There is still a long way to go until 2033 – in the district town, however, people are already busy preparing for the coming decade. The background is the so-called “wind-on-shore law”, which will come into force next month, which gives the federal states fixed specifications by when and how much of their area must be available for wind turbines. There are certain deadlines for this – about January 1, 2033 – and if the goal is not reached by then, interventions in municipal planning sovereignty are even possible. Unless you have a plan.
Namely, a zoning plan, and the district town has been working on one for a good year and a half. In the summer of 2021, a large majority of the city council decided that the conditions for the construction of wind turbines should be created in Ebersberg. As is well known, the CSU state government issued the notorious 10H rule in 2014, according to which wind turbines must be at least ten times their height from the nearest residential building. But only if the municipalities do not specify otherwise in their land use plans.
Wind turbines are to be built primarily in the north and south-east of the city of Ebersberg
And that’s exactly what Ebersberg should be about, the city drew up a location concept for wind power, which was presented and approved by the city council at the end of last year. In principle, a distance of at least 900 meters should be maintained from purely residential areas and 600 meters from general residential areas where there are also businesses. According to this, a total of 33 locations would be possible around the district town – but it is very unlikely that a wind turbine will actually be built at each of them. Especially since factors such as soil conditions, species protection concerns or conflicts with other uses such as radar systems or PV areas have not yet been examined.
At that time, the city council also agreed on where the wind turbines should be built. This is mainly in the north, i.e. in the direction of Forst, and in the south-east, near the village of Traxl, where there is already interest in building a facility. In the west and southwest of the municipal area, where locations would also be possible according to the specifications of the concept, no wind turbines are to be built for the time being.
The site concept for wind power in the city of Ebersberg provides for plants primarily in the north and south-east of the municipal area.
(Photo: City of Ebersberg/oh)
And it is precisely this determination that could be very beneficial for the Ebersbergers in the years to come. At least if the location concept can be successfully incorporated into a valid land use plan by February next year. Such a plan, as it was recently presented to the competent city council committee, would also be binding for future state-wide or regional planning.
Bavaria should use 1.8 percent of its area for wind turbines, Ebersberg would have 13.8 percent
In concrete terms, this means that if the city of Ebersberg defines so-called concentration areas for wind turbines in a year’s time, it is almost impossible for the regional planning association to define locations on the Ebersberg corridor. This is important because it cannot be ruled out that the Free State will not achieve the expansion targets for wind power – a total of 1.1 percent by 2028 and then 1.8 percent by 2033. In that case, the superordinate bodies would then determine areas without the municipalities having much of a say. Unless there are already enough potential locations for wind turbines.
The Ebersbergers would also be on the safe side with their partial land use plan for wind power because they significantly exceed the state’s expansion target in their own area: As explained in a previous meeting, the plan would make a total of 564 hectares or 13.8 percent of the municipal area more potential Wind power location – that is more than seven times the value specified in the “Act to Increase and Accelerate the Expansion of Wind Turbines on Land”.
Which is also important if the accusation of so-called negative planning should arise. This is known, for example, from gravel pits, where local authorities can specify where they do not want them – but only if sufficient areas for gravel quarrying are designated elsewhere in the municipal area. According to the administration, this principle of positive planning will also be defined as a goal for the wind power land use plan, expressly also in order to have the option of not allowing the construction of wind turbines in the west of the city, for example.