Gemeente – EN – Voor verademing

Public works

One of the most visible elements in the municipality are (the results of) public works.

WOplus will vigorously advocate the following:

WOplus will do everything in its power to make the local authority draw up a planning schedule of works over the long term, and that the planning is actually implemented. This will also enable optimal use to be made of grants from the Flemish Region, on condition, of course, that the applications are submitted by the deadline and with the necessary thorough preparation.
The local authority must ensure better monitoring and implementation of maintenance work. Local residents must be able to report their problems to a central helpdesk. Of course, that could be part of the integrated online services.
Absolute priority must be given to creating and improving cycle paths and pavements. They must be designed for safety and durability, as well as being properly maintained. A walk through the town is most instructive in that regard. Maintenance should include the trimming of hedges and avoidance of obstacles for vulnerable road users. Concern for vulnerable road user is a priority in all works in the municipality, both public and private.
It should be examined whether public toilets could be installed on public land.
Mobility is one of the health objectives in Flanders. It is supposed to promote the mobility of senior citizens.
Coordination between utility providers needs to be improved to prevent the phenomenon that after road works or (re-)laying of pavements or cycle paths, these are dug up again and sometimes left open for too long.
There is a clear mobility plan that covers all local authority areas, and which takes accounts of everyone’s needs. However, we are still waiting for this plan to be implemented.
The local authority must take the necessary steps to improve coordination of public transport (De Lijn and MIVB/STIB), for example to the medical centre. It must provide proper information to the population.
It must be examined where space can be allocated for playgrounds in a safe, pleasant way.

Culture, youth and sport

WOplus believes more than ever that increasing alienation from society can be countered to a significant extent by a lively cultural life, a comprehensive youth policy and widespread participation in sport.

That is why we will be working on the following points:

The three areas (culture, youth and sport) must continue to be coordinated by local authority officials.
Grants from higher levels of government must be used as much as possible. Reasons for not doing this based on politics tied to linguistic communities must be out of the question.
The culture, youth and sports council must be recognised by the local authority without delay. A senior citizens’ council must be set up.
Even if it is not required by law, the recognised councils should be consulted before decisions in their field.
Objective criteria are needed for recognising associations.
Besides a substantial increase in grants, there need to be unambiguous, transparent rules for receiving grants.
The Het Hoeveke cultural centre and the Agora and Forum neighbourhood centres must be open to all, regardless of their (linguistic) background. A simplified application procedure for a flexible tenancy arrangement should contribute to that.
A youth centre should be for all the youth. Therefore, a further expansion with additional meeting rooms, a rehearsal room for music groups makes sense. In the long term, it could be considered to have a permanent manager who would run the volunteer work at the youth centre in liaison with the local authority administration.
Local associations need as much support as possible from the logistics viewpoint: camp transport for youth associations, free loans of equipment like crowd barriers for organisations…
In neighbourhoods with a lot of children, a number of additional secure playgrounds and play streets will be set up. These should be in areas with greenery.
The local authority should even take control over running of playgrounds during the school holidays: administrative and logistic support, organisation of activities…
A number of associations (theatre company, heritage association …) need suitable premises due to the nature of their activities. The local authority should draw up a plan for this and make premises available.
– The work on a new building for the library in the centre of town must be started soon, and meticulously monitored so that the duration of disruption can be minimised. It goes without saying that the new building must have up-to-date library technical facilities.
The local authority administration must show an active interest in greater involvement in sport.

Education

WOplus will continue working hard to provide high quality education for all children in the local authority area. More than ever before, an essential factor is that children must be able to get to school safely.

Therefore, we are continuing to work hard on the following, in our opinion indispensable, measures:

the schools run by the local authority must be housed in decent infrastructure. The work on a new building for De Letterbijter in the centre of the must start soon and be monitored meticulously to minimise disruption for children and staff. In that new building, we advocate classrooms with proper educational facilities.
The local authority primary schools must also provide quality education: a management that is not required to take classes, one teacher per individual class, sufficient number of support staff such as child-minder or special mentor … Particular attention also needs to be paid to the possibilities as well as the challenges that have arisen due to the regional decree on special needs and mainstream education (M-decreet).
Subsidies from higher levels of government must be used to the fullest extent.
If it becomes possible to join a different grouping of schools, it will be investigated which schools grouping offers most opportunities and options for our schools. A choice based on reasons connected with linguistic community rather than educational benefits is out of the question.
Every effort must be made to ensure that the school environment and the routes to and from school are safe: the most extensive possible 30 km/h speed limit zone, safe crossings near schools, cycle paths on the route to school, crowd barriers where possible at school exits … Parents must also be discouraged from bringing their children to school by car.
– The local department of the Dutch-language music school has been an essential part of our municipality’s cultural life for years. In this difficult period of a temporary relocation, we are calling for maximum efforts to assist the school. Additional support is essential.
Within the framework of the legal possibilities, logistics support should be given to the non-state schools and foreign schools of Wezembeek-Oppem.

Animal welfare

WOplus is fond of animals as well as people.

Therefore, it advocates concrete measures for improving animal welfare:

There must be reporting service for abandoned, neglected or mistreated animals. The local authority can play an important role in this by passing on these reports to the relevant higher authorities.
The local authority should make a sticker available showing that an animal also lives in the house. This will warn the emergency services immediately in the event of a fire or other call-out.
Neutering of cats is currently mandatory. The local authority could pay an allowance for this.
When licensing circus shows, the local authority needs to ascertain that the circus animals are being well treated.

Financial policy

It is no secret that Wezembeek-Oppem is one of the richest municipalities in Flanders (and even Belgium as a whole). The flip side of the coin is that it is also one of the most expensive to live in.

