Bilzen-Hoeselt

Bilzen-Hoeselt
Municipality
Location of Bilzen-Hoeselt
Map
Bilzen-Hoeselt is located in Belgium
Bilzen-Hoeselt
Bilzen-Hoeselt
Location in Belgium
Coordinates: 50°52′N 05°30′E / 50.867°N 5.500°E / 50.867; 5.500
Country Belgium
Communitycommunity
Regionregion
Provinceprovince
ArrondissementTongeren
Area codes089

Bilzen-Hoeselt is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. It was established on 1 January 2025 as the result of the voluntary merger of the municipalities of Bilzen and Hoeselt. The merged municipality has an area of 106 km² and approximately 42,000 inhabitants.

It is one of the 14 municipalities that will be created during the merger wave of 2025. Initially, Riemst was also involved in the exploratory discussions for the merger, but in 2021, the municipal council of the latter decided to remain independent.[1][2] The municipal authorities of Bilzen and Hoeselt then continued as two. On 28 June 2021, the municipal councils of Bilzen and Hoeselt approved the principle of the merger of the two municipalities. The two municipalities will merge on 1 January 2025.[3][4] The residents chose "Bilzen-Hoeselt" as the new name for the merged municipality via an online vote. This beat the options Biesen, Demershoven and Bivelen with 57% of the votes.[5]

The merger took effect after the municipal elections on 13 October 2024.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Bilzen, Hoeselt en Riemst gaan in gesprek over mogelijke fusie". www.nieuwsblad.be. Archived from the original on 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  2. ^ VRT NWS (2021-04-30). "Riemst zet fusiegesprekken met buurgemeenten Bilzen en Hoeselt stop". vrtnws.be. Archived from the original on 2021-12-16. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  3. ^ Mariotti, Marco (2021-06-28). "Fusie bilzen hoeselt van kracht in 2025 belastingen zullen verlaagd worden". hln.be. Archived from the original on 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  4. ^ VRT NWS (2021-06-28). "Gemeenteraden Bilzen en Hoeselt keuren fusie goed: "Samenvoeging van 2 homogene gemeenschappen"". vrtnws.be. Archived from the original on 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  5. ^ Lieven Roux (2023-10-15). "Inwoners van Bilzen en Hoeselt kiezen voor "Bilzen-Hoeselt" als naam van nieuwe fusiestad". vrtnws.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  6. ^ "Verkiezingen 2024: Wanneer moeten we gaan stemmen? En wat kiezen we precies?" (in Dutch). VRT NWS. 14 December 2023.