Submitting an opinion
The Water Authority Board takes decisions on various matters. Each of these decisions is reached following a carefully conducted decision-making process. If you believe a Water Authority decision will affect you, in many cases you have an opportunity to let us know in advance what you think about the impending decision (then a preliminary decision). You may do so by submitting an opinion.
What is an opinion?
An opinion is your view on a (preliminary) impending decision of the Water Authority Board. Only direct stakeholders in a decision may submit an opinion.
Conditions
When can you submit an opinion?
In many cases, stakeholders have an opportunity to submit an opinion during the decision-making process. We will indicate if this is possible when we publish the preliminary decision in the Water Authority Gazette. You can find all such publications at www.officielebekendmakingen.nl.
Submission procedure
How can you submit an opinion?
The quickest way to submit your opinion is by using the online form. 'Submitting an opinion'
If you are unable to use the online form to submit your opinion, you can use one of the following alternatives:
- by telephone (call the contact person mentioned in the publication of the preliminary decision)
- in writing
Your submission must include:
- your name, address and preferably also your telephone number and email address;
- a description of the relevant preliminary decision;
- your opinion.
Opinions must be submitted within six weeks from the date of publication of the preliminary decision. This date is noted in the issue of the Water Authority Gazette in which the preliminary decision was published.
Background information
What will the Water Authority do with your opinion?
All submitted opinions concerning a preliminary decision are responded to in a public participation report, in which we indicate whether we will amend the preliminary decision on the basis of the opinion. If you have submitted an opinion, you will be personally informed about the final decision and we will provide you with a copy of the public participation report in which we describe our response to your opinion.
Final decisions are also published on www.officielebekendmakingen.nl. The public participation report will be published together with the final decision. We can anonymise your opinion in the public participation report and final decision if desired. Please indicate this when you submit your opinion.
Do you disagree with the response to your opinion?
In many cases, you can lodge an appeal against a final decision with the administrative court. We will let you know if this is the case when we inform you of the final decision. The options for appeal will also be listed in the relevant Water Authority Gazette. A stakeholder who has not submitted an opinion may not lodge an appeal with the administrative court, unless the stakeholder could not reasonably be expected to submit an opinion.