Dutch municipalities still building homes around goat farms despite health risks
Despite the well-known and well-documented health risks of living near a goat farm, Dutch municipalities have built tens of thousands of homes around these agricultural institutions in recent years. The housing shortage outweighs the health consequences, NRC reports.
In December, the Health Council became the latest Dutch authority to warn against living too close to goats. According to the Health Council, people who live within 1 kilometer of a goat farm have a significantly increased risk of pneumonia and other lung diseases. But the umbrella organization for the GGD municipal health services, which advises municipalities on construction permits, has been advising against building within 2 kilometers of a goat farm since 2017.
According to an analysis by Omroep Gelderland, Follow The Money, and NRC of building permits issued since 2017, some 50,000 homes have been built within a 2-kilometer radius of a goat farm. Within a 1-kilometer radius, it concerns around 10,000 homes. Over half of the municipalities have built at least one home within a 1-kilometer radius of a goat farm.
It can’t be said that municipalities are unaware of the dangers. Nine of the Netherlands' 12 provinces have banned the opening of new goat farms and the expansion of existing ones. But the pressure on the housing market is so high that municipalities have decided to ignore the GGD and Health Council’s advice.
Deventer is the municipality that built the most homes around a goat farm. This is largely due to a new neighborhood in Steenbrugge, consisting of around 900 homes. Approximately 700 of them are located within a kilometer of a goat farm.
The local GGD advised Deventer to exercise “restraint” in building within 250 meters, pointing to the increased health risks of living within 2 kilometers of a goat farm. The livestock farmer himself requested that no construction be done within 500 meters. But according to NRC, the first homes are about 450 meters away.
“The housing shortage is also significant in Deventer,” a municipal spokesperson told the newspaper. He said that the GGD’s recommendations were a “significant factor” in the decision-making process, but “arguments other than public health” also played a role.
