# Moerdijk village survives as port expansion shrinks to 200 hectares

> State Secretary De Bat says the planned port and industrial expansion can be cut from 450 hectares, a year after residents were told their Brabant village would have to make way.

Politics · published 2026-11-13 05:45 · https://nlnow.nl/a/moerdijk-village-survives-as-port-expansion-shrinks-to-200-hectares/

State Secretary De Bat (Climate and Green Growth) said the expansion of the port and industrial area next to Moerdijk can be limited from 450 to 200 hectares, so the village can remain. He set out the revised plans at a press conference in the village today, a day after sending a letter to parliament.

A year ago it was announced that the village would have to make way for the expansion. Moerdijk alderman (wethouder) Dingemans stressed that the earlier decision to dissolve the village was also based on the 450-hectare plan.

De Bat said research showed the expansion could be scaled down. The difference lies mainly in changed expectations about the future of hydrogen and the circular economy, he said. "We have now chosen to keep Moerdijk and to keep the surrounding area liveable. That is the direction we are now taking."

Asked how plans could change so fast, De Bat said that when a new dossier lands, you look at it and ask questions. One of them, he said, was how firm the national government's expansion target really was.

The national government, the province and the municipality will now examine whether the new plans can succeed without putting the liveability of Moerdijk and the surrounding villages under pressure.

Dingemans said he also worries about the smaller expansion. "People cannot live in an unliveable environment. That is and will remain the starting point," he said. The impact may be less concentrated, he added, but it spreads over a larger area where people live, so it needs a broader look.

He said he could well imagine residents feel like a political football. "Our job now is to win back trust," he said.

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