In the Great Harvest approach, the province collaborates with municipalities and businesses on the sustainability of the largest business parks in Brabant. Now, six new locations are joining this approach all at once. These are Vorstengrafdonk in Oss, Loopkant-Liessent in Maashorst, Haven in Land van Cuijk, Majoppeveld-Borchwerf I in Roosendaal, Emer-Krogten in Breda, and Weststad in Oosterhout.
Map of Business Parks in the Great Harvest (pdf, 801 kB)
Many of todays challenges converge at business parks. Whether it concerns available space in Brabant, the energy transition, good employment practices, or accessibility. It is in everyones interest to find good solutions for these issues. However, the province has more than 650 business parks: too many to be actively involved in all of them.
In 2023, the province started with twelve of the largest business parks in Brabant, together accounting for 33 percent of the energy consumption of all Brabant business parks. With the Great Harvest, a kickstart has been given to discussions about, for example, batteries, collective charging infrastructure, and greening projects. These are integrated and data-driven plans, often requiring a long-term commitment. Not working in isolation, but collectively putting our shoulders to the wheel.
The Great Harvest has truly sparked a movement. Stijn Smeulders, deputy
“The Great Harvest has truly sparked a movement,” says deputy Stijn Smeulders. “That’s why we agreed in our coalition agreement to expand the approach. I am glad we can now do that. We have looked at the data again and selected business parks where we can make the most impact. More than at the start of the Great Harvest, you notice that companies are being forced to think about the energy issue due to pressure on the power grid. It is a significant and important task, especially since electrification leads to lower nitrogen emissions. That is, of course, one of the challenges we will help with as a province.”
Flying Start
For the original twelve Great Harvest parks, the province, municipalities, and businesses each contributed 250,000 euros to give the approach a flying start. This amounts to a total of 750,000 euros per park. The same is expected to happen for the six parks being added to the approach.
