Why did wide roads suddenly appear in the green space at Herentals' Haanheuvel?
Broad new access roads have been cut through the wooded Haanheuvel green space on the edge of Herentals. This is not a building project but drinking-water infrastructure: the utility Pidpa says the roads are needed to renew its groundwater wells on the site.
In 30 seconds
- Wide access roads have been cut through the Haanheuvel green space on the edge of Herentals (Kempen, province of Antwerp), per Het Nieuwsblad.
- The utility Pidpa says the roads are essential to renew its groundwater wells (waterputten) on the site.
- Pidpa is the intercommunal drinking-water company serving most of the province of Antwerp, drawing groundwater from the Kempen subsoil.
- Such works are typically covered by an omgevingsvergunning, viewable via the Vlaams Omgevingsloket, with restoration conditions overseen by the city and, for woodland, by ANB.
Pidpa (Provinciale en Intercommunale Drinkwatermaatschappij der Provincie Antwerpen) is the intercommunal utility that supplies drinking water across most of the province of Antwerp, drawing much of it as groundwater from the sandy Kempen subsoil. The Haanheuvel is a wooded green space on the edge of Herentals, a town in the Kempen. According to Het Nieuwsblad, Pidpa has cut wide access roads through the site to renew its groundwater wells (waterputten) — heavy drilling equipment needs firm, broad ground to reach each wellhead, which is why an apparently sudden set of roads has appeared in the green area.
Background
Belgium's drinking-water utilities have for decades relied on groundwater from Flanders' sandy soils, and the Kempen is a long-established extraction zone. Wells periodically need re-drilling as yields decline. In recent years, successive dry summers have sharpened concern about groundwater levels across Flanders, giving the reliable maintenance of existing extraction points added weight.
What to do
Residents wanting certainty should consult the omgevingsvergunning on omgevingsloket.be, contact Stad Herentals' dienst omgeving, and use Pidpa's works-notice channels on pidpa.be; for tree-clearance or conservation questions, ANB and Natuurpunt are the relevant bodies. All correspondence in Herentals runs in Dutch.
Impact
Regional — The direct impact is local: altered access and appearance at the Haanheuvel green space during the works, temporary disturbance for walkers and nearby residents, and, more broadly, the security of Pidpa's groundwater supply for its service area in the Kempen once the wells are renewed.
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- 5 Aug 2026
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- 5 Aug 2026
- Publication date unavailable
- Retrieved by ODIN:
- 5 Aug 2026
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.