AARHUS: The Technical and Environmental Administration of the Municipality of Aarhus acknowledges to the settlement group behind an expansion of the Port of Aarhus that the administration has provided insufficient advice and was the main reason why the local plan was rejected by the Planning Appeals Board last week. This is stated by the municipality.
While the Technical and Environmental Affairs Department emphasizes that the necessary professional basis for a political decision has been available to politicians and the public during the local planning process, it is also clear that the planning documents that resulted from the political agreement do not meet the legislation.
- We have not had a sufficient overview of the consequences of the state's environmental impact assessment being delayed while our local planning process continued, and this has resulted in a number of formal shortcomings in our local plan, says acting head of administration Michael Tolstrup.
- It is not entirely clear to us how we consulted and how the errors occurred, but we have to admit that we have made mistakes, and I have today regretted this to the conciliation group behind the port agreement.
On three points, the Complaints Board believes that Aarhus Municipality's local plan does not meet the requirements.
This concerns, that:
- Aarhus Municipality has not carried out a spatial analysis of the municipality's total holdings of land allocated for business.
- Aarhus Municipality has not sufficiently demonstrated the necessity of the land reclamation.
- Aarhus Municipality's environmental report does not meet the requirements of the legislation.
The rejection of the local plan does not mean that assessments of environmental conditions or the need for a port expansion have not been prepared. However, they are not satisfactorily reflected in the local plan that Aarhus City Council has adopted.
- It is important for me to emphasize that we have explained the project and its consequences in every way so that the politicians have been able to make their decision. But that doesn't change the fact that the formal content of the local plan is not good enough, and it rests on our shoulders alone, says Michael Tolstrup.
External investigation
Following the Planning Appeals Board's rejection of the 43-hectare port expansion, an external investigation will now uncover what went wrong in Aarhus Municipality's work on the port expansion. This is stated by Councillor for Technology and Environment Nicolaj Bang (K).
- I don't think that an administration should investigate itself when a mistake has been made with such major consequences as has happened here. In Aarhus City Council, we must have restored trust in the system that advises us on a daily basis, and I don't think that self-evaluation is the way forward. That is why I have agreed with the parties to the settlement regarding the port expansion that we will launch an external investigation, he says.
At a press conference on Monday, Mayor Jacob Bundsgaard (S) said that "a number of formal errors have been committed" in the process.
- It is highly regrettable and also very unsatisfactory that we are in a situation where we have committed completely obvious formal errors in the process that has been carried out, says Jacob Bundsgaard according to Århus Stiftstidende.
He also says that the municipality still has plans for an expansion of the Port of Aarhus. The conciliation committee in the city council must now "revisit a local plan", it says.
Underway since 2018
The decision from the Planning Appeals Board is final and cannot be appealed to another administrative authority. The plan to expand the port has been under way since 2018 and was adopted in a local plan in June 2023.
It has been met with local resistance, which is based on a fear that the port expansion will affect the climate, the view of Aarhus Bay and the marine environment.
Among others, the Danish Nature Conservation Association in Aarhus, some citizens who farm mussels in the planning area, a number of associations and the Alternative in the Greater East Jutland constituency have complained about the local plan - and have now been upheld.
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