Forest

Lijst 1 PS-Vooruit

Vorst is a beautiful municipality. The pleasant parks, the melting pot of cultures, the rich cultural offering and the lively neighborhoods make our municipality a nice place to live. However, there are still many challenges.

  • The prisons of Vorst and Sint-Gillis are currently two closed ‘neighbourhoods’ of 6.5 hectares in the middle of our municipalities with enormous potential. The prison of Vorst is already empty today and must be given a new purpose as soon as possible. In the short term, the site can be used via temporary use to house artists' studios and for all kinds of cultural and sporting activities where young and old meet. In the long term, we see opportunities for affordable and social housing, for an educational campus and much-needed sports facilities. It must become a new and vibrant city district with various functions.
  • Vooruit.brussels has been the driving force in the transformation of Brussels into a city tailored to people for 20 years. A city where public space is designed to be pleasant to stay in and easy to move around. We are convinced that we can also play a pioneering role in Vorst and guide the metamorphosis of the public space in the right direction. The following principles are central to this to make Vorst safe and comfortable for everyone: smooth traffic, separate cycle paths and wide pavements on the major axes, residential areas tailored to residents with mainly one-way streets, and comfortable and efficient public transport.
  • Over the past five years, the number of Dutch speakers has not grown as fast anywhere else as in Vorst. This is an increase of 27 percent. We are paying attention to this increasing presence of Dutch speakers in our municipality, and we are doing so in a connecting way. We are fully committed to an inclusive Vorst with an affordable, accessible, multilingual and low-threshold offer. We are continuously paying attention to the Dutch-language services of our administrative services. In this way, we ensure that everyone has access to this increasingly attractive municipality and everything it has to offer.
  • Vorst is also a very young municipality. More and more families with children are finding their place there. Especially in the poorest neighborhoods in Vorst, the demographic pressure is high, there are fewer open and green spaces and fewer houses have private gardens. That is why we are fighting for a child-friendly municipality with a play policy. We want to ensure that our Vorst children and young people can play freely or do sports in their neighborhood, with a focus on the poorest and most densely populated neighborhoods in Vorst, because that is where the need is greatest. In addition, we ensure a solid youth work with a permanent base.

Together with our list leader and candidate mayor Charles Spapens, we look forward to meeting you in our municipality in the coming weeks and we hope to be able to represent the voice of the people of Vorsten in the new board and the municipal council.

8. Hilde Peeters

Throughout her career, Hilde has brought people into contact with art and culture. She now wants to continue that commitment in Vorst. She wants to put local talent in the spotlight and ensure that artists have a decent studio to work in. As a future mother, she attaches great importance to the place of children and young people. A place in the crèche, homework supervision, a playground in the vicinity and a sports club or youth centre where teenagers can let off steam are essential to her.

26. Els Rochette

Els is a mother of 3 and has lived in Vorst for 28 years. As a result, she has a good idea of ​​the challenges for children and young people. She wants to commit herself to good youth infrastructure, including Chiro H2O. She was director of Globe Aroma, an arts centre for refugees and newcomers, for 15 years. For the past five years, she has been a member of the Brussels Parliament. Combating poverty and homelessness, a safe city and equal rights were her priorities. She wants to continue working on these themes in Vorst!

1. Charles Spapens

Charles Spapens is currently Alderman for Urban Renewal, Culture, Employment and Trade. He is also the proud father of 3 children. For more than 10 years, he has been energetically and determinedly committed to defending the interests of all residents of Vorst. Because he is convinced that we must join forces to face the challenges of tomorrow together and improve the quality of life for everyone in the long term, Charles is introducing himself to you as a candidate for mayor in the elections in October.