[ad_1]
The Sunnmøre District Court has ruled that opponents of the wind have lost the case for a temporary halt in the development of the wind farm in Haramsøya. This is the third time this year that Wind’s opponents have lost such a case.
This image is from a demonstration in Haramsøya earlier this year.
Kyrre lien
Published:,
The Sunnmøre District Court has now decided the case of a temporary injunction against the Haramsøya wind farm.
The court has ruled that developers can continue construction work and that local opponents of the wind must pay legal costs of 950,000 kroner.
Appears in a decision Thursday.
“In the long and extensive licensing process, there are certain issues that could have been handled in a better way. This is seen especially in light of the stricter requirements for the prosecution of the case that have been established mainly after the decisions in this case, “writes the Sunnmøre District Court in the ruling.
“On the other hand, the court is of the opinion that the processing of the case as a whole has been satisfactory and that there is no poor basis for the decision or other procedural errors at a point that may be relevant to any part of the content of the license of construction of Haram Kraft AS “, writes the court.
– We are satisfied
The court is of the opinion that no errors have been made that may have affected the decisions of the case, individually or collectively. Therefore, the demand of the wind opponents is not taken into account.
“Therefore, the Haram Kraft AS license is not likely to be invalid,” the district court writes.
– My immediate reaction is that for Haram Kraft it has always been important to follow all laws and regulations, and also to ensure the smoothest possible development, says General Manager Olav Rommetveit at Haram Kraft AS and developer company Zephyr to E24.
– We are satisfied that the court has supported us, he says.
– I’m disappointed
Leader Birgit Oline Kjerstad for “No to wind turbines in Haramsøya” is not happy with the decision.
– I’m disappointed. But it doesn’t surprise me. And I do not agree with the verdict. But I still haven’t read it correctly. We will have a board meeting now and decide whether to appeal, Kjerstad tells E24.
– We were prepared to lose, he says.
Kjerstad is not concerned with legal costs of about a million, and says opponents would not have sued if they did not know they had the funds for it. The municipality of Ålesund has also supported the demand with 500,000 crowns.
– We have received support from the municipality and the Norwegian people. So that’s what allows us now to consider an appeal. The collection is already underway, says Kjerstad.
– I wish I didn’t have to spend the funds of the Ålesund municipality on this. But if it takes half a million crowns to save this mountain, then it is a good investment in housing on the island, he says.
Third defeat for the wind opponents
This is the third case of this type of wind that opponents have lost this year.
- In June, the Motvind organization lost a case in the Jæren District Court regarding a temporary injunction at the Vardafjell wind farm. They had to pay legal costs of NOK 1.3 million
- In October, the Jillen-Njaarke reindeer herding district lost a case over a temporary court order against the Øyfjellet wind farm and had to pay NOK 1.76 million in legal costs, which Motvind helped cover through fundraising.
- The local group “No to wind power in Haramsøya” has lost a case in Sunnmøre District Court regarding a temporary injunction against the local wind power plant.
In addition to this, some local owners have also lost a case in the Haugaland District Court where they demanded a temporary injunction against the Tysvær wind farm in connection with a dispute over a grid line. They had to pay 315,000 crowns in legal costs.
– You can disagree with the way in which the authorities weigh the different considerations in the processing of the case, but it is not enough to invalidate a license. We are satisfied with the decision of the Sunnmøre District Court, says special counsel Andreas Thon Aasheim at the wind industry organization Norwea to E24.
The Haramsøya developer believes that they have tried to take nature into account by reducing the number of turbines. They also note that Norway will increase its energy needs over time.
– We need a lot of new energy production in Norway, but at the same time we have to make sure that nature is affected as little as possible. At Haramsfjellet, we have reduced the number of turbines from 16 to eight, and therefore the encroachment from nature is significantly less than the license originally opened, says Rommetveit.
Allegations of error
In the lawsuit, “No to Wind Turbines in Haramsøya” came with a series of allegations of errors in the process and against developer Zephyr.
The task force believed, among other things, that the risk of landslides had not been investigated thoroughly enough and that the noise and wind measurements were not good enough. Opponents also believed that neither they nor citizens had been allowed to speak in the consultation processes. Zephyr rejected these accusations and noted that the decisions were pending hearing.
At the end of March, the Ministry of Oil and Energy approved the construction of the power plant in Haramsøya with eight turbines. The Ministry thus maintained the approval of NVE, which was granted in 2008.
Therefore, the ministry rejected the complaints from the Haram municipality, various organizations and local inhabitants. They believed that there had been a lack of involvement from the local community and studies of noise, shadow casting, visual effects and biodiversity.
– There have been several meetings
In the appeal decision, the ministry noted, among other things, that the developer and NVE have dealt with the case in accordance with regulations and have been in dialogue with the local community.
“In this assessment, emphasis has been placed on the fact that there have been several meetings with the municipality, landowners and agriculture,” the ministry wrote in the appeal decision.
The Haramsøya wind farm has sparked massive demonstrations, both from the local population and other opponents.
Last month, private individual Anne-Grete Thue also lost a case due to a temporary injunction against Haramsøya. He would refuse to allow the wind farm developers to put construction machinery on his property. The Sunnmøre District Court ordered Thue to pay 268,000 crowns in court costs.
