Welfare

How does it work?

Wellness plays a role in many building activities. The location, design and materials determine whether something is appropriate in its surroundings. In the test for prosperity, all aspects of a structure are assessed for good appearance.

The municipality of Leudal has described in its welstandsnota (to be found under the heading Documents at the bottom of this page) what image quality means. If the criteria are met, then a building plan meets 'reasonable standards of appearance'. For some specific buildings additional policy documents with (clearer) criteria have been drawn up. This applies to:

• Agricultural buildings in the outlying area of Leudal
• advertisements

The policy notes are listed under the Documents heading, at the bottom of this product

When is no curb appeal applicable?

Building activities need not be subject to prior welfare review if:

• Are located in welfare-free areas. These areas are indicated in the appendices belonging to the welfare policy;
• it involves structures such as swimming pools, light masts, transmission towers, bridges, pergolas, located in areas subject to building standards;
• these comply with the "object criteria" (to be found in the welfare policy), which are concrete criteria for certain residential structures that require a permit (only in welfare areas);
• there are permit-free structures. On the Omgevingsloket you can check whether or not you need an environmental permit.

For these structures, a test of the requirements of prosperity is not applicable. You are responsible for the (minimum) quality of your building plan.

Excess regulation

If the quality of a permit-free and/or non-standard building is so low that the building is 'in serious conflict with reasonable requirements of prosperity', you can still be addressed by the municipality afterwards. This is regulated in the so-called 'excesses regulation' in the building regulations. An example is painting a building orange or pink or making an extension in a residential area consisting of steel sheet piling. If you have any doubts or questions, you can always contact the Development Team, Space Department, tel: (0475) 85 90 00.

Quality requirements

The building code contains the quality requirements and assessment criteria that a structure must meet:

• general criteria: these focus on the architectural aspects of the design, such as form, scale, material, color, urban planning coherence and building tradition (history). Anything built must meet these general quality requirements;
• area criteria: criteria may be different for each neighborhood. For example, areas with high quality may also have higher requirements for building plans;
• object-oriented criteria: these apply to common smaller structures at homes, such as bay windows, carports and yard fences.

Additional information

Physical Environment Commission

The physical environment committee is an independent advisory committee that advises the municipality on the assessment of reasonable building standards. It does this by testing your building plan against the building regulations. The committee also advises on urban development, such as new construction sites or redevelopment of existing areas. The committee also evaluates monumental plans.

Meetings

The physical environment committee meets on fixed dates at the Leudal town hall on Thursday mornings. The meetings of the committee are open to the public. Anyone may attend the meeting. If you would like to discuss your plan in advance or consult on an issued advice, please contact the official handling your plan.

Official welfare review

Not all applications are reviewed by the physical environment committee. A number of building types will be reviewed officially. This simplifies procedures and allows you to find out more quickly whether your plan complies. A precondition is that more specific criteria or rules have been drawn up for this category of structures. This currently applies to advertisements, image quality plans and accompanying structures for houses.

Objection to advice from physical environment committee

You cannot object to an advice from the physical environment committee. The advice is part of the procedure for an environmental permit. However, you can object to the decision on the entire application. If you disagree with the committee's advice, you can discuss your building plan with the committee. If the advice remains negative, you can ask the Municipal Executive to deviate from the committee's advice. The college can only do this with good reasons. In extreme cases, you can ask the college to submit your building plan to another committee for the physical environment, for example from the municipality of Echt-Susteren or Maasgouw.