High court dismisses environmental claims against Dutch F1 GP

AMSTERDAM : The Netherlands' highest court on Wednesday dismissed claims by environmentalists against organisers of the Dutch Formula One Grand Prix that it threatened a nature reserve around the track and the endangered species inhabiting the area.

The Dutch Grand Prix returned to the Formula One calendar after a break of 36 years in 2021 and is scheduled to be held for the third consecutive year on Aug. 27.

The race, reinstated at the renovated Zandvoort circuit to bank on the popularity of Dutch world champion Max Verstappen, drew hundreds of thousands of spectators in the past two years and is sold out again this year.

Environmental activists have for years tried to stop locally based races at the picturesque Zandvoort circuit, hemmed in between the Dutch North Sea coast and a large nature reserve, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Amsterdam.

In a series of lawsuits, the nature activists had demanded that permits for the track's expansion be overturned, asserting that builders had destroyed precious dune reserves where the rare natterjack toad and sand lizard live and breed.

They also said that activities at the track throughout the year caused much more pollution than the organisers had stated in their applications for permits.

Their cases had been dismissed by a lower court in 2021, and the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that there were no legal grounds to overturn this decision.

"We are happy the court has found, after thorough consideration, that we have handled (the environment) with care," Zandvoort director Robert Overdijk said in a statement.

However, the court said provincial authorities needed to reassess the concerns of the activists in considering whether the circuit would need a new environmental permit