Analogues, Wind Power Plants | The biggest conflict of the decade is being urgently dealt with before the summer break

Hasty action with a new set of regulations Wind power plants on Earth affect nature and outdoor life and do not solve the problems they were meant to solve.

After several years of horrendous disputes over wind power, the government has proposed new rules for the development of wind power plants on land. It has been two and a half years since Parliament requested that the government incorporate wind energy into the Planning and Building Law, but only an advisory proposal was submitted in January this year.

It is now planned that the bill, which was introduced a short time ago, will be processed by the Norwegian Parliament during a few short and busy weeks of early summer. It gives our elected national officials little opportunity to properly handle a complex and volatile issue area.

It will still be possible to place wind turbines in vulnerable areas

Accelerated work affects observance of nature and outdoor life. The Norwegian Tourism Association believes that there is a strong cause for concern on behalf of nature, but also for the right of municipalities to decide in these matters.

First, I will Wind turbines can still be located in vulnerable areas with Red Listed species, nesting and migratory sites for birds, areas with valuable habitats and carbon-rich swamps, wild reindeer areas, areas important with Sami reindeer husbandry and culture, in the margins of national parks and other protected areas. .

Because others have Municipalities have not yet been given discretion over the design of their wind power plants.

which municipalities no They want wind power plants, get a chance to put their foot down. But municipalities that are open to moderate development and want to limit natural encroachment and manage the details of land use will not be able to do so.

A municipality that answers yes to a wind power plant must be well aware of the limitations the law imposes when it comes to the opportunity to influence the final outcome of a development.

The municipality can contribute To determine the planning area, that is, the outer boundary of the wind power plant and the access road, but the location of the turbines, the number of turbines, or where the inner roads, trailing block and the like will be placed cannot be determined before after Final approval of the site plan and granting the franchise.

The real measure to mitigate the conflict is a new regulation for onshore wind power

Municipalities can also contribute to what will be valued, but they will not get an answer as to what specific values ​​will be lost because the actual interventions are clarified very late in the process. Therefore, the municipality has little opportunity to know how much of a species- or carbon-rich bog will be pre-built, how much of a mountain will be blown up, or whether a cultural monument or trail will be lost.

DNT is very worried about The lack of protection against natural encroachment and the absence of detail early in the process will lead to as much, or even more, conflict in future wind cases. The real measure to mitigate the conflict is to create a new regulation for wind power on land with clear rules of procedure and criteria for nature, culture and external life considerations.

The regulation should also provide guidelines for localization, guidelines for coordination between sectoral legislation and international directives and agreements. This can provide more legitimacy, predictability and confidence in challenging operations. The government has allowed this opportunity to pass. Now Parliament must take responsibility.