After weighing all interests, the preliminary relief judge of the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State has decided that the nature permit for Circuit Park Zandvoort will not be suspended. This is stated in a provisional ruling of the preliminary relief judge of August 2, 2022. The activities and events on the circuit terrain can therefore continue pending the final decision. The final decision on the nature permit will follow in 2023.
Nature permit
In 2019, the provincial executive of Noord-Holland granted a nature permit for the exploitation of the circuit and a number of adjustments to the circuit terrain. These adjustments were made, among other things, with a view to Formula 1 and consist of placing temporary stands, earthmoving, construction of two tunnels and reinforcing the access paths for pedestrians. Four different environmental and nature organizations object to the nature permit. According to them, the use of the circuit terrain will lead to an increase in nitrogen precipitation on the nearby protected Natura 2000 area 'Kennemerland-Zuid'. With a view to the protection of this nature reserve, they asked the preliminary relief judge to suspend the nature permit.
Reference situation
In order to assess whether the nature permit leads to more nitrogen emissions, the new situation must be compared with what was previously permitted on the circuit terrain on the basis of the permits granted at the time. This is called the reference situation. The parties differ on what exactly that reference situation entails. The preliminary relief judge ruled that in the first place the environmental permit from 1997 is leading. This permit made it possible to use the track all year round for car and motorsports and other large-scale public events. Two nature permits were subsequently granted in 2011 and 2015. Contrary to what the environmental organizations claim, those permits further expanded the use of the track. In the preliminary judgment of the preliminary relief judge, the circuit area in the old situation was therefore allowed to be used all year round for motorsports and other large-scale public events, while that use is limited in the new license from 2021 to a maximum of 337 days per year for racing. with non-electric cars and motorcycles on the track.
Balance of interests
In order to determine whether an interim injunction should be taken, the preliminary relief judge then weighed up the interests between, on the one hand, the interests of nature, which the environmental and nature organizations represent, and, on the other hand, the general and economic interests of the Zandvoort circuit. This balancing of interests is in favor of the Zandvoort circuit. In addition, the preliminary relief judge attached greater importance to being able to continue activities on the circuit, at least for the time being, including Formula 1 in September. Significant investments have not only been made in the circuit area itself, but also in the infrastructure of Zandvoort and the surrounding area. On the other hand, the interest of nature is not the deciding factor in this case. The new nature permit allows fewer activities on the track than in the reference situation. For example, the number of days on which racing is allowed on the track has been limited and, for the first time, regulations have also been included that maximize the nitrogen emissions from the track area. In addition, the circuit site was not used for a number of months in 2019-2020 and activities in 2020-2021 were limited due to the corona crisis, according to the Council of State.
