SAVE DONDERBERG
A green area of almost 3 ha, surrounded by mostly houses in the heart of Laeken, is threatened by a building project by the city of Brussels. The Donderberg nature reserve borders the beautiful park ‘Gardens of the Florist’ and, once opened to the public, would form a beautiful whole with that park. The rather spontaneous natural landscape of Donderberg forms a nice contrast with the planned Gardens of the Florist. The conservatories under restoration at the foot of the Florist Gardens form a pleasant attraction at the hinge point between the two natural landscapes. A closed staircase, already connects both areas!
Donderberg is 300 m from metro Bockstael and is enclosed by Sint-Albaansbergstraat, Medoristraat and Tuinbouwersstraat.

The threat
The City of Brussels’ HOP5 project provides for the construction of a kindergarten and primary school for 672 children, a sports hall and a community room. In addition, eight dwellings a space for a liberal profession and a car park with 17 spaces are planned. As a massive structure, the school building would occupy almost the entire width of Donderberg. In any case: masses of concrete to be poured!

Donderberg, a little history
Donderberg was a tree farm of the royal domain that was transferred to the Belgian state in 1900, under an act of royal donation. The present-day Donderberg has been spared major destruction all this time, old trees, including fruit trees can still be found on the site.
In 1969, the CPAS of the city of Brussels acquires Donderberg and makes the area inaccessible to the public (closing off the existing paths). The CPAS plans residential towers there. Resistance immediately arose from the Donderberg neighbourhood committee and the plan was dropped.
In 2001 Donderberg quietly received a new zoning plan and became a zone for collective utilities. Local residents are not informed.
The project to build a school there arises in 2011. Local residents feel threatened, especially since, nearby, the old Cadet School is being converted into a European school. They fear an unpalatable increase in traffic.
The city of Brussels formulated the first HOP (Horticulteurs-Perruches) project in 2016: 75 houses (three blocks) and a school. Construction promoter Delens is pushing the city towards the, for them, lucrative project. A plan for some 1400 m2 of concrete! After protests from local residents, the consultation committee has a negative opinion to HOP1.

In 2017, HOP2 emerges, in 2019, HOP3 comes. Each time, there are protests, corrections. The administrative and judicial saga run its course. The ‘Collective Save Donderberg’ is formed and opposes the favourable opinion that HOP3 received (subject to adjustments). HOP4 takes shape in January 2021. Fewer housing units and ‘only’ 9300 sq m of concrete. Cosmetic interventions like green roofs were supposed to make the project more digestible. But even in this form, no more trees are spared and Donderberg would inexorably lose its individuality and potentially recreational function.
Today, there is HOP5. Yep, a saga!
The city council’s motives
There would be, for the city of Brussels, a general shortage of schools and there is certainly a housing shortage. The residents of the Donderberg site are accused of short-sightedness. They act out of self-interest with a transparent ‘not in my backyard’. They ignore the collective interest and just want their gardens to continue spending on the quiet and green Donderberg.

Of course, in the background, other, mainly economic, interests also come into play. The City of Brussels likes big construction works, although they invest much more timidly in maintenance and operation afterwards. Such a construction project means employment, activity. There are agreements, contacts and contracts with construction promoters… The machine has to run! A shift to a vision of improving the existing (insulation, restoration, strengthening capacity through elevation, repurposing vacant buildings) is unfortunately still not the norm. Again, practice stands in opposition to new insights. How nice would it not be, the City of Brussels using the available budget for new construction in favour of real needs of their existing schools!
Politics is a game of give and take, even the Green parties do not make a fist in a file like that of Donderberg. They get something in terms of their demands in e.g. the South of Brussels (where their largest electorate is), but look away from the North of Brussels (where they have far fewer voters).

The argument against HOP5
There is a consensus among all right-thinking people regarding the urgency of the problems related to the climate crisis. For instance, green areas must be safeguarded to the maximum, biodiversity requires radical protection and soil permeability becomes an absolute weapon against warming and drought. The political reality is one of working within an economic space, anchored in habits. Apparently, acting in function of new insights (and their radical demands related to behavioural change) cannot yet be implemented. Politics, in the future, everywhere, will have to be bold. This also applies to Brussels politics. They ‘know’, but they don’t dare/can’t behave accordingly. Thunder Forest, but also other green and threatened areas in Brussels city and the Region, are therefore dossiers of symbolic value. Losing is also losing hope regarding the future. More green’ is not a romantic, recreational picture involving flowers and trees, it is a necessity.
Donderberg, with its connection to the Florist Gardens, forms part of a chain of greenery that characterises Laken and makes it unique in Brussels. The recreational function is an important one alongside the ecological one. Donderberg is surrounded by residential plots and this open space is welcome, also for the already existing institutions (centre Medori) and schools (Kunsthumaniora, primary school ‘t Plant’zoentje, European school,…) in the neighbourhood.
Indeed, Donderberg residents have a nice situation with the publicly inaccessible Donderberg in their backyard. But both a public park and the school construction project (HOP5) mean the end of that dormant (but pleasant) situation. Local residents are aware of this. They are concerned about safety and privacy, but still support the opening up of Donderberg into a public park. Such a park, with walkers and visitors, is something else than looking at walls of stone, concrete and glass.
Inherently, there is the mobility problem. A new school and some new houses, i.e. cars standing still, trying to park, driving by. It is not just parents who want to drop off their children by car, it is also about staff coming to work by car. It also means delivery by vans for all the possible goods such a school needs.

There is little coordination between school networks (community, city, Dutch-speaking/French-speaking, free subsidised education). The Brussels city school network may be short of space in an area, while a free network or a Dutch-speaking school still has capacity. The methods of calculating needs, linked to zones, is foggy. For example, the finding of ‘too little space’ leaves out a large school in a green zone, just outside their ‘artificially’ defined area (e.g. Saint Pierre). All this points to an old culture where school networks each want a complete offer. Few parents still choose a school for ideological reasons. Their choice has to do with proximity, assumed quality, cultural identity. For instance, the Dutch-speaking school network has long been a potential for French-speaking parents as well. In an ideal world, all capacity across all school networks would be considered together.

But… the current plans also fail to take demographic trends into account. Let us consider the City of Brussels’ core argument: “there will be a shortage of places in schools in the future”… This is too general a statement! For example, if HOP5 is realised, the school would be operational within six years… Within six years, there will be a downward trend in the number of children needing nursery and primary education. There will be surplus capacity ! Some schools will have fewer enrolments. Perhaps the demand for places in secondary education will increase, for example, but you can’t just turn a primary school into a secondary school! In other words, the proponents of HOP5 do not want to face the truth (no shortage of primary schools).
There is much more documentation and more technical supported argumentation available. Do not hesitate to look up more information (including floor plans, photos, etc.) via the French-speaking part of this site. A petition can also be signed via the site. And above all: also support the actions! Only if we put enough pressure on the administration of this city can we keep the concrete farmers out of Donderberg.