Vejle lawyer condemns municipality over allotment garden prosecutions

A lawyer representing about 100 allotment garden homeowners in Vejle has criticised the municipality for reporting residents to police while they wait for the High Court to rule on whether its local plans are legal, DR reports.

Lawyer Knud Foldschack described the municipality’s approach as “depressing”, “aggressive” and “unsympathetic”. The High Court is not scheduled to hear the case for another 13 months.

Vejle Municipality is enforcing new local plans that, in most gardens, allow a house of up to 50 square metres and up to 30 square metres of other buildings, such as sheds and annexes. Enforcement includes orders to bring buildings into compliance and reports to police.

Foldschack said the wait was untenable for people whose homes and family lives were affected. He argued that the municipality had failed to carry out its oversight duties for years, then moved to impose consequences through police reports and fines. He said the municipality should either discuss solutions with residents or wait for the High Court’s decision.

The municipality disagrees. Erik Junge Madsen, who leads its work to bring the allotment gardens into compliance, said a district court acquittal supported the municipality’s position on the orders it had issued. He said 15 cases had been reported to police, involving residents who had an opportunity to appeal to the Planning Appeals Board. In some cases, the orders were not referred to the board; in others, the board had ruled in the municipality’s favour.

Madsen said the municipality had helped residents by waiting until the new local plans were adopted before requiring changes. The plans allow more construction than had previously been permitted and replace an earlier process requiring land-zone and building permits. He said that, before the plans were in place, all construction in the gardens would have required both permits, which residents did not have.

The municipality says it will help residents who need support finding another home, but Madsen said no one had contacted it for help. Foldschack argued that the municipality also had social responsibilities towards residents and should have considered those before enforcing the plans.

The dispute comes as Foldschack’s clients appeal a lower-court ruling, with the High Court still to give its decision on the legality of the local plans.