"U-turn" in the election:

Lull in wind turbine construction

A rough wind is blowing in Groß Siegharts in the Waldviertel when it comes to the wind farm project on the Predigtstuhl and the town's party position. The referendum has done nothing to change this. (symbolic image)

(Bild: Manfred Fesl)

The debate about wind turbine projects in the Waldviertel is not coming to rest. The SPÖ and FPÖ are taking joint action in Groß Siegharts.

The citizens of the Waldviertel town of Groß Siegharts have spoken out against the construction of six wind turbines on the Predigtstuhl. However, the wind farm area at the highest point in the region is shared with the neighboring municipality of Waidhofen an der Thaya, where the referendum - as reported - went in favor of wind power.

Distance rules were the focus
There is still room for five turbines on Waidhofen land alone - provided that Groß Siegharts waives compliance with the 2000-meter distance rule and allows them to come within 1300 meters. The opposition parties SPÖ and FPÖ therefore tabled an urgent motion at the municipal council meeting on Wednesday: "Our people are against wind power on the Predigtstuhl. This means that we must now take special care to ensure that the impact of the turbines is kept as low as possible in the future," demands SPÖ leader Christian Kopecek, the full 2000 meters distance, which would of course mean that only three wind turbines could be erected there.

The fact that Groß Siegharts is against the wind project was decided by 37 votes. That shows how divided we are. Now we have to accept the vote.

SPÖ-Chef Christian Kopecek will im Sinne der Wahl agieren.

FPÖ and SPÖ acted together
"The citizens have spoken out against the wind turbines. This means we should also keep the full distance," emphasizes FPÖ municipal councillor Hannes Halwachs.

The people have spoken out against wind turbines. I therefore don't think it's right that we allow them to be built closer than we have to.

FPÖ-Gemeinderat Hannes Halwachs ist mit der SPÖ einig.

ÖVP was more than fair
The ÖVP, with a two-thirds majority in the Groß Siegharts municipal council, allowed the urgency to be granted. Head of the town Ulrich Achleitner even allowed a secret ballot. "To be absolutely fair", as he says. As a result, three ÖVP MPs voted with the opposition and the vote was 11:9 against insisting on the near-minimum distance of 1,300 meters - 1,200 would be the absolute lower limit.

Wind turbine spacing won't matter
"The wind turbines have a hub height of 170 meters. Whether they are 700 meters further away or not is completely irrelevant." Achleitner also doubts that less than five wind turbines could be erected as a result. "And I'm not interested in that either, because it won't happen anyway," says the mayor, regretting a "missed opportunity".

Whether it's three, four or five wind turbines is also wuascht. Our citizens will definitely see them, but they won't get anything out of it after the vote against them.

ÖVP-Stadtchef Ulrich Achleitner bedauert den Wahlausgang.

Many would have needed a good tariff
"We have a lot of people in the city who heat their homes with electric radiators. But after the rejection, we no longer get the cheap electricity tariff from WEB Windenergie!"