow swimming pool is also in Anderlecht next to the Brussels canal.
In 2021 the Brussels region government and the federal agency responsible for projects that promote the function of Brussels as a Belgium’s capital city announced that one of the lakes in Neerpede Park would become a bathing lake by 2024. The local residents’ group vehemently opposes the plan, fearing that the tranquility of the park and its biodiversity are threatened. Sauvegardons/Red Neerpede lodged an appeal against the environment permit issued for the bathing lake. This appeal has now been rejected. A request to get planning permission for the bathing lake annulled is currently being examined by the Council of State.
Leefmilieu Brussel says that it hopes that work on the bathing lake can commence next year and that it should open to the public in the summer of 2026.