Smooth, safe and sustainable traffic

Mobility, fluidity

  • Prior consultation with residents on any changes to traffic regulations.

  • Optimising and revising the mobility plan to reduce noise and pollution, increase safety and make life easier for residents at peak times, in particular entering and leaving the various neighbourhoods and schools and discouraging through-traffic.
  • Active lobbying at all levels for convenient public transport, not only to Brussels and Leuven, but also to quickly connect Duisburg, Vossem, Morsel and Tervuren to other major centres such as Diegem and NATO.

  • Lobbying with the Flemish Region to complete the continuity of the cycle path along the N3 (Leuvensesteenweg) at Vossem (on the road to Leuven) as soon as possible.
  • Working with the regions and the STIB to create a link between tram 39 and tram 44 (faster access to Stockel metro station).

Safety, sustainability

  • Making junctions safer, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists
  • Implementation of measures to help child cyclists in collaboration with the Fietsersbond and success of the ‘negenproef’. Application of the ‘STOP’ principle (order of priority for safety: pedestrian, cyclist, public transport, private vehicle)
  • Maintenance and enforcement of 30 km/h zones
  • Urgent renovation of the roads and pavements that need it, such as the Rijkunstdreef, the Capucijnenpoortdreef, the Kleine Hoogvoorstweg, the pavements in the Ravenstein district, the streets and pavements in the Arboretum district, etc.

  • Encouraging the use of public transport, in particular by providing secure parking spaces for bicycles. Making it easier for residents to find parking spaces in the centre of Tervuren and close to tram and bus stops. Creating parking spaces for motorbikes and mopeds. Optimising Tervuren’s multimodal transport infrastructure.
  • Removal of the limit on the number of residents’ cards per household to encourage housing in the urban centre (currently 2 cards per household; only 1 if the household has a parking space) and free parking cards (cars that park do not drive).

A high-quality, safe and sustainable living environment

  • Securing cycle parking spaces at tram stops, with the possible use of cameras and the installation of bicycle boxes or racks.
  • Introduction of ‘intelligent’ street lighting after midnight. Maintain minimum lighting until 1am (30 minutes after the last trams and buses arrive)
  • Generalisation of clean, wide and passable pavements for all, particularly in Ravensteinwijk
  • Working with the ‘Natuur Bos’ agency to improve waste management in the park
  • Actively combating illegal dumping of rubbish
  • Working with Interrand to arrange alternative collection days for collections scheduled on public holidays
  • Encouraging ‘zwerfvuil-peter en -meter’ volunteers
  • Helping to combat noise pollution, especially from aircraft
  • Monitoring the animal welfare requirements set out in the ‘diervriendelijke gemeente’ charter signed by the municipality
  • Active monitoring of reports of theft, raising awareness of neighbourhood safety. Open and transparent information on cases of theft and police action.

Transparent, communicative and sober governance

Transparency and participation

  • Prior and sincere consultation of citizens for all major projects (particularly mobility and town planning)
  • Improved communication between the municipality and intercommunal bodies. Introduction of a space for expression for each political faction in ‘Tervuren Info’. Incorporation of summaries in several languages, as in the ‘Randkrant’.
  • Introduction of a public report on the mid-term evaluation of the general policy statement.
  • Improved transparency in decisions taken by the local authority’s ‘satellite’ bodies, such as Interrand, Bexit, IGS Druivenstreek, Woontrots, etc.
  • Improved communication with the neighbouring municipalities of Wezembeek-Oppem and Kraainem in terms of community services and mobility.

Finances

  • Sound, long-term management of the municipality’s assets; reduction in debt
  • Better allocation of public expenditure, or reduction in local taxes (additional taxes to the IPP)

Ethics and governance

  • Respect for public contracts, effective competitive tendering of orders, attention to conflicts of interest
  • Updating the Code of Ethics for mandataries so that members of the College are remunerated in proportion to the time they work (100% remuneration is not compatible with another paid activity, whether part-time or full-time). )

Collective services

  • Critical analysis of the organisation of fire services, taking into account their response time from Overijse.
  • Encouragement of inter-municipal cooperation, such as the ‘eerste lijnzone druivenstreek’.
  • Improving coordination between ambulance services and hospitals
  • More regular police patrols to prevent theft; increased attention to incivilities (dog mess, overgrown hedges, etc.)
  • Multilingual reception at emergency call centers, in line with European directives

A commune at the service of every citizen and their personal development

Children

  • Proactive management of crèches, increasing the number of places available
  • Improving playgrounds in the various centres of the commune, with systematic maintenance
  • Offering childcare solutions outside school hours and during school holidays, with an emphasis on integrating the various communities present
  • Providing young people with access to community facilities or facilities facilitated by the municipality for their meetings and activities
  • Support for youth movements located in Tervuren
  • Promotion of multilingualism at school, in particular through immersion classes

Seniors

  • Creating a permanent ‘ombudsman for senior citizens’ function and raising awareness of these residents among neighbourhood officers
  • Encouraging seniors to pass on their experience through tutoring, homework schools, etc.
  • Developing courses on the use of digital tools and social networks to combat the digital divide among seniors
  • Making senior residences accessible to all, without language requirements
  • Placing and maintaining public benches along walking routes and at public transport stops
  • Permanent alignment with the ‘Seniorenraad’.

