What is the background of this decision?

In the Intermunicipal Strategic Vision Avenue Tree Center Betuwe (hereafter: IGS) from 2015, it has already been stated that tree cultivation roughly east of the A50 is undesirable due to the demands for housing, work, traffic, and recreation in this area. However, the municipality has never fully translated this into spatial regulations until now. As a result, the area for avenue tree cultivation - also east of the A50 - has been able to grow significantly in recent years. This is what the IGS states about avenue tree cultivation:

The eastern part, with the centers of Elst and Oosterhout, is now predominantly an intermediary area in the urban region between Arnhem and Nijmegen. From the Arnhem - Nijmegen Urban Region, there is a significant demand in terms of housing, work, traffic, and recreation for the municipality of Overbetuwe. This is an area of more intensive use where changes occur relatively quickly. In this zone, there are more functions located that play a role for the entire urban region. This includes housing, work, culture (history), infrastructure, but also Park Lingezegen (recreation and landscape in the National Buffer Zone). Due to the aforementioned use and function of the area, the development of avenue tree cultivation is not desired here. Furthermore, due to this function and the corresponding spatial occupation, there are hardly any suitable lands available for avenue tree cultivation.

What is the reason for this decision? 

Overbetuwe is in the process of updating the Environmental Vision. In April, the municipal council approved a Course Document for this purpose www.overbetuwe.nl/actualisatie-omgevingsvisie. This provides direction for the Environmental Vision. In it, the municipality confirms a new future course. There is no place for monotonous, large-scale agricultural activities. New tree cultivation will only be allowed in the area west of the A50. The new course will later be translated into the Environmental Plan Overbetuwe. However, this will take some time. Therefore, the municipal council has taken this preparatory decision. This is to prevent developments from occurring in the meantime that do not fit the new course.
 

This is what the Course Document says about the rural area. “We strive for a rural area with a diverse agricultural sector without a monotonous, large-scale and/or intensive image. We aim for a variety of activities that collectively strengthen the rural area. This mix varies by landscape type. In the open basins, this is primarily land-based livestock farming. On the more small-scale riverbanks, this is a mix of mainly arable farming, fruit, and tree cultivation (the latter west of the A50), supplemented by ancillary activities such as housing and extensive recreation (network) for the purpose of day recreation. We are cautious with functions that are not or less land-based. The functional balance varies by sub-area, influenced by identity. We want to prevent expansion where one of the functions becomes too dominant or large-scale.”