Billionaire asks council to approve unpermitted golf club facilities

Clothing billionaire Jens Poulsen is seeking approval for a parking area and a golf equipment washing station built without municipal permission, DR reports. Ikast-Brande Municipality’s Development and Business Committee will consider a new local plan for the area on Wednesday, September 23.

The case comes just weeks after the municipal council forgave Poulsen over a series of issues at Ikast Golf Club. The mayor said at the time that the matter should now be politically closed.

Poulsen now wants to renovate his other golf club, Tullamore, north of Ikast. The municipality has discovered that the parking area and washing station have already been built without the required rural-zone permit.

“The timing may seem a little comical. On the other hand, they are now cleaning things up, and it may be sensible that we also include this golf course,” said Simon Vanggaard of the Danish People’s Party, who chairs the committee.

Poulsen declined to be interviewed. He said, however, that his advisers contacted the municipality six months ago after realising that no rural-zone permit had been issued for the parking area.

No protected nature removed

The 15 issues at Ikast Golf Club included the removal of protected nature. That is not the case in the current matter.

Michael Tophøj Sørensen, a lecturer at Aalborg University’s Department of Sustainability and Planning, nevertheless said the case raised questions. He said it could become a democratic problem when neighbours and other parties are not given the opportunity to be heard.

“A pattern is emerging of a bad habit in which people do something even though laws, rules and plans require them to ask for permission, and then ask for forgiveness afterwards,” he said.

Aerial images show that the new parking area began taking shape in 2019, when a new access road was also established. An image from 2025 shows that the former parking area had been removed.

The administration of Ikast-Brande Municipality recommends that politicians approve and legalise the parking area and the rest of the project.

The project also includes converting the existing clubhouse so that it can contain seven apartments.

“As I see it, this is not a violation that has any major impact on the surroundings, so I think they should be allowed to do it,” Vanggaard said.

Asked whether the municipality is sufficiently alert when people build around the municipality, he said it generally acts on trust and assumes that people comply with the permits they receive.

“I do not think we should drive around checking whether people comply with them,” he said.