After discussions at the weekend between supporters within the government of various competing plans, ministers reached a compromise which will give the people of Antwerp a chance to express their view on the development – though the referendum will not be binding on the government.

The so-called Oosterweel Link is a plan to connect the left bank of the Scheldt with the Antwerp Ring and E19. Two different plans are still in the running –one developed by the Antwerp Mobile Management (BAM) agency (which consists of a tunnel under the river, and a viaduct passing over populated parts of the inner city to join the Ring near Merksem) and another worked out by study bureau ARUP/SUM (involving a tunnel running in virtually a straight line from the left bank to the A12/E19 interchange north of Merksem).

The Lange Wapper viaduct is the most controversial aspect of the BAM plan, with opponents claiming it will bring pollution into residential areas as it passes only metres above houses and schools. A plan supported by activists in the groups StRaten-Generaal and Ademloos has now been rejected, according to spokesman Manu Claeys.

The two remaining plans will be put to residents of Antwerp in a referendum in October. But the Flemish government has pledged only to “take into account” the results of the referendum. If the result is a negative one, Claeys says, “the government will simply set it aside. If they’ve done it with a wide-ranging study like the one by ARUP, they can certainly do it with a referendum,” he said. But Antwerp mayor Patrick Janssens, who supports the ARUP/SUM plan, holds out more hope: “This referendum is not without obligation. I can’t imagine how the government could stay in place if they just ignored the outcome.”