Eight local referendums in Czechia's Vysočina region alongside elections, six over wind turbines

Eight municipalities in the Vysočina region will also hold local referendums alongside the parliamentary elections. In six places, residents will be able to give their views on plans to build wind turbines. In Dudín, in the Jihlava area, the referendum concerns a proposed retirement home, while Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou, in the Třebíč area, will address a planned sports hall on 3 and 4 October. The Czech News Agency (ČTK) found this out from the municipalities and on the website of the Ministry of the Interior.

Referendums on how to proceed with wind turbines will be held in Polná, Věžnička and Stonařov in the Jihlava area, Černovice in the Pelhřimov area, Nové Dvory in the Žďár area and Menhartice in the Třebíč area. The questions generally concern whether local authorities should negotiate with investors who promise to make regular payments to them in return for the turbines. Some municipalities have already gauged residents’ views in surveys.

There are seven wind turbines in the Vysočina region. The most recent was built in 2009 near the village of Věžnice, four kilometres from Polná and eight kilometres from Věžnička. ČEZ owns the Věžnice turbines and wants to expand the local wind farm to as many as five turbines. Some other local authorities in the wider region have also already signed cooperation agreements with various investors over wind turbines.

WEB Větrná energie and Pražská energetika have proposed building wind turbines near Polná, which has 5,300 residents. According to presentations, they are considering up to seven towers. The town council agreed in June to hold a referendum, with the final decision made on 1 September.

In neighbouring Věžnička, home to 150 people, the proposed turbine would belong to the Jamensko Energy Community, of which Věžnička is a founding member. A year ago, residents of the village of Jamné rejected a proposal in a referendum to build a turbine owned by the village.

In Nové Dvory, the debate concerns up to three wind turbines. In the referendum, the council also wants to ask residents whether they would agree to the turbines if they were also built on land in neighbouring Velká Losenice. That municipality already has a cooperation agreement with ČEZ. The towers could therefore be built close to Nové Dvory, without the municipality receiving any payments for them.

After a complaint from the referendum committee, a court ruled that the question should ask whether the council should reject the construction of wind turbines in Nové Dvory. Mayor Martin Šmíd (independent) expects the referendum to include questions proposed by the council as well. Nové Dvory has 330 residents.

In Černovice, with around 1,800 residents, the town has received several proposals for wind turbines. Residents called for a referendum in a petition.

In Menhartice, home to 140 people, a referendum on a proposed wind farm was originally due to be held in April, but the council cancelled it two days beforehand. Mayor Pavel Leitkep (independent) said it had been postponed until October to allow time to reach an agreement with neighbouring municipalities.

Stonařov’s council called a referendum on 17 September following a proposal from a referendum committee. Two years ago, based on the results of a survey, the town with 1,100 residents signed a cooperation agreement with LCJ Invest, which also wants to build wind turbines near the neighbouring municipalities of Suchá and Otín. Initially, plans for Stonařov called for no more than four towers. A subsequent proposal to expand the wind farm sparked further debate. Residents rejected the expansion in a survey this year.