Businessman Guido Dumarey (65), who was recently a candidate to take over bus manufacturer Van Hool, risks a fine of 80,000 euros on appeal. At the time, he bought a large farm on the edge of Latem, but damaged a vulnerable nature reserve with illegal interventions, including by installing two sheep stables.
A few years ago, in 2015, Dumarey and his wife bought an old farm with associated agricultural land along the Leie in Sint-Martens-Latem and Deinze. The site is a vulnerable nature reserve. The businessman, always active in the car industry, claimed to have bought the farm in order to eventually engage in farming during his retirement. The old farm was transformed into a luxurious home with sunbeds on the banks of the Leie.
Two sheep stables were placed on a pasture without having applied for an environmental permit. He also had topsoil brought in by tractors and cranes, damaging vegetation, and had drainage ditches dug in a historic grassland to drain the area to an adjacent stream.
Different idea about nature
The businessman was repeatedly reprimanded and interrogated about the illegal interventions, but always claimed that the changes were necessary for his agricultural activities. He saw the installation of the sheep stables as a necessary investment for ponies and donkeys. However, the court in Ghent ruled that that claim was unbelievable. There was no sign of agricultural activity. There was no infrastructure for farming. He received a prison sentence of six months, half of which was suspended, and a fine of 160,000 euros for the long-term damage to nature.
“I have a different idea about nature and the environment than those people,” the businessman responded shortly after the verdict. “Everyone would see that I manage the area around the farm well. I added wetland and planted additional trees. By the way, swamps absorb CO2 much better than trees.”
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No prison sentence
Dumarey therefore appealed. “We are talking about two sheep stables here, not about hundreds of square meters of building violations.” He denies having damaged nature. “I indeed made a mistake and was too negligent in this case, but that punishment is completely disproportionate to the facts.”
But it is not the first time that the businessman has had to appear in court. He was previously convicted 27 times for illegal discharges and other environmental and waste crimes. In the meantime, the stables have been removed and he hopes for a milder punishment from the court. Because the stables are gone and the landscape has been restored to its original state, the public prosecutor wants to agree to a reduced sentence. The Attorney General no longer demanded a prison sentence and stuck with a fine of 80,000 euros.
Verdict on December 27.
