On Thursday, the council gave a favourable opinion on the “modification of the existing PAG [general development plan]”, Bissen mayor Jos Schummer told our colleagues at Paperjam.

Only four councillors actually voted in favour of the plans and two members of the CSV majority party voted against. But with five members of the opposition abstaining from the vote, the motion was carried.

Last January, the council had already given the green light for ad hoc zoning changes. The plans were then made public so that residents could make comments prior to the opinion being delivered on its reclassification. According to Paperjam, 76 complaints were filed.

“But most of them were theoretically inadmissible. Some of them mentioned Google, but this company does not yet have any official link with the procedures. Others raised questions about the development of the Busbierg site. However, this is not the subject here, which is only the reclassification of land. Nevertheless, I have taken good note of these remarks in order to include them in the development plan,” Schummer said.

The land was acquired by London Bridge, acting on behalf of Google, to create a data centre, an investment estimated at around €1b, which could generate up to 300 jobs.

Thursday’s vote means that Google will now be able to submit a development plan, describing in detail the water and electricity needs of the site and sources of supply.