Council of State scraps Feyenoord City zoning plans over dropped plans for new stadium

The Council of State (RvS) scrapped the municipality of Rotterdam’s zoning plan for the Feyenoord City project in Rotterdam-Zuid. That means the city cannot start building almost 4,000 homes and the necessary infrastructure, among other things.

“When determining the ‘Feyenoord City’ zoning plan in December 2020, the Rotterdam city council should have realized that a new football stadium on the Nieuwe Maas was not feasible,” the RvS explained its ruling. “In the first place, because there was no certainty about the use of the new football stadium by Feyenoord, but also because there was ‘serious uncertainty and ambiguity about the required financial resources to build the stadium.”

The Feyenoord City zoning plan included the construction of a new football stadium for Feyenoord. According to the zoning plan, the new accommodation for the city’s football club served as a “booster” for area development in Rotterdam-Zuid. Earlier this year, however, the football club announced it was dropping plans for a new stadium. It couldn’t raise the intended costs due to the increasing prices of building materials and developers.

According to the RvS, when the city council adopted the plan, there was insufficient certainty about “the commitment” that Feyenoord would be the main user of the stadium. “Precisely because of this exclusive position, there should have been no doubt whatsoever that Feyenoord would actually use the new stadium. It was up to the city council to ensure that it was sufficiently insured at that time.”

The Rotterdam city council indicated that it wanted to continue with the Feyenoord City area development, with or without the new football stadium. Due to the housing shortage, Rotterdam considers the construction of thousands of homes in the area a top priority.

Over the past 15 years, football club Feyenoord has been working on various options for a new stadium or renovating De Kuip. Earlier this year, the club decided to put its plans on hold for the time being and focus on a longer stay in De Kuip. General manager Dennis te Kloese said he does not rule out that the club will play in De Kuip for another ten years.