Relocation process of companies
in Utrecht that cause too much nuisance.
In the last decades 60 companies
moved from
the inner medieval city of Utrecht to
industrial areas outside of town.
This relocation of companies was
part of a larger process of city renewal.
For management of the process of
city renewal a new municipal department was created: The
Department
of City Renewal.
This department organizes the
improvement of houses, streets, sewage etc. A special part of the
city-renewal was the relocation of companies that caused a nuisance. This
relocation was necessary because the level of maintenance of environmental standards
and safety legislation was modified. However,
some industries were relocated
not primarily as a result of their nuisance factor,
but because of basic property values.
The basic instruments used to
manage the revitalisation process are:
-
voluntary co-operation between the municipal
administration and the companies
-
partial
subsidies for
relocation
The
process was managed on a
case-by-case approach. To select the companies for relocation an
instrument of industrial categories was used: only companies of category 3 and
higher were selected. There was no forced prioritisation with respect to the sequence of relocation of companies.
In that way companies
could choose the most appropriate moment for relocation.
For
every activity the nuisance was described.
Indicators for nuisance:
-
the nuisance of the activity because of traffic and
logistics
-
environmental and risk factors (noise, odour, dust,
risk)
Firstly,
the
real necessity of
relocation was evaluated. When Best Available Techniques related to the type of activity made
it possible for the company to operate without creating a nuisance,
a contribution in the costs for these Best Available Techniques
was given as a subsidy.
A company’s viability was also evaluated with
the help of an economic screening which
was done to draw a
picture of the chances of the company in the future. Moreover,
the history of the company was verified:
it should have been
legally located for at least 5 years.
The
city then offered a relocation area.
The company could do whatever it
wanted to do with the old location. Usage for new industrial activities was
only possible after permission by the city.
To prevent the settlement of a
new inconvenient activity, the owner had to sign a so-called
"carry-over conditions paper" by which a new owner also had to ask
permission for the usage of the location for industrial activities. (After some
years a new Land use plan prevented this settlement, so this "carry-over
conditions paper" lost its value).
The
contribution of the city was limited to 100% of the removal-costs and 50% of
the re-installation-costs.
This
relocation was a success:
-
the contribution was enough to help the companies
to a new start in more favourable circumstances
-
the
relocation-process did not lead to a "mono-functional" city without
any industrial activity. This contributed to the liveliness of the town.
-
as a
result of the voluntary co-operation, no significant problems were met in the
process of managing the process of revitalisation.
Financial resources:
Funds from National
Department of VROM (Housing and Environment) for the renewal of town and
villages
|