Odense Municipality is no longer permitted to host concerts at its largest concert venue. This is one of several new decisions in which the Danish Town and Country Planning Board of Appeal (the “Planning Board of Appeal”) has found that projects are subject to local planning.
The local planning obligation arises when projects involve significant changes to the existing environment. In a number of recent decisions, the Planning Board of Appeal has considered what constitutes such a change.
These decisions emphasise that municipalities must exercise caution when determining whether a project is subject to the local planning obligation.
The local planning obligation means that a local plan must be in place before major subdivision, construction or demolition work is carried out.
According to the rationale and application of the legal provision, the decisive criterion in this assessment is whether the project will result in significant changes to the existing environment. The project’s scale is important here, as are its specific visual, functional, and environmental impacts on the area’s character. However, the potential positive impact of the project on the area is not a decisive factor.
The criterion of significant changes to the existing environment must be considered in light of the purpose of the local planning obligation provision. The aim is to ensure that major projects are assessed in a planning context, thereby giving citizens, businesses, authorities and others the opportunity to influence the process.
In September 2024, the Planning Board of Appeal ruled that the project to install a photovoltaic system on approximately 1.3 hectares of undeveloped green space, which borders holiday homes to the north and west and open land towards the coast and the holiday centre to the south and southeast, was subject to the local planning obligation.
The Planning Board of Appeal ruled that the photovoltaic system would significantly change the existing environment due to its size and proximity to the holiday homes and coastline.
In November 2024, the Planning Board of Appeal ruled that large concerts held at Dyrskuepladsen in Odense were subject to the local planning obligation, a case that has been covered by several national media outlets.
Dyrskuepladsen is Odense’s largest concert venue and hosted three concerts in 2023 with audiences of up to 47,000 people. In 2024, the municipality renovated the area to accommodate future concerts with up to 70,000 attendees. The venue is located near a hospital, allotment gardens and residential areas.
The Planning Board of Appeal determined that the renovation had to be assessed in the context of the existing activities. In this case, the Planning Board of Appeal concluded that the intended use for concerts would involve such a significant change to the existing environment that it would be subject to the local planning obligation.
This decision effectively puts the brakes on music in Odense for the time being. However, Odense Municipality has stated that it will draw up a local plan to legalise concerts at Dyrskuepladsen in the spring.
Meanwhile, the decision prompted Bornholm Regional Municipality to start preparing a local plan to ensure that Folkemødet on Bornholm could continue to take place legally, thereby avoiding a similar situation. However, Folkemødet was held without issues in the middle of June even though a new local plan was not prepared.
In November 2024, the Planning Board of Appeal ruled on the construction of a sports centre at a school in Aarhus Municipality. They found that the project was subject to the local planning obligation.
Despite the sports centre being built next to a school and an existing sports hall, and despite the new centre also being used by the school, the Planning Board of Appeal concluded that the increased activity and traffic would result in significant changes to the mainly residential area.
It was deemed important that the new sports centre would be used by clubs and the public outside school hours, as this would alter the flow of traffic to and from the area.
In the decision, the Planning Board of Appeal also emphasised that stricter local planning obligations apply to public buildings.
In three decisions on the construction of multi-storey housing in Valby, Vanløse and Skanderborg in November and December 2024, the Planning Board of Appeal ruled that the projects were not subject to the local planning obligation.
In Valby, the municipality granted a building permit for a three-storey apartment building with 24 homes and a floor area of 1,934.5 square metres. This building was to be constructed in an area consisting of three- to six-storey apartment buildings and detached one- and two-family houses.
In Vanløse, a building permit was granted for a multi-storey building containing 27 two-storey youth housing units with a floor area of 923 square metres. This was to be built in an area characterised by three- to three-and-a-half-storey buildings.
In Skanderborg, a building permit was granted for a multi-storey building comprising a commercial space and 12 residential apartments with a floor area of 1,567 square metres across five floors. This was to be built in an area where a four-and-a-half-storey building already existed.
The Planning Board of Appeal justified these decisions by stating that, despite their size, the buildings did not differ significantly from the surrounding area, which was already characterised by apartment buildings.
According to the latest practice of the Planning Board of Appeal, the decisive factor in determining whether a project is subject to the local planning obligation is its scale in relation to its surroundings.
While a small building may be subject to the local planning obligation if it differs significantly from its surroundings, a relatively large building, such as a multi-storey structure, may be exempt if it is built in an existing dense urban area.
Therefore, municipalities should be aware of whether a project, even a small one, differs so much from its surroundings that it may trigger a local planning obligation. As stated in the Åbyhøj decision, emphasis should be placed not only on the visual impact, but also on the effect that changes to traffic to and from the area will have on the existing environment.
If a construction project is found to be subject to the local planning obligation once construction has begun, the municipality can often remedy the situation by subsequently adopting a new local plan or amending an existing one.
However, this can lead to significant delays, as the local plan process is often time-consuming and involves public consultation.
Furthermore, it is sometimes not possible to adopt a new local plan that enables the developer’s project. Therefore, prior to initiating construction without a project-specific local plan, it should be carefully assessed whether the project may be subject to the local planning obligation.