However, WOplus sees possibilities for the next administration:

The price of building land – where this is still available – and housing in general has become almost unaffordable for the average resident of Flanders. More and more, we are compelled to observe that our town is evolving from a small town that is like a village where everyone knows each other into a dormitory town inhabited by wealthy people.
The fact that this is detrimental to the cultural and social life here is another, rather negative phenomenon. Of course, we bid a warm welcome to our town to all new residents – whatever their nationality – but this must not result in the native population being forced to move out.
Our town must be and remain liveable for everyone. The local authority can play a leading role by lowering the supplementary local tax on property taxes.
Our municipal taxes are relatively high compared with what residents receive from the local authority; all too often, it turns out that large sums are spent on (excessively) expensive studies and legal fees. The local authority must handle taxpayers’ money carefully and rationally, and must also make maximum use of the existing opportunities for obtaining grants and financial support from higher levels of government.
It is a good thing that sky-high reserves are no longer being accumulated to reduce the burden on future generations. We have always argued for that and will continue to support it.

The conclusion is obvious: the local authority must have a clear policy plan for the medium and even long term, and must adhere to it strictly all the time, not just during the election period. Taxes must be charged where necessary, in response to the genuine needs of the local authority, but not more than that level.

The local authority representatives on intermunicipal organisations must be aware of the role that they are expected to play there, and must be accountable to the local council for the policy adopted as required by their rules.
They also have a supervisory and controlling role, which enables them to contribute to the local authority having healthy finances.
Our local authority has a rather extensive property portfolio, which is not used optimally. Many associations would be rather pleased to be able to use premises for their social/cultural activities and the local authority should draw up a review and a plan as soon as possible to arrange this. Of course, a general system of grants should be set up as part of this.

Communication and information

Communication and information are playing an increasingly prominent and important role in our present-day society.

WOplus wishes to make its contribution with the following points:

The local authority newspaper must be published on a regular basis. It is absolutely out of the question that members of the local council should disseminate political messages via the newspaper. As far as content is concerned, practical subjects should be covered (out-of-hours doctors and pharmacies, planning of roadworks, etc.).
Partly for these reasons, the journalistic responsibility should be given to a municipal information officer with editorial independence, who will strictly monitor its objectivity.
Ad hoc communication for a limited target group (such as a neighbourhood where roadworks are to be carried out) must always be in addition to the newspaper.
The municipal website must be modernised so that it reflects the municipal services. This includes requesting and submission of documents, provided that this is allowed by law.
The pace of life in today’s society is not always suited to visiting municipal services during their opening hours. Therefore, citizens must be able to rely on a decent service being provided even outside office hours.

Welcome and integration

Wezembeek-Oppem is a municipality where people move in and out rather a lot. So it is essential for newcomers to be made to feel at home in our municipality.

That is why WOplus thinks that it can make the following contribution to this process:

An up-to-date information brochure will be produced for new residents covering a lot of practical topics (opening hours of the local authority and the library, Interza refuse collection schedules, contact details for associations, language course options,…) A clearly structured website also provides all this information.
Every year, new residents are invited to a get-together one evening, to meet all the members of the local council and associations from the area.
The local authority needs to play an active role in supporting language courses.
The local authority is urging the new (foreign) residents to take an active part in the political, social and cultural life of the municipality.
Opening hours at the town hall are being extended in order to provide a better service.
The expansion of online municipal services on the website is absolutely essential.

Security and policing

The security issue is high on the WOplus policy agenda.

Here are the essential points:

‘The police, your friend” cannot just be an empty slogan. The police zone must be able to rely on permanent support for its investment requirements. Security comes at a cost.
Critical investigation is essential for ensuring optimal effectiveness within the police zone, and giving local residents the security to which they are entitled. Crime does not stop at the regional or municipal boundaries.
Information about how the police operate and contacts between the population and the police needs to be improved. Among other things, the role of community police officer needs to be expanded, so that each neighbourhood has its own officer.
The approachability of the police has improved with the new police station and the supporting supramunicipal services, but still needs to be optimised, particularly at weekends.
Compliance with certain aspects of the police regulations, including about the mobility of vulnerable road users should be given greater emphasis (obstructions, parking on pavements, etc.). We advocate a clearly visible enforcement policy.
A number of neighbourhood information networks are already operating in the municipality. This should be extended. Citizen participation is important.
Discussions about mergers with neighbouring police zones should not be a taboo.

Town planning and the environment

For quality of life in a municipality, town planning and the environment are extremely important.

That is why WOplus is arguing in favour of the following:

Pollution has become an important issue. Fine particles, noise, asbestos, etc. are omnipresent. The local authority administration must cooperate with others as much as possible to combat this pollution which does not stop at municipal boundaries.
Measurement is knowledge: if you want to know about a problem, then you have to know where the pinch points are. Measurements must be carried out at local and regional level.
Litter needs to be tackled by installing sufficient litter bins and emptying them frequently; the current Interza project is an important first step, and should be continued.
The local authority must contribute to diversity of flora and fauna. The residents need to be actively encouraged to plant native species of trees and plants, in order to support the local fauna.
Routes for gentler means of transport must be actively promoted in the municipality.
There must be a follow-up to the project about the stream. It must be examined whether it is possible to work together with private individuals upstream.
The use of rainwater for domestic purposes must be encouraged. A full rainwater reservoir does nothing to help water conservation.
A plan of approach must be drawn up for dual (rainwater separated from sewage) drainage networks, and communicated so that local people have an idea when their street may be covered.
The local authority should be actively promoting energy saving measures like insulation, home automation, low-energy appliances, solar panels.
Keeping public open spaces is an absolute priority.
Interza must pay more attention to the introduction pink rubbish bags. There is more plastic in them than in the blue bags.