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Brussels region ambitions: New hockey stadium and takeover of Abattoir

19:22 26/10/2020

Now that the budget has been announced, Brussels region’s minister-president Rudi Vervoort (PS) has announced a policy plan for the coming years. The region is looking to embark on several urban development projects that are either in a research phase or a negotiation phase.

One of the most striking is the plan to build a field hockey stadium in Uccle. Belgium’s National Field Hockey Federation has been working on the plan for quite some time, and now the region has signed on as a partner.

A feasibility study is currently being carried out in the Zwartebeek neighbourhood, just west of Stalle and on the border with Flanders. There are already several sports fields, courts and facilities on the site (pictured).

The Red Lions men’s hockey team has made headlines in recent years, taking its first world championship title in 2018 and the European championships last year. The team brought home silver from Rio in the 2016 Summer Olympics. The women’s team, the Red Panthers, made it to the European championship final for the first time three years ago.

8,000 fans

The new stadium would sit 8,000, with the option to add mobile tribunes if needed. It would host the national teams and also be open to local hockey clubs. “That suits perfectly the needs of this booming sport in the capital,” said Vervoort.

Another project mentioned in the policy plan is the purchase of the former marshalling yard just north of Schaerbeek train station. The region is in talks to purchase the land from SNCB. The area also contains open space with wild growth. The disused rail yard could be used for housing in the future, with biodiversity preserved to create protected green space.

Finally, the region is in talks with the city of Anderlecht to take over the Abattoir site. The slaughterhouse and famous covered market contains additional space and “offers a strategic opportunity for the development of a mixed-use project on a human scale in a densely populated neighbourhood,” said Vervoort.

Photo courtesy Uccle Sport/Facebook

Written by Lisa Bradshaw