Roskilde homeowners refuse to remove unapproved coastal defences

Eleven property owners on Roskilde Fjord are refusing to remove coastal defences they built without a permit, despite an order from Roskilde Municipality, DR reports. The owners say the structures are needed to protect their homes from flooding.

The defences have cost the owners more than two million kroner. They have also been reported to police after the municipality’s Climate and Environment Committee ordered them removed.

Jørgen Bødker, who chairs the coastal protection association representing six of the homes, said there was clear erosion along the coast, including after Storm Bodil. He said the owners would appeal the decision because they believe the structures should be approved retroactively.

“We are surprised that the municipality has concluded there is no need for them. We disagree,” Bødker said. He said the owners had built the defences in good faith after years of dialogue with the municipality.

The municipality wants people to be able to pass freely along the coast and says the structures are too close to the water. Jeppe Trolle, a member of the Social Liberal Party and chair of the committee, said the municipality had told the owners how far back it wanted the defences to be built.

“The further out towards the water they are, the fewer days a year people can pass along the beach,” Trolle said.

He said the defences could not simply be legalised after construction. The municipality needs to apply the same rules to other projects in the area, he said, adding that the owners had submitted a project, been told it could not go ahead, and built it anyway.

The owners have one year to remove the structures, though an appeal could extend the process.