Preliminary legal investigation :
Kerteminde's mayor was incompetent in his own biogas case, but did not abuse his position
KERTEMINDE: In May this year, it emerged through the intervention of Kjerteminde Avis that when Hans Luunbjerg (V) in 2016 - when he himself was mayor - applied to expand his private biogas plant, the case was never dealt with politically, but exclusively administratively.
Two legal experts assessed that it was a violation of the law, and criticized the civil service for turning a blind eye to the case. This led to a decision in the city council to have a lawyer review the case. And it has now happened.
According to TV2 Fyn, the law firm Poul Schmith concluded in a preliminary investigation that Luunbjerg was incompetent at the time. The report states, among other things, that the mayor was incompetent in relation to, among other things, the cases of rural zone permit, environmental approval and EIA screening for Kerteminde Biogas ApS during the period when he was mayor and deputy mayor. He was therefore not allowed to participate in the decisions or assist in the processing of the cases in his capacity as mayor/deputy mayor.
Not improper
He should have informed the municipal council of his disqualification before the applications were processed, and he should have left it to the municipal council to decide what measures should be taken in this connection. At the same time, it states that "there is, however, no basis in the cases to believe that Luunbjerg has "contributed to or attempted to influence the processing of the cases in an improper manner or by abusing his position."
To Fyens Stiftstidende says Hans Luunbjerg that at the time he "sought advice on how to proceed, and the idea of talking to my city council colleagues was not among the advice I received. In Kerteminde we have not had the practice of a mayor telling the rest of the city council that he/she was now applying for one or the other. I therefore just sent my application completely neutrally."
According to TV2 Fyn, the lawyer's investigation is only preliminary because one point in the investigation has not been sufficiently elaborated. Municipal director Marie Vynne says that "the law firm has become aware of a matter that they need to investigate further before publishing the report, so it is still unknown what consequences the investigation will have".
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