Poperinge The Poperingse mayor Christof Dejaegher (CD&V) has this week in Watou a mestopslagbedrijf close. The manager had no licence and the local residents suffered from the foul smell and the on – and starting trucks. “I have the company seal. We live here not in the Far West,” said the mayor. What to do with the stored manure must be done, it is not yet clear.
The company along the Gravendreef in Watou started several months ago with the construction of silos for manure storage. “I thought at first that something was built for horses,” says buurtbewoonster Anne Pouillie. “After the finish of the silos started to become clear that the processing of manure or manure storage. 5 o’clock in the morning until late in the evening there was passage of trucks. The glasses in my cabinet shook every time a truck passed.”
Anne went along with the epa, but that yielded little. Last Saturday they served at the end of the council a complaint with the police. “That there are agricultural vehicles pass through here and sometimes to the manure smell, we are used to. We want the farmers not go away. Together with my partner, I’m living here since 1996, and I’ve always had a good rapport with the farmers from the neighborhood. This is something completely different. The Gravendreef is a known job with tourists. There is here a holiday farm, there passing many cyclists and walkers. But our tranquillity was gone. With all the trucks, it was also dangerous. I am a member of Green Poperinge, but for me this is not partisan. My neighbors have nothing to do with Green, but also they worried about our health and safety,” says Anne.