New Environment And Planning Act (Omgevingswet)'s 'Participation Requirement' Does Not Imply Consensus, Confirms Recent Case Law

One of the pillars of the Dutch Environmental and Planning Act (Omgevingswet), which went into effect 1 January 2024, is "participation." The new law governs the physical environment in which Dutch citizens live, work, and enjoy leisure time and replaced almost all existing planning regulations in The Netherlands. The idea is to reduce objections and legal proceedings by involving third parties, such as residents, in an early stage of a development. Moving forward, permit applicants must now indicate if and how participation took place and whether this led to any changes in the project. Participation itself is in principle not mandatory.

Yet, this "participation requirement" in the permit application raised the concern with developers that a project would only be possible by ensuring extensive participation and reaching consensus with otherwise unaware third parties. Recent case law demonstrates this does not have to be the case (Rechtbank Noord-Holland 5 maart