Coastal mayors want even more commerce on the beach
Never before have so many beach bars been on the Belgian coast. The rules are ten years old and coastal mayors are lobbying today for further relaxation, although they are not getting along among themselves. Several seaside resorts are all pushing the limits of what is allowed. According to the nature and environmental movement, the beach really is full.
"We are far from waiting for a relaxation of the rules," says Bart Vanwildemeersch of the West Flanders Environmental Federation (WMF). "Any relaxation is a weakening of what is already weak. Beach clubs and bars want to expand their concessions and pave more. The pressure for additional year-round recreation is enormous on Belgium's beaches. But many of those beach clubs and bars are in or adjacent to transitional areas. In fact, that is already an incision on nature, but there is hardly any enforcement."
In Knokke-Heist, beach bar owners pioneered the sale of drinks with the rental of their booths, chairs and umbrellas in the late 1990s. The recipe proved successful: meanwhile, more than seventy beach bars are open, spread over nine of the ten coastal municipalities, each with their own private terraces. More than 300,000 square meters of beach and embankment are under concession for all kinds of rentals.
Up to half of the beach in the centers of Belgian seaside towns is commercialized. Scattered along the coastline are more than 10,000 cabins, next to each other every three meters.
Beach tourism is mainly concentrated in the centers of barely 67 kilometers of coastline, on a beach no more than 500 meters wide. Yet only a fifth of that area is "high beach. That is the "dry beach" between high tide line and dike or dune where commercial exploitations are possible.
Discussion of rules
Ten years ago, the provincial spatial implementation plan (PRUP) Beach and Dike detailed for each seaside resort what could and especially could not be done. Spacing rules gave proprietors exceptionally more options during the corona crisis. At a preparatory meeting of the previous Consultation of Coastal Mayors, a semi-annual meeting, the question of additional possibilities on the beach sounded.
This requires an amendment to the PRUP. "Why shouldn't a certain stretch of beach be temporarily occupied in winter," said Blankenberge Mayor Bjorn Prasse (Open Vld). "Some rules, such as certain surface areas within the beach areas, are also not in line with what is workable."
According to Mayor of De Panne Bram Degrieck (The Plan-B), the PRUP was indeed not made for activities in winter. "The time when shopkeepers boarded up windows in winter is long gone. The beach should be at least as attractive in summer as in winter. That's why we support the call for adjustments."
That those regulations are outdated here and there was observed by everyone in practice, Mayor Prasse believes. "But everyone deals with it pragmatically, because there is not only the letter of the law, there is also such a thing as the spirit of the law. Regulations must always be interpreted, both when granting permits and when checking compliance."
An initiative to revise the PRUP does lie with the provincial government. For now, the deputation is holding off. Mayor Prasse thinks a revision would be useful: "All spatial plans have an expiration date. If you see that in practice, with all the best intentions, the rules are not workable, then they need to be tinkered with."
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Opportunities maximized
Middelkerke Mayor Jean-Marie Dedecker (LDD) also wants to continue the discussion. "We are going to put the expansion of possibilities for beach bars on the agenda again at the next meeting," Dedecker said. He will become chairman of the Consultation of Coastal Mayors after the summer.
"There are problems with the current rules, in some places you are allowed too much, in other places too little. We just resolved a discussion about a floor on a beach bar. The regulations say that from the seawall you must always be able to see the water line, but it doesn't say whether that has to be high or low tide." Consequence after consultation with the Maritime Services and Coastal Agency: the beach bar with floor may remain.
That there is discussion about the interpretation of the PRUP does not deny even the Maritime Services and Coast Agency (MDK). That owns just about all the beaches and dikes on the coast. "The different interpretations are coordinated bilaterally, but there are no items that have led to contractual disputes over the beach and seawall concession," says spokesman Peter Van Camp.
A key part of the PRUP that is open to interpretation revolves around the 50% rule on "privatized use of the beach" in downtown areas. "Some charge half the area and others see half the length," Van Camp said. "There should also always be a five-meter clear strip between dike and exploitation and the high-water line and exploitation. From spot checks, we see no excesses, but the possibility of exploitation is being maximized."
"We see a lot of beach bars being combined with the operation of a beach park with seat rental, for example. The salvage of that seat rental is very often integrated into one site making the area much larger than 60 m². Such an interpretation is possible because the text of the PRUP is not completely conclusive."
The PRUP does state maximum surface areas, but nowhere how many beach bars are allowed on one stretch of beach. "For us, that's a spatial gap," says Van Camp. "You could theoretically put many more bars on the same surface area."
