The hill of almost 30 meters (in comparison: a floor in a house is 3.5 meters high) will consist of soil excavated in the Hedwigepolder itself. The polder is being depoldered because of nature restoration.
By using the land for the hill, nature is less disturbed and less transport is required, so less emissions of substances such as CO2, as the plan states. And not only the ground of the polder is reused. The wood from felled poplars is also used to build the watchtower.
The watchtower will house a (nature) pavilion, five nature houses and a café-restaurant with a terrace. How this will look exactly is not yet known. There is an understated and expressive variant. In the modest variant everything is in the hill, in the expressive the tower and all functions are on the hill. The latter is preferred by the provincial government.
Radartoren
A radar tower that is required for shipping traffic on the Western Scheldt may also be located on the panorama hill. The current radar tower, which is even further away, is due for replacement.
There was previously talk of a possible construction of some kind of tidal jetty, but the hill is preferred. Also because the soil of the sea dikes to be excavated does not now have to be removed by trucks.
Three different views
Responsible provincial governor Anita Pijpelink speaks of a special project: “From the panorama hill you have three different views: nature, the Antwerp harbor and the polders, agriculture. It is a good combination of land use and it also attracts holidaymakers.”
The whole plan costs 4.5 million euros. Other governments and the business community also contribute to this. The plan may still be objected to in the near future.
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