Goodbye loose gravel and traditional pavers, hello Terradec®
Residents of Lier must soften their front gardens. Residents of Lier have to remove the pavement in their front gardens. Not only in Lier, but in all of Flanders.
14/04/2021
Residents of Lier must soften their front gardens. Residents of Lier have to remove the pavement in their front gardens. Not only in Lier, but in all of Flanders.
No more pavers and gravel in Lier. Residents must soften their front gardens again. Part of the inevitable concrete stop. Less paving, more greenery and water-permeable solutions, that is the future. Not only in Lier, but in all of Flanders.
Less paving
The city of Lier has asked a large number of residents to soften their front gardens. “The traditional pavers, old-fashioned tiles, and loose gravel really have to go,” says Het Laatste Nieuws website. Lier’s families are quite upset because their cars will no longer be able to park on a paved driveway. A verdict that will apply to every Flemish resident who hardens their front garden without permission and regulations in the near future. “Permits and regulations are not only mandatory in Lier, but in all Flemish municipalities.” If you are not compliant, you will be required to remove everything in the future.
Will the front gardens of Lier then not be well-maintained? Of course, they will. Most residents opted for gravel, tiles, or pavers to create an extra parking space in front of their house. Beautiful and practical, but unfortunately not a good idea for nature. That is why the paving must disappear, as decided by the city council.
According to the Association of Flemish Cities and Municipalities (VVSG), there are no figures on how many people in Flanders have already been forced to remove the paving in their front gardens. Meanwhile, Minister of Environment Zuhal Demir (N-VA) is working on uniform Flemish regulations to prevent the hardening of front gardens. “To make Flanders more resilient against future droughts,” her spokesperson said. “I cannot say exactly when the new rules will be in place, but they are being worked on. It certainly won’t be put on the back burner.”
Paving & greenery in perfect balance
If you still want to pave your front garden, you must apply for a permit. This will be granted on the condition that half of the front garden remains unpaved. To maintain balance. A permit is, therefore, a must. Unless you only want to create a path to the front door, a maximum of 1.5 meters wide. The paving to the garage is also exempt from the permit requirement if the driveway is not wider than 3 meters. “But the municipality can always be stricter than the Flemish rules prescribe,” explains green journalist Paul Geerts in the Het Laatste Nieuws article. “So it’s always best to inquire with the municipality if you want to carry out work in the front garden. Then you are sure whether a permit is required or whether it is sufficient to report the work.”
Even if you opt for water-permeable paving, you cannot escape the permit requirement. The rule is, after all, that the front garden should be designed as a garden as much as possible. Trees, plants, and grasses provide a green environment that provides cooling in the summer months. Moreover, plants help with the infiltration of rainwater into the soil and remove fine dust from the air.
In addition, choose a water-permeable paving, such as Terradec, for your garden path or driveway.®. This ensures that as much rainwater as possible seeps into the ground instead of flowing directly into the sewer. And there’s more. Because this permeable pavement system of bound aggregates is also:
In short: the perfect solution for the paving of your garden.
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