The plan foresees an increase in the port area of nearly 1,800 hectares. The Verrebroek dock on the left bank will be lengthened, and a new lock built on the Deurganck dock. The plan also leaves the door open for a new Saeftinghe dock at some point in the future. The land required for that dock has already led the town of Doel to be mostly abandoned; it is currently occupied by activists fighting the issue in the courts.

The latest plan reserves the same fate for two tiny hamlets, Ouden Doel and Rapenburg, which will become part of a new flood area. According to the plan, the infrastructure that would be required for them to remain is too expensive.

The Grup plan will mean a loss of land for up to 250 farmers, a move that is heavily criticised by farming union Boerenbond, which described itself as “betrayed”. The 1,800-hectare extension of the port area – the equivalent of 3,500 football pitches – sees 808 hectares going to industry and 938 to nature conservancy, to serve as breeding grounds for waterfowl in compensation for the increase in industrial activity in the area. According to the union, some 250 families will lose land, some of them their entire farms.

Opposition party Groen, meanwhile, criticised the plan for a future Saeftinghe dock. “This is an unnecessary and inefficient investment,” commented Björn Rzoska, a member of the Flemish parliament. “A second tidal dock is absolutely not required, since the Deurganck dock is currently underused.”

The plan will now be submitted to the Council of State for an opinion on its legality, before it continues on the path towards becoming law.