Etterbeek ordered to pay damages for renovating square without permission

The municipality of Etterbeek is being sued by the Brussels region for renovating a small esplanade between Avenue des Casernes and Avenue Général Bernheim without permission.

The Council of State ruled that the municipality had no right to redevelop the area, RTBF reports, as it also belongs to the Brussels region, which is now claiming damages.

Mayor Vincent De Wolf (MR) issued an emergency decree in 2021 regarding the area, saying it was a safety hazard for pedestrians.

The area is tree-lined and measures 100 metres by 20 metres and is surrounded by houses.

Authorities said the trees were causing issues. Sections of the blue stone paving were deteriorating and lifting due to tree roots and the surface became dangerously slippery in wet weather, particularly in autumn and winter due to the presence of numerous fallen leaves.

The council also highlighted “a growing number of accidents involving people due to the paving and its dilapidated condition”, citing complaints via the Fix My Street website.

The paving was also said to be unsuitable for the vehicles of a major transport and removal company based near the esplanade, and there were complaints about the health of the trees and also the "excessive and obstructive presence of anti-parking bollards along Avenue des Casernes and Avenue Général Bernheim […] hindering the free movement of pedestrians, particularly those with reduced mobility".

After the emergency decree, the municipality called in a contractor and started work on the square, deciding to use the opportunity to also add a children’s playground and a dog-walking area.

Now the Brussels region and its administrative body Brussels Mobility are claiming €25,000 in damages, arguing that the esplanade does not belong entirely to Etterbeek. Part of it - about a third - is managed by the region.

Etterbeek argued that it acted to "resolve a state of neglect" at its own expense, but the Council of State sided with the region.

“In short, the Council of State ruled that the municipality could not, on its own initiative and authority, resurface a regional road, even on grounds of public safety – arguments which were, moreover, refuted,” said Camille Thiry, spokesperson for Brussels Mobility.

“It is the region that manages the roads for which it is responsible, and the municipality cannot intervene on a regional road.”

It is not yet clear whether Etterbeek will have to restore the square to its previous state.

“For us, the next step is to claim compensation for the damage because two remarkable trees have been damaged,” Thiry said. “One tree was felled and another was damaged.”

That damage is estimated at just over €25,000, including administrative and expert fees.

“But we are not pushing for the road to be restored to its original condition,” Thiry said.

“We’re not in favour of doing, undoing and redoing work during a period of budgetary austerity such as the present. That would be a waste of resources.

"In any case, we are satisfied with the message sent by the Council of State, namely that a local authority should not intervene on its own initiative regarding a regional road."

Etterbeek officials did not yet wish to comment on the Council of State’s ruling.

A similar incident took place involving the cycle racks on the Chaussée de Waterloo, a regional road, which were sawed down by the municipality of Uccle without consultation. Here too, the region took legal action against the local authorities and won the case.