Court orders Brussels-City to reopen Bois de la Cambre to traffic

The civil court in Brussels issued an order on Thursday ruling in favour of the municipality of Uccle in the dispute between it and Brussels-City over the closure of the Bois de la Cambre.

Closed to car traffic by Brussels-City, which manages it, the Bois de la Cambre will have to be reopened on its south side, the court ruled. The city has 30 days to find alternatives or risk a penalty of €2,500 euros per day of delay. with a maximum of €100,000.

“Brussels-City has committed several offences of major importance in direct relation to the harm suffered by the plaintiffs,” the court order stated. “These obvious errors of assessment led it to adopt an order (...) which is ultimately tainted with illegality in the sense that it plans to close the so-called 'south' loop to traffic.”

The mayor of Uccle, Boris Dilliès immediately reacted to the court ruling on Twitter: “The tribunal has just condemned Brussels-City… it must take all measures to put an end to the situation of illegality concerning the current closure of the Bois de la Cambre.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised, but I'm a legalist,” Philippe Close, the mayor of Brussels-City, said. “Cars will be put back in the Bois de la Cambre. I think this is a shame, but tomorrow I will make a proposal that tries to reconcile the points of view of each side, through the environmental and recreational aspects, and which aligns with the judgment.”

Close will make his argument again during the meeting of representatives of Brussels-City, the Brussels-Capital Region, Uccle, Ixelles, Watermael-Boitsfort, Rhode-Sainte-Génèse and Linkebeek, which was initially scheduled for Thursday, but postponed due to the announcement of the judgment.