Meeting of 4 June 2024

Main points

• Answers to all pending questions, thanks to the Sustainable Development department
• Citizen participation meeting of 16 May 2024: how to engage residents and recruit members
• Through traffic and speeding on Rue du Maquis, Rue Hugo Verriest and Rue Saint-Joseph
• The municipality's answers: pavements on Avenue Mommaerts, vehicle inspection centre, MediaTram (not before the 2030s)
• Practical reminders: Fix My Street, bulky waste, community police

Translation of the French minutes. Only the French version (PDF above) is official.

Venue: Espace Moreau · Time: 7.05 pm – 8.45 pm

Foreword

The council representative explains why no meeting had been scheduled since June 2023: the council was waiting for answers from the alderman in charge and from the municipal administration, as well as for a meeting of the Advisory Council for Citizen Participation. The minutes of that advisory council's last meeting (20 September 2023) only arrived on 13 May 2024. Since March, contact has resumed with the Sustainable Development department, which obtained answers to all outstanding questions in less than two months. The council hopes for a more regular exchange of information.

Agenda

“Outstanding questions” file

The full file was sent to participants as a PDF with the invitation.

“Citizen participation” meeting of 16 May 2024

Present were the alderman for citizen participation, representatives of the Sustainable Development department and of the three neighbourhood councils, and two municipal councillors. Once again the meeting focused on the need for recognition of the neighbourhood councils and on the exchange of information between the municipality and residents. Main question: how can residents be interested in the life of the municipality, and how can members willing to get involved be recruited?

It was agreed to give residents a voice (flyer, email, article in the Evere newspaper) to find out what they see as positive or negative in Evere and what they want for the future, and then to invite them to get involved in the neighbourhood councils. Other points concern the whole municipality: cleanliness, mobility…

European Local Democracy Week

A call for projects had been launched for citizen initiatives in the neighbourhoods. The project prepared by the Sustainable Development department was rejected before it was even presented to the municipal executive. A pity: it was an opportunity to revitalise the neighbourhood councils.

Evere en Fête – 22 June

As every year, the neighbourhood councils will have a stand in the community village. Everyone is welcome.

Artémis playground

No news.

Open questions

A resident asked by email about the additional services planned for the MediaTram, traffic around the vehicle inspection centre and improvements to the pavements on Avenue Mommaerts. The municipal departments replied the following Monday (see “Answers from the municipality” below).

• To avoid the traffic lights at the Grosjean / Chaussée de Louvain junction, many drivers cut through Rue du Maquis, Rue Hugo Verriest and Rue Saint-Joseph (“local traffic only”), often too fast. The community police officer has been informed and will report it to his superiors.

• A resident regrets that some patrols did not respond to his calls about badly parked vehicles (around Clos des Compagnons Bâtisseurs). The officer takes note, but points out that action depends on the time and on the impact on traffic.

• Parc Mandela: the situation seems calmer, and removing the bins has led to a cleaner park.

• Biodiversity: it is a pity that grass and plants grow around trees and hedges in the neighbourhood, especially as mowing was suspended in May and the rain encouraged growth. Some residents carefully tend the flower bed in front of their home: shouldn't such initiatives be encouraged by a municipal campaign?

• Skyline project: those present wonder how it is progressing; more information will be requested from the municipality.

• Derelict site on Chaussée de Louvain: work is under way. Does the municipality know what the development will be used for?

• Construction around Avenue du Cimetière de Bruxelles: several shops have reportedly closed or will close, and a new housing development has been announced on the site of a former garage. Does the municipality have more information?

• Bulky waste: can the pros and cons of a single Bruxelles-Propreté round be quantified? What is the municipality's position on this trial period?

A few reminders

• Potholes and other defects in public space: the Fix My Street app lets you report them (photo, description, location, send). The municipality's Front Office can still be contacted.

• Bulky waste: collection now takes place once a week in Evere (Tuesday for blocks of flats, Thursday for single-family houses), by booking. Free service, limited to 2 m³ per collection for single-family houses, to make up for the closure of the municipal recycling centre.

• Local police – Brussels North zone: Haut-Evere station, Avenue du Cimetière de Bruxelles; a zonal dispatch service handles non-urgent problems. A home-watch service is available during the holidays.

Answers from the municipality (appendix to the original minutes)

• Avenue Mommaerts: the state of the pavements was checked and is indeed poor. The municipality will contact the utility companies to find out how their works are progressing, and a study for redesigning the avenue will be proposed to the municipal executive.

• Vehicle inspection centre: an agreement was reached with the manager and the police to work by appointment only, to avoid congestion. The instructions are being followed and there have been no further complaints.

• MediaTram: in 2022 the Brussels government agreed on a new tram route via Boulevard Reyers, Place des Médias and Rue Colonel Bourg, with a new bridge between Rue Colonel Bourg and Avenue des Communautés. In 2024, the approval of the Médiapark master plan (PAD) set the route within Médiapark. The tram is not expected before the 2030s: it depends on preliminary studies (Meiser pre-metro station, planning permits for Boulevard Reyers and for Médiapark's public spaces). The extension between Rue Colonel Bourg and Avenue des Communautés is not yet being studied; in the meantime, the bus network will support development along Avenue Colonel Bourg.

Closing

The council thanks the eight participants for their interest in the future of the neighbourhood and regrets the low turnout of registered members. The meeting closes at 8.45 pm. Next meeting: date to be confirmed.

Council meetings are open to anyone who wants to bring the neighbourhood to life and help people live well together.

Public version of the minutes: names and contact details of private individuals, attendance lists, email exchanges, appendices and the “agenda” sections of the original version are not reproduced.

Attendance

Two council members, six Haut-Evere residents and the community police officer (guest). Two apologies.

Meeting minutes