Flanders today
DECEMBER 8, 2010 Erkenningsnummer P708816
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f ree N E W S W ee k l y
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w w w. f l a n d e r s t o d ay. E U
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Happening holidays
#159
What to buy, how to buy it and where to go when the shopping’s done p8
Frozen Flanders
The coldest start to winter since 1875 Alan Hope
© Frédéric Pauwels
Flanders last week got its first taste of winter, as snow and ice caused problems on the roads and railways. Although the Eurostar suffered cancellations, the transport situation in Brussels and Flanders was less serious than had been expected. The construction industry came to a standstill, though, as sites were closed due to the cold. In Limburg and Brussels, waste collections were disrupted. In East and West Flanders, postal services were affected. On De Lijn, buses and trams
suffered delays of up to one hour with services disrupted across the region. At Zaventem, all runways were open, but some flights were delayed, mainly as a result of the situation at the airport of destination, as Europe grappled with early snow and freezing temperatures. In De Panne, a 63-year-old Dutch woman died after being discovered on the beach suffering from hypothermia. The exact circumstances of her death are not clear, but it is thought she had been drinking.
Plants in the national botanical gardens in Meise were suffering cold-related damage as a result of broken windows in greenhouses. The botanical gardens are a casualty of the political stalemate in Belgium, as the procedure to transfer authority to Flanders cannot be completed until a new federal government is formed. Photo: Knokke-Heist under snow
The disappearing village
T
he d Mean
As the Port of Antwerp expands northward, the Flemish Region grapples with heritage versus commerce Anna Jenkinson
oel is no ordinary Flemish village. Its houses are D boarded up, graffiti covers the walls lining its main road, and there’s hardly a soul on the street. The
schools have closed down, the shops have shut, and most residents have left. But there are still a few villagers determined to stay put. Frie Lauwers is one such resident. When I ask her why she wants to continue living in such a desolate and abandoned village, she gives me two reasons: “I love it – the nature, the freedom. That’s mine,” she says,
pointing to the view of open fields from her kitchen window. She pauses, and her smile disappears. “And because I’m angry, very angry at what has happened here.” The second reason gets to the crux of the matter. Doel is a village that lies on the left bank of the Scheldt River, and its existence has long been threatened by the expansion of Antwerp’s port. This threat became all the more real when, just over a decade ago, the Flemish government said that the liveability of the village could not be guaranteed in the long term.
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