Approval of the documentation for the construction of LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” wind park cancelled by court

The Kherson District Administrative Court declared illegal and cancelled orders of the Chairman of Chaplynka District State Administration of Kherson Region № 193 dated June 21, 2017 and № 329 dated September 19, 2017 on granting permission for developing and approving of the detailed plan of the territory outside of the inhabited area on the administrative territory of Hryhorivka village council.

This was stated in the court decision dated July 1.

The tidbit of the situation is that cancelled documents approved detailed plan of the territory for the construction of the windmills on the land plot of approximately 54 hectares for Carl Sturen’s LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak”. And now, the legality of Swedish businessman’s windmills construction is seriously questioned.

But let’s put first things first.

Order № 377 dated 4th December 2018 of the Chairman of Chaplynka District State Administration approved a detailed plan of the territory for the construction of the wind farm for “Chkrakenerhoprom” company to generate electricity from the renewable sources outside of inhabited area of Hryhorivka village. “Chykrakenerhoprom” Company obtained approval for the project on a land use planning and granting of a land plot, which is confirmed by the conclusion of the department of urban planning, architecture, housing and communal services and emergency situations of Chaplynka District State Administration and by the chief architect dated September 12, 2019.

A hard and long work preceded which included expert examination, approvals and discussions preceded this.

However, entire work appeared to have faced a tremendous risk.

Already on November 29, 2019, Chaplynka District State Administration sent a letter to the “Chykrakenerhoprom” company informing that LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” not only challenges the number of the same land plots, which have already been granted, but also considers that “Chykrakenerhoprom” company violates the protective zone regulations of the designed wind power plant facilities, according to the detailed plan, approved by the Order of the Chairman of the Chaplynka District State Administration of Kherson Region № 329 dated September 19, 2017!

As it was established by the court, LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” ingeniously approached the development of the detailed plan, which provided the placement of 106 windmills in the municipality of Hryhorivka village council of Chaplynka district without any reference to the land. In other words, LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” could push forward the placement of the windmills in any direction at its sole discretion.

Those very windmills are depicted on photo.

This time it was more convenient to move forward the territory, designated for the construction of “Chykrakenerhoprom” company, while placing the installations almost within the boundaries of the inhabited area of Hryhorivka village, next to the residential buildings.

In other words, no one else will be able to build their windmills in this area, as they otherwise would prevent LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” windmills from working correctly.

It is worth stating that the Law on Access to Public information obligates every draft resolution and the resolutions of the authorities to be published at official websites, however the order referenced by LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” is absent there.

Besides that, the procedure of obtaining of permit for the development of the detailed plan of territories is rater lengthy and painstaking, and any action within this process leaves its trace, including digital mark too. Yet we could not find any mention of this.

As it appears from the court decision published in the register, judges and lawyers, as well as the officials, could not find anything about it too.

The court admitted that the absence of publication of the order and the complete lack of information with expected legal, economic and also environmental consequences, including impact on human health, violates the requirements for comprehensive and objective coverage of public authorities’ activity, protection of the public from the monopolistic influence of the executive powers, which becomes an obstacle for the expression of public opinion on the decision made by the District State Administration.

The court also cancelled the second order due to the complete absence of any documents, which are required according to state standards.

“A detailed plan of the territories of the LLC “Vindkraft Kalanchak” was developed without the main urban planning document outside the inhabited area – the Territorial Planning Scheme, which violates the requirements of p. 6.1 Construction Norms and Regulations. 1.1.-13, 2012 “Composition and content of the urban planning documentation at the state and regional levels”, p. 4.2 Construction Norms and Regulations 5.1.1-14, 2012 “Composition and content of the detailed plan of the territory”, the court decision strictly stated.

In simple terms, the officials developed the most important documentation without any cause at all. It is difficult to say now, if Carl Sturen and his people influenced the authorities of the Regional State Administration or not. But the fact that the head of the Architecture and Construction Inspection Department, Oleksiy Kudryavtsev, visited personally the launching of the wind farm in 2018, says a lot.

Moreover, we have already mentioned that the construction of the “Myrnenska” wind farm was conducted illegally.

But let’s go back to our documents.

Certainly, the court cancelled these decisions of the District State Administration. Yet the court still could not expose the truth of how it could happen that 54 hectares of land passed to the company for the construction without any reasons. Rather interesting, how this issue will be resolved, because if there is no detailed plan, there can be no granting of the land, if there is no land – there cannot be wind farm whatsoever. Such a question should not remain unnoticed by the government officials and the regulatory authorities. And this, however, is still an important issue, which requires an individual investigation and publication.