Exemption from building

The municipality of Wassenaar wants more freedom and fewer rules for residents, users and entrepreneurs when applying for permits for buildings or (facade) advertising. Therefore, on April 19, 2017, the City Council decided to designate a welfare-free area after a trial period and an evaluation. Its boundaries are shown on the map.

Map indicating the area in which welfare-free construction is allowed.
Welcoming area

What does this mean for you?

When you submit an application for an environmental permit, the Welfare and Cultural Heritage Commission (hereinafter: WCE) assesses whether the guidelines in the "Wassenaar Welfare and Visual Quality Handbook" are met. In the wellbeing-free area, plans for which an environmental permit is required are no longer assessed on wellbeing aspects.

Three categories of environmental permits are exempt from this:

  1. environmental permits related to cultural-historically valuable and highly valuable objects; the addresses are listed in Appendix D to Part 3 of Band II of the Manual.

  2. developments that are contrary to the zoning plan and can only be cooperated with via Section 2.12, first paragraph under a, under 3 of the WABO and

  3. developments of which the municipality itself is a principal.

For these situations, the usual assessment by the WCE takes place.

To designate a welfare-free area, the Wassenaar welfare manual ("Handboek welstand en beeldkwaliteit Wassenaar", adopted by the municipal council on June 28, 2004) has been amended. The handbook, including amendment, can be viewed via the website www.ropubliceer.nl. Here choose the option 'Search in list of plans' and then click on Welstandsnota 2012.