The new residential district on the outskirts of Wijnegem is being developed by De Ideale Woning. At the site the social housing company is building a mix of social rental and owner-occupied apartments to house, and feed, around three hundred families. The initiative aims to conserve the rural character of the residential expansion area and safeguard some of the open space for food production. Although the site is classified as a residential expansion area, De Ideale Woning has reserved 5.5 hectares of plots for a local farm, in addition to space for a neighbourhood park and allotments. The renovation of De Werve Hoef village farm is part of the investment project.
What makes this residential expansion different is the fact De Ideale Woning was already interested in integrating the agricultural land on which it planned to build with communal use of the open space early on in the process. A partnership soon took shape with De Landgenoten, which acts as leaseholder and guarantees long-term use of the land for food production. De Ideale Woning and De Landgenoten jointly appointed farmer Wannes, who leases it from De Landgenoten for a fair price. De Landgenoten does not use members’ share capital to pay for the leasehold, just donations and income from leasing the land. Income from the lease jointly finances the area’s development. Since the farm is part of the development from the outset, it brings the food producer and the consumer-local residents closer together from the beginning. Local residents can enjoy healthy and local food, grown in their backyard.
Although the homes will not be ready for a few years, in 2020, farmer Wannes already started using some of the plots at the housing development. After the farm’s renovation, he will eventually move into it and set up a neighbourhood shop there. De Werve Hoef shows how an intelligent design, development and related management of a residential expansion area can create space for entrepreneurship focusing on local food production.