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By Anja Weber
There is already resistance to new wind turbines in some parts of the Saxon Switzerland-Eastern Ore Mountains district. Hardly anyone wants to designate new areas. It is often a question of replacing older, less efficient turbines. Nevertheless, there could be even more wind power areas in the future. This is already possible with exceptions in protected landscape areas, but would soon be possible without restrictions. The reason for this is that the Saxon Higher Administrative Court in Bautzen declared the wind energy section of the regional plan invalid in May last year, practically due to a formal error, because the plan did not explicitly state that "comments can be submitted for the record".
A new regional plan must now be drawn up by 2027. So far, however, everything has been rather sluggish. Federal law stipulates that two percent of the area in Saxony must be designated for wind energy in the planning. Sächsische.de asked the responsible regional planning association what impact this could have.
Fact 1: Hardly any design possible without a regional plan
If the two percent planning requirement is met, wind turbines can only be built in priority areas, i.e. areas designated in the regional plan. If the two percent hurdle is not cleared, such turbines could be built virtually anywhere, says Michael Holzweissig.
The condition is that the legal licensing requirements are met, such as the provisions of the Federal Immission Control Act. However, this is generally not considered to be a major hurdle. If an agreement can be reached on areas that are anchored in the regional plan, there is room for maneuver.
However, the decision as to whether or not to install a wind turbine is initially made by the landowner. The responsible licensing authority then checks whether a wind turbine may be erected at the specific planned site. As possible hurdles have been removed without a regional plan, there could soon be a proliferation of wind turbines in Saxon Switzerland.
Fact 2: Wind turbines can move right up to the national park
If the two percent target is not met in the planning region, wind turbines must be approved as privileged projects under immission control law, says Michael Holzweissig from the regional planning association.
In particular, the minimum distance regulations under state law would no longer apply. The erection of wind turbines in landscape conservation areas would also be possible without restriction, according to the expert. Even if the Saxon Switzerland National Park remains off-limits, wind turbines could be erected right next to it, as in some areas, such as Hohnstein, the landscape conservation areas extend right up to the national park. However, there is a court ruling that prohibits the construction of wind turbines in the core zone of a national park.
Fact 3: Political control fails
In some towns and municipalities, there has been talk in recent months about possible new areas for wind turbines, for example in Neustadt. There is a great deal of opposition there. This is why the town of Neustadt has taken the lead and is resisting new turbines. The administration is also taking action against the designation of the priority area. The aim is to no longer show it in the regional plan. The priority area has already been removed from the town's land use plan. There are currently two wind turbines on the Wachberg in Rückersdorf. These were erected in 2002 and 2005, with a height of 100 meters. Now the turbines could be up to 250 meters high. Four more wind turbines could be erected and the existing two could be extended.
The recent resignation of District Administrator Michael Geisler (CDU) from his position as head of the Upper Elbe Valley/Eastern Ore Mountains Regional Planning Association (RPV OEOE) also shows that the current approach in the search for possible priority areas is not without controversy. This area target could at best be described as 'unfortunate', he said. And he also knows that further conflicts are emerging in the preliminary planning between nature, species and landscape protection, residents' concerns and expansion targets. Conclusion: Political control will become more difficult following the withdrawal of the head of the RPV, another indication that wind turbines will ultimately be erected without the possible restrictions.
