Draft "Vital Rural Areas" Program Available for Review
The draft of the "Vitaal Platteland" program (6.42 MB) has been approved by the council. The program will be available for public review for six weeks starting March 4.
For the Vital Rural Areas program, we spoke with policymakers, organizations, and stakeholders from rural areas. We also spoke with agricultural businesses, ranging from horticulture and crop farming to (intensive) livestock farming.
Do you disagree with anything?
You were able to submit feedback (comments) on the topics in the draft program using a feedback form. All feedback will be carefully reviewed, evaluated, and responded to. The municipal executive will then adopt the Vital Rural Areas Program, incorporating any changes based on the feedback received.
The deadline for comments was Wednesday, April 15.
Objective of the Vital Rural Areas Program
The goal is to develop the ambitions for rural areas outlined in the environmental vision. What is needed to maintain a vibrant countryside, both now and in the future? And how will we achieve this together? Bureau LandID is supporting us in this process.
The participation process
We started working together with a project group. The project group consisted of policy officers and interested parties and organizations from the rural area.
We went through three steps to work towards a vital countryside for West Maas en Waal.
- We identified the topics for the program and outlined the goals and challenges.
- We reviewed the current policy in this area.
- We established new policies.
We visited 18 agricultural businesses in the horticulture, crop farming, and (intensive) livestock sectors. During these discussions, we talked about how their businesses are doing, what challenges they face (including those related to laws and regulations), and how they see the future of their businesses and the sector. We also explored opportunities and potential solutions for issues such as climate adaptation, secondary roles, circular agriculture, and developments regarding farmers who are retiring. The insights gathered have been incorporated into the draft program.
Feedback
The timeline
- The draft "Vital Rural Areas" program was adopted by the municipal council on January 29, 2026.
- Starting March 4, 2026, the draft program will be available for public review for six weeks.
- Anyone can then post substantive comments.
- We will then carefully review the feedback and make any necessary adjustments to the Vital Rural Areas program.
- The council will adopt the "Vitaal Platteland" program. The date of adoption will depend on the number and content of the responses.
- Once it has been finalized, the final "Vitaal Platteland" program will be posted on our website.