Conviviality

  • Development of social links, encouragement of ‘neighbours’ festivals’ and straatfeesten
  • Maintaining and developing the diversity of activities organised in the Royal Kitchen Garden (food-truck festival, ‘t hof, etc.)
  • Stimulating neighbourhood platforms and applications in social networks (hoplr…)
  • Appointment of neighbourhood ‘ambassadors
  • Stimulation of ‘participatory budgets

Culture, youth and sport

  • Recognition of Tervuren’s cultural, social and sporting associations and youth movements without cultural or linguistic restrictions. Presentation and promotion of their activities on the municipality’s website. Active encouragement of new associations
  • Support for the Artiestentoer
  • Increasing the number of foreign languages on offer in the library to the authorised maximum of 25% and encouraging the use of the library by the 110 nationalities present in the municipality.
  • Promotion of Dutch language courses and initiatives such as ‘Café Combine’ and ‘zomerklassen’. Promoting language exchanges to enable Dutch speakers to help integrate non-Dutch speakers.
  • Search for citizen service missions within the municipal services to be proposed to the citizen service platform to which the municipality has subscribed.
  • Promotion of all sports, without distinction. Development and maintenance of sports facilities.
  • Useful use of the former riding school on the ex-Defense site (Polygoon).

A commune in transition

  • Widespread use of sustainable food (seasonal, local, fair trade) in local authority and school establishments
  • Encouraging the circular economy, in particular the ‘repair café’, and initiatives to share resources and local exchange services (SEL)
  • Active promotion of zero waste
  • Adapting the rates and opening hours of the recycling park
  • Installation of light sensors on public lighting. Accelerating the switch to LEDs. Gradual reduction in light intensity, with minimum lighting levels maintained until 1 a.m.
  • Improving the collection of garden waste, encouraging composting and bokashi
  • Management of the cemetery to promote nature and biodiversity
  • Encouraging the purchase of electric bicycles (group purchases, incentives), studying a bicycle loan or hire system
  • Promoting insulation, solar panels, green roofs, etc.
  • Introduction of mandatory clauses in public contracts and environmental permits concerning the circularity of materials, their origin and transport; real attention paid to ESG criteria (environmental, social and governance)
  • Active management and deployment of the Covenant of Mayors (Burgermeesterconvenant), compliance with the recommendations of the Climate Plan
  • Active promotion of renewable energy production in private homes, stimulation of energy communities and their development in the Druivenstreek and beyond, including Kraainem and Wezembeek-Oppem
  • Energy renovation of all council housing to aim for energy label A. Renewable energy sources in all municipal buildings

An open, welcoming and dynamic community

Local economy

  • Revitalising the centre by entrusting its management to a specialist
  • Promoting the community of retailers (RLE)
  • Facilitating access to commercial premises for start-ups and green economy businesses (advice, low rents, incentives, etc.)

  • Encouraging a multilingual welcome in shops and markets
  • Developing synergies between local businesses and the flow of visitors to the museum, the park, the Panquin site, the forest, etc.

Tourism and local heritage

  • Promoting the local historical and cultural heritage, placing multilingual information panels for tourists.
  • Continued support for the Heemkundige kring and ‘Vrienden van de school van Tervuren’.
  • Encouragement of local traditions and folklore, integration of local events into the tourist offer and promotion

Cultural diversity

  • Promotion of cultural diversity as an agent of social integration, particularly in the municipality’s cultural programming
  • Removing obstacles to the free distribution of information, advertising periodicals and free magazines in languages other than Dutch
  • Encouragement of a ‘customer service’ approach by municipal civil servants in contact with people who do not have a sufficient command of Dutch; greater flexibility, particularly in complex administrative procedures.
  • Compliance with the decree conditions relating to the subsidisation of local associations and removal of restrictive language clauses for their recognition (‘Sportraad’, ‘Cultuurraad’, ‘Jeugdraad’), but requiring the exclusive use of Dutch in dealings with the administration.
  • Application of the non-discrimination provisions contained in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to all areas of municipal management
  • Expansion of the role, created in 2012, of an ‘ambtenaar voor integratie en Vlaamse zaken’ to include support for all non-Dutch-speaking residents in their dealings with the local authority.
  • Access to social housing and home ownership on the basis of social criteria alone
  • Extending the timetable of Dutch language courses to make them easier to learn. Promotion of Dutch language courses in other languages to target non-native speakers. Promotion of language courses and exchanges in French and English for Dutch speakers.