diff --git a/infra/docker-compose.local.yml b/infra/docker-compose.local.yml
index e380b8d..a58da5d 100644
--- a/infra/docker-compose.local.yml
+++ b/infra/docker-compose.local.yml
@@ -380,6 +380,10 @@ services:
     image: register-referentie/event-subscriber:dev
     environment:
       ConnectionStrings__Projection: Host=projection-db;Database=projection;Username=projection;Password=projection
+      # The subscriber enriches the projection with each zaak's reference by asking the ACL — the only
+      # code allowed to read ZGW (§8.1, #78). Required: startup throws without it (parity with the
+      # canonical compose).
+      Acl__BaseUrl: http://acl:8080/
       EventSubscriber__Webhook__AuthToken: ${NOTIFICATION_WEBHOOK_TOKEN:-Bearer big-reference-notifications}
     ports:
       - "8110:8080"
@@ -392,6 +396,8 @@ services:
     depends_on:
       projection-db:
         condition: service_healthy
+      acl:
+        condition: service_healthy
     networks: [cg]
 
   projection-api: