What measures will Union take to address mobility in the neighborhood, both on match days and on regular days?
The mobility strategy for the new stadium strongly prioritizes active modes of transportation (cycling, walking) and public transit.
Is the Forest Steam Train threatened by the future stadium?
No, not at all! The Forest Steam Train takes passengers through the eastern and southern parts of Bempt. The new stadium will be located in the northwestern part. Our hope is that the stadium and the Steam Train will coexist in perfect harmony.
Note that the Forest Steam Train runs from late April to early October. Part of this period coincides with the RUSG’s off-season. There are no matches between late May and late July.
Can you guarantee that the soccer and rugby clubs in Bempt will keep their fields? And the pétanque club as well?
Absolutely. The football clubs Renaissance Forestoise, FC Forest, Olympique Forestois and Maccabi use four synthetic pitches. They will all be maintained in their current configuration. The same goes for the panoramic cafeteria and the ground‑floor changing rooms. Nothing will change. The amateur complex will remain accessible 100% of the time, even during Union games.
What about your team’s training sessions? They’re almost every day!
No, no one will be training at the new stadium. There won’t be a training center for our professional team, nor for our youth and women’s teams, at the Bempt site. In fact, the club has just made a significant investment in a training center in Zaventem for the first team and in renovating the training center for its youth teams at the Barca complex, next to the Erasme Hospital in Anderlecht.
Who will benefit from the new stadium project?
Union’s intention is for the stadium and its surroundings to be open to the neighborhood and to be useful to residents even outside match days.
All local clubs and all freely accessible sports facilities (the agoraspace and the urban fitness area) will remain on the Bempt site.
Could the stadium increase the risk of flooding in the neighborhood?
The project is designed to minimize soil sealing by using permeable materials wherever possible.
However, some impermeable surfaces (such as the forecourt just before the stadium entrance) are unavoidable to accommodate supporters.
Who will clean up the neighborhood after thousands of people have passed through?
This is already the case and will continue in and around the new stadium. The Union’s Ecoteam comes by immediately after each match, and volunteers pick up trash. They assist the municipal services and Bruxelles Propreté, who then come by the next morning for a thorough cleanup.
What will be the noise impact of the stadium on non-game days?
Acoustic studies indicate that the stadium’s presence provides a localized improvement in the acoustic environment compared to existing traffic noise, particularly to the east.
What about noise on match days? What will the noise impact be on the neighborhood? And what measures does the club plan to take?
The new Union stadium will be located more than 250 metres away from the nearest residential areas. This is significantly more than at the Marien Stadium, where homes are situated directly opposite the Brusselsesteenweg. It is also considerably more than for other Brussels stadiums or most stadiums in the Belgian First Division, with the exception of the new stadium in Ghent.
Supporters from other clubs are going to come near our place. How are you going to handle them?
Belgian regulations (“Football Law”) require visiting club supporters to travel in organized group buses. This system, known as “combi-buses,” helps prevent any disturbances caused by the presence of visiting supporters.
In the case of the Bempt Stadium, the planned layout will prevent any interaction with the residential neighborhoods of Forest and the park. Access to and exit from their parking lot is directly connected to the Ring.