Gray zone
The Maritime and Coastal Services Agency also sees how the gray zone of regulations is being sought. The city of Ostend goes the furthest in this. The queen of seaside cities considers beach bars as an 'event' and not as a 'consumption area'. The city therefore grants 'event zones' under concession. The Agency appraises the surface of the consumption area as in the other coastal municipalities, but this does raise questions.
In fact, in just about all other municipalities, beach bars must apply for environmental permits. These are then tested against the PRUP. This contains strict rules regarding, among other things, maximum surface areas.
Municipalities and operators can also deviate from the PRUP by making use of the 'exemption decree'. This is a popular deviation option. For temporary constructions - so also on the beach - four times thirty days a year, just about all the rules can be deviated from, except in a vulnerable area or where a municipal RUP prohibits something. "Municipalities are appealing more and more to the exemption decree," says Stephaan Barbery, head of the Spatial Planning department at the province of West Flanders. "The condition is that the destination is restored to its original state afterwards."
Operators of beach, sailing and surf clubs are also asking for more opportunities to build storage areas on the beach. Often those clubs are in the far corners of centers and adjacent to natural areas, making the balancing act even more difficult.
"Some fine-tuning is possible," says Anthony Wittesaele (Gemeentebelangen), alderman in Knokke-Heist. "I'm thinking of some flexibility for certain events, but we shouldn't overdo it, because the carrying capacity is quickly exceeded."
"You used to have a multitude of catering establishments on the dike," Wittesaele states. "Fortunately, the PRUP prohibits restaurants on the beach, but if there is less hospitality on the dike, maybe that function should be able to be taken over by beach entrepreneurs."
"It's a balancing act, but if we grant new concessions, maybe we should also consider who has a business on the dike. That combination makes for greater livability. Don't forget that beach operations involve a great entrepreneurial risk, because you are at the mercy of the natural elements."
At the end of 2026 in Knokke-Heist, the current concessions will end and all lots will be reopened to anyone who wants to do business. "If you make a public asset available for economic exploitation, then everyone should have the same opportunities. That will not be obvious, because entrepreneurs have been operating here for four generations."
Still, the city council can impose all kinds of conditions in its specifications to give direction to whoever it wants on its beaches. "We don't want Disney or Coca-Cola beaches here," says alderman Wittesaele. "We want to maintain quality and experience, and those can be criteria as well."
No Disney beaches
It remains to be seen whether the current scale is of interest to big players. The Blankenberg city council threw open the market in 2019, but fished in the same pond. Although the game may not have been played fairly. A judicial investigation into alleged price-fixing among the (candidate) concessionaires is currently underway.
With thirteen bars, Blankenberge fetches a lot less than Nieuwpoort, which after an auction brought in no less than 138,000 euros in concession revenue for only two bars.
The concessions from the first auction expire in Blankenberge at the end of 2026. Knokke-Heist will host its first auction that year. "We are not quite sure yet what the modalities will look like," says alderman Wittesaele. "Do we give the beach in concession for seven, 12 or 15 years?"
"I think the exploitations are nicely spread out now, but we have to think about that too. Also whether the number of 24 exploitations fits with the experience we envision as a seaside town. It is a story with many aspects, after all, the beach is first and foremost a seawall and in addition tourism and ecology also come into play."
Fears about the arrival of big commercial guys are not unfounded, as the market has been cleared. In France, there have long been protests against mega-operations on privatized beaches. There, multinational Veolia, among others, won a tender to exploit a beach on the Atlantic coast.
The concessions from the first auction expire in Blankenberge at the end of 2026. Knokke-Heist will host its first auction that year. "We are not quite sure yet what the modalities will look like," says alderman Wittesaele. "Do we give the beach in concession for seven, 12 or 15 years?"
"I think the exploitations are nicely spread out now, but we have to think about that too. Also whether the number of 24 exploitations fits with the experience we envision as a seaside town. It is a story with many aspects, after all, the beach is first and foremost a seawall and in addition tourism and ecology also come into play."
Fears about the arrival of big commercial guys are not unfounded, as the market has been cleared. In France, there have long been protests against mega-operations on privatized beaches. There, multinational Veolia, among others, won a tender to exploit a beach on the Atlantic coast.
In Italy, the obligation to publicly tender the stabilimenti balneari has ended up in a round of arm wrestling between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the European Commission. The latter links the payment of millions in aid from the Corona Recovery Fund to the opening up of the beach bar market to any provider from a European member state. If this does not happen, the aid will not be paid.
Big players are not active on the Belgian coast. Only in Bredene does one company own three beach bars, but even there it is a local entrepreneur, as in the other seaside resorts. Unilever is the only multinational to have a concession on the coast, for ice cream sales in Ostend.
