Municipalities
Competent authority for local planning, the heat transition and many permits.
- Knowledge Base
Six lessons for the urban replacement task as Rotterdam tackles 55 bridges and locks
Rotterdam is bringing the first six of 55 movable bridges and locks to market this year. Municipalities carry more than half of the national replacement costs, but have neither a national investment programme nor a route decision procedure. Six lessons for stakeholder and environmental management in the city.
Read more → - Analysis
Building where the infrastructure already is: accessibility becomes a selection criterion
The Dutch government designated five new large-scale housing sites for 30,000 homes without a euro for access infrastructure. Accessibility has shifted from an investment task to a selection criterion. That does not shrink the stakeholder challenge, it changes its character.
Read more → - Knowledge Base
Grid-conscious housing: six steps to a neighbourhood that fits the network
The electricity grid increasingly decides whether a housing scheme goes ahead. Grid-conscious construction is presented as a technical fix, but it stands or falls on the agreements between municipality, network operator, developer and resident. A practical guide.
Read more → - Knowledge Base
Participation under scrutiny: six lessons as the courts examine minimum requirements
Six homes in Rhenen, twelve in Baarle-Nassau and one distribution substation in Zeist will determine how participation under the Environment and Planning Act is judicially reviewed. Six lessons for project organisations that would rather not wait for the outcome.
Read more → - Knowledge Base
The designation power in practice: six principles for stakeholder management under the Wgiw
From 1 July 2026 a Dutch municipality may require a neighbourhood to abandon natural gas. That shifts the heat transition from persuasion to designation, and turns public support from a soft ambition into a legal precondition. A practical guide in six principles.
Read more → - Projects
A 200-megawatt battery next to the neighbourhood: storage as a stakeholder challenge
TenneT is contracting large batteries to relieve the congested grid: the first, Sequoia near Oosterhout, is rated at 200 MW. But the battery that saves the grid still has to stand somewhere. The bottleneck shifts from grid capacity to siting, safety and public support.
Read more → - Policy
Heat zones, authority and participation: what the Collective Heat Act demands from municipalities and environmental managers
Since 1 January 2026, municipalities direct district heating networks in the Netherlands. They designate heat zones, select heat companies and safeguard affordability. But how do you ensure residents aren't presented with a fait accompli? A practical guide for stakeholder and environmental managers implementing the Collective Heat Act.
Read more → - Policy
At the tipping point: what the environmental services robustness deadline means for infrastructure projects
By 1 April 2026, all 28 Dutch environmental services must meet the robustness criteria for licensing, inspection and enforcement. Many will not. This has direct consequences for permitting processes in infrastructure projects, and for the organisations that depend on them.
Read more → - Policy
Participation under the Environment and Planning Act: the new reality for infrastructure projects
Since 1 January 2026, the transition period of the Dutch Environment and Planning Act has fully expired. What does the participation requirement mean in practice for stakeholder and environmental management at major infrastructure projects?
Read more →