The municipal council in Jammerbugt Municipality voted 18 to eight to build 15 wind turbines at Rendbæk southeast of Saltum. One council member, Malou Skeel (V), had declared herself incompetent in the matter, as her husband is involved in the project.
A golden eagle has otherwise come close to stopping Dansk Vindenergi's project in Jammerbugt Municipality, which will replace 12 old wind turbines in Øster Rendbæk with 15 new wind turbines closer to Store Vildmose.
The eagle had chicks in 2016, but is now alone. Many complaints about the project have been that the eagle lives close to the planned wind turbines. The municipality's own lawyer has also expressed concern about the installation of wind turbines 3.5 km from the eagle's nest, as it may not comply with the bird protection directive.
Dansk Vindenergi's lawyers have stated that the directive is based on the fact that there is a breeding pair of golden eagles in the area, which is not the case.
The opponents of the project in the city council expressed that they were not opposed to green transition. They thought that time had run out for onshore wind turbines.
- I think that a new energy law has been introduced, and we are looking forward to 2030, when large offshore wind farms may already be up and running. The wind farms we are going to set up out here will be up for 35 years, and I think that is a high price for nature to pay for something that is not going to make much difference, says Kiki Bach (S), who voted against the proposal.
A claim that is rejected by Venstre's Torben Sørensen, who is deputy chairman of the Technical and Environmental Committee in Jammerbugt Municipality.
- I believe that if we are to achieve the climate goals in 2030 and 2050, I have difficulty seeing how we are going to do it if we do not place turbines on land. If it is a golden eagle in this case that is going to decide it, then it may be difficult to get it set up. Previously, we have had a turbine removed from the project because of bats, he says, referring to the fact that the project originally included 16 wind turbines - one has, however, been removed out of consideration for the pond bat. He states:
- If there are no turbines there (in Rendbæk ed.), then I don't know where turbines can be located if they are to be on land.
Passing on the bill
In connection with the decision at the municipal council meeting, Mayor Mogens Gade made it clear that he had received indications from the people behind the project that they would wait for a decision from the Planning Appeals Board before the project is started. A position that does not impress Kiki Bach, however.
- Why is it that we don't make the decision about something like this ourselves? Don't we dare to stand up for our decisions ourselves? I think we pass on the bill because we know that it will be in the Planning Appeals Board, and then it may have to lie there for several years, she says.
However, Torben Sørensen finds it difficult to understand the criticism that they want to abdicate responsibility. He believes, however, that the rules can be opaque, and that is why it is good that the decision is reviewed by the Planning Appeals Board.
- Now I am not a trained lawyer, but if you read the EU's Birds and Habitats Directive, you have to be something other than a farmer, like me, to understand it. But I know that it is possible to set up wind farms in our neighboring countries in Germany and Sweden, both of which are in the EU, within three kilometers.
- I think we comply with the things we can. Then there is some law, where some lawyers write one thing and some write something else. I do not want to be the judge of what is right. Then they must make clearer rules for how it should be at Christianborg, says Torben Sørensen.
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