The most important change of the new environmental law: working together!

The new Environment Act is fast approaching and by now the contours of the new spatial system are fairly clear. More flexibility and more room for local customization are two key concepts in it. This means a major shift in the way we think and act in spatial planning and the way we deal with space. All current frameworks overboard, all the certainty we now have from laws, regulations and case law will disappear. Or does it?

Content frameworks in a new look

Of course, "it's all not so bad. Many substantive frameworks, such as standards for safety, ecology or the environment will ultimately remain - whether or not in a new guise. The legal certainty you now have from an existing situation will obviously not disappear. And there are many new instruments (such as environmental vision, environmental plan, programs) but they are quite similar to the existing ones.

New commitments

But there are also new obligations, especially for initiators. The most important, in my view, is the consultation and participation you must conduct as an initiator for an initiative. In short, this means that the environment must be "involved" in initiatives. Not during a procedure, but beforehand. How exactly to do this is not determined in the new system - in fact, there is a lot of freedom here for initiators to decide for themselves how to consult.

The involvement of the environment at the front is made explicit in the Environment Act, but actually this "cooperation" goes much further. Also between governments, within a government and between initiator and government.

What does this mean for concrete spatial developments today and in the future?

The core of the answer lies in working and doing together. With colleagues, but also with other parties. The right people at the table and together (government and initiator and those directly involved) determine what should (and should not) be done. Besides the changes in the spatial system, this is also the most important change brought about by the Environment Act: a culture change, aimed at working together with different factors. This requires good management of developments (including financial) and the proper recording of agreements: working together and using each other's strengths to arrive at a spatially good and financially healthy plan, with respect for and safeguarding each other's interests.

Ruud Broekman is Advisor on area and policy development at Plan & Project, and lecturer at the basic course in real estate law. He supports, guides and advises municipalities, housing corporations, developers and businesses on new construction projects. In the basic course in real estate law he will take you through what the changes of current law and the new Environment Act are.