Outsider De Panne
De Panne is a maverick. The westernmost seaside resort on the coast does not know the concept of beach bars. That doesn't mean there is no catering on the beach. Local restaurants and cafes operate as many as 25 beach terraces there, linked to their business, where some 4,000 people can put their feet in the sand at the same time.
The infrastructure around this leads to additional pressure on the beach. The non-profit organization Protect Trees and Nature is challenging the environmental permit for "the planché" before the Council for Permit Disputes. That is a kilometer-long removable concrete path across the beach. The planché leads visitors through the dike to beach terraces and beach rentals.
"Surely it should be possible for a local government to install removable structures year-round," said Mayor Bram Degrieck. "I don't think local government initiatives should be crippled by other governments."
The Agency for Nature and Forests advises unfavorably. Protect Trees and Nature argues that the tranquility of the beach with its biotic elements will be disturbed. In addition, the organization fears damage to natural values and the valuable ecosystem.
On the question of adjusting restrictions around surface area, Degrieck says he is realistic. "I don't think we should set high expectations," he says. He also points to the Coastal Vision, a plan by the Flemish government to protect the coast from rising sea levels beyond 2050.
"The Coastal Vision launches slopes to widen dikes and proposes the dune-by-dike principle." The latter means that the beach will no longer be reclaimed and laid flat so that natural vegetation can retain sand.
With the dune-by-dike principle, a stretch of exploitable beach is likely to be lost. "The possibilities for redevelopment of sea dikes will probably become wider. It will therefore be more important to align the PRUP with the new Flemish regulatory framework."
Less
With that last caveat in mind, the nature and environmental movement is just now asking for fewer opportunities for beach operations. There appears to be no support anymore for some parts of the ten-year-old PRUP. This is the case, for example, for a derogation to allow operations in areas of the Flemish Ecological Network (VEN) such as in Bredene.
Because the beach remains a good buffer against storm surges, beaches are replenished annually (replenishment) with sand from the sea. This cost the taxpayer 18.5 million euros last year. "Suppletions are not only a story of coastal protection, but are also requested in function of more space on the beaches for tourism," notes Bart Vanwildemeersch of the West Flanders Environmental Federation.
He points to a principle of the PRUP. Article 8 says that the morphology of the beach must be taken into account in the layout. Structural relief changes are only allowed in the context of sea defense. "Surely this is at odds with the leveling of our beaches, the mechanical cleaning of beaches, the construction of cabins at dune footings that are sometimes even excavated, or the licensing of a concrete path on the beach against the advice of an administration," says Vanwildemeersch.
"Now there is too much reasoning from a tourist commercial point of view. We certainly want to recognize the tourist value of the coast, but the approach now is skewed and no longer in the public interest. The PRUP should have kept that balance."
According to Vanwildemeersch, we need to evolve toward natural beaches and let recreation fit in there. "Bruges is trying to manage its Zeebrugge beach more naturally, with an eye for recreational opportunities. They noticed that people hang out at the level of a dike, right by the water or in the newly constructed dunes."
"The recreationist clearly does not find an open beach plain attractive enough. The approach in Zeebrugge does show that recreational co-use can be installed under the dune-by-dike principle. That does require overarching management and also enforcement, which is lacking now."
It remains to be seen what the province will do. For now, the initiative was limited to a roundtable discussion. This showed that there is no consensus among the mayors. Among others, Wilfried Vandaele (N-VA), mayor in De Haan, previously expressed criticism of further relaxations.
Thijs Descamps, chief of cabinet of West Flanders deputy Sabien Lahaye-Battheu (Open Vld), does formulate a reservation on the demand for relaxation. "It is not because there would be a revision that by definition more would be allowed. Given the ever-tightening legislation, you might end up with a different outcome at the end than what you set out for."
Money in the bank
In any case, the rental of beaches and dikes brings money into three pots: to beach entrepreneurs, to local governments that collect concession fees, and to a lesser extent to the Flemish government (Agency for Maritime Services and Coast) that gives the beaches in concession to the municipalities. Except for the beach along the dike of De Panne, pieces of Koksijde and the port of Zeebrugge, the entire coastline is owned by the Flemish Region.
However, Flanders only collects 10% of the amount it would be legally allowed to charge. "This is because a number of charges are shifted to the municipalities, such as the granting of permits, the organization of competition, cleaning up sand nuisance or the installation of signage," says Peter Van Camp.
In 2022, Flanders collected 440,751 euros in concession fees from the coastal municipalities, excluding De Panne. Those municipalities in turn collected at least 2.3 million euros from their concessionaires, although the figures do not include income from De Haan and Ostend.