Hardly any wind turbines have been set up in Bavaria in recent years. Markus Söder argues that there is an “acceptance problem”. But there are more and more communities where things are seen differently.
from
Deniz Aykanat, Regensburg, and Andreas Glas
“That’s pretended. It’s a small, loud crowd that’s against the wind turbines and they’re destroying a lot,” says Josef Langgärtner, Deputy Mayor of Parkstein, when asked about Markus Söder’s statement that there is an “acceptance problem” in Bavaria “. The town of 2,500 people in the Upper Palatinate district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab recently made it onto news sites and newspapers – because three wind turbines are to be built there. 55 percent voted in favor of it in a referendum. They are to be built by a citizens’ energy cooperative that was set up specifically for this purpose. “We want the citizens of Parkstein to benefit and not investors from outside,” says Josef Langgärtner. The 10-H distance rule stood in the way of the project, according to which a wind turbine must be at least ten times its height away from residential buildings – unless the citizens decide otherwise. In Parkstein they have that. For free-voter politicians, the 10-H rule should be abolished. He hopes and believes that the wind turbines in Parkstein will inspire other communities to buy them too. There are already communities that get information from them.