Overview
- The cabinet announced on Friday that it wants new homes and sensitive sites such as schools and care institutions at least 500 metres from goat farms and would bar new farms within that zone.
- The measure responds to RIVM and Health Council findings that living very close to goat farms raises pneumonia risk, although the Health Council had earlier recommended a 1,000-metre precautionary zone.
- Ministers say a 500-metre rule gives most of the health benefit while reducing pressure on housing and agriculture, but the plan must still be legislated and could take about three years to become law.
- Provinces were asked to reflect the intention in their policies now, Noord-Brabant immediately kept its existing moratorium in place and challenged parts of the cabinet's impact analysis that estimated about 3,500 homes within 500 metres versus roughly 23,000 within 1,000 metres.
- As an interim step 114 farms are temporarily barred from expanding, the government pledged funding for further research into causes and mitigation, and the change could affect local housing plans, farm viability and future permits for years to come.