Czech municipality of Mšené-Lázně wants clarity on wind farm before summer

Investors are interested in building a wind farm near the municipality of Mšené-Lázně in the Litoměřice area. Some residents oppose the project and have submitted a petition to the municipality. However, the number of signatures is not yet enough to call a referendum. If they manage to collect enough signatures, the referendum will be held in June alongside the European Parliament elections. Otherwise, the municipality will begin negotiations on the project. Mayor Rostislav Lariš (Obec v pohybu) told the Czech News Agency (CTK) today.

The councillors have no intention of calling a referendum on their own initiative. „Residents submitted a petition with 217 signatures, which is not enough. But we have given them until June. If they get the 448 signatures needed, we will call a referendum,“ Lariš said. In the meantime, the municipality, which has a population of 1,800, will gather information from investors. „There is a lot of interest, and we would like to benefit from wind turbines. Given the emotions this issue has stirred up, someone even suggested not dealing with it at all, but the turbines will be built here anyway, just outside the municipality’s boundaries,“ the mayor said.

A suitable site for the project lies beyond the village of Loucká, which belongs to Mšené-Lázně, on the border between the Ústí nad Labem and Central Bohemian regions. The nearby municipality of Jarpice in the Central Bohemian Region has already approved the construction of wind turbines. „We will be looking at the turbines either way. We would not want to miss the opportunity to increase revenue for the municipal budget,“ Lariš said. He added that he expects wind farms to develop in light of the government-approved procedure for designating so-called acceleration zones for renewable energy projects. These will be areas where solar and wind power plants can be permitted more quickly. Project preparation and permitting in these zones will take up to 12 months.

Interest in building wind turbines in this area first emerged 20 years ago. At the time, residents unequivocally opposed the project.