Fast food giant McDonald's has been awarded an environmental permit to open a restaurant in Tervuren, triggering a fierce backlash from local residents who fear an increase in congestion and childhood obesity in the Flemish town.
The vote to approve McDonald's application by Tervuren's municipal council was divided along strict party lines, with N-VA and CD&V officials voting in favour of the decision and the Flemish Greens, the municipality's largest party, opposing it.
McDonald's application marks its second attempt to open a restaurant in Tervuren in recent years, after a previous request in 2020 was rejected over concerns that it would exacerbate traffic around the town.
McDonald's proposed restaurant location is in a Carrefour car park along the N3 road, near the Africa Museum and the British School of Brussels.
'Really disappointed'
Speaking to Het Nieuwsblad, Tervuren's Mobility Councillor Bram Peters (Flemish Greens) said he was "really disappointed" in the council's decision and that the forecast increase in congestion "cannot be underestimated".
"We believe in a vibrant commercial centre, and McDonald's or any other fast food chain is at odds with that," he explained. "People who go to our frying and snack bars here are partially shifting to the N3. In many places we have seen what these types of businesses do, and this was an opportunity to prevent that."
The Mayor of Tervuren, Marc Charlier (N-VA), strongly disputed Peters' claims, adding that McDonald's new application is "completely different" to the one in 2020 as the restaurant will "not be visible from the N3".
"We adhere to the objective criteria that have to do with the environmental permit application, and not with objections that are irrelevant," Charlier added. "By the way, it is better to keep McDonald's on the N3, where it is far from the centre. A fast food chain in the commercial core, that would only be the death knell for our own catering industry."
'A temple of cheap junk food'
Despite the council's decision, many local residents maintain hope that it will eventually be overturned at the provincial or even federal level.
Some also point out the irony that the proposed restaurant will be built within 400 metres of four separate schools in spite of the fact that Belgium's Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit), who himself lives in Tervuren, recently affirmed that "the food supply around schools should not encourage unhealthy eating habits".
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Local action group "Niet in Tervuren" (Not in Tervuren) have further argued that the planned restaurant will "only exacerbate the congestion problem on the N3" and cause "a deterioration in local air quality".
The group also highlighted aesthetic concerns. "What does a temple of cheap junk food, the industrially processed food of a multinational, have in common with one of the most beautiful Flemish municipalities? Does a building with brightly illuminated advertising, directly visible from the road, fit in with the historic neighbourhood of the Africa Museum, the tourist asset of Tervuren?"
