Hjørring mayor tells councillor to avoid saying iron fields

Hjørring Mayor Søren Smalbro told a fellow councillor not to use the term “iron fields” during a council debate, arguing that the nickname for solar farms is populist and does not belong in the council chamber, DR reports.

The disagreement began in August, when Smalbro, a member of the Liberal Party, reprimanded Andreas Huus Andersen of the Denmark Democrats for using the term. “It is a negatively charged nickname for solar farms. That word belongs in an election campaign. They are called solar panels,” the mayor said at the meeting.

Denmark Democrats MP Kim Edberg Andersen later asked Economy and Interior Minister Pia Olsen Dyhr whether the mayor was allowed to object to the wording. The minister declined to comment on the specific case, but said in a written response that mayors generally can intervene when they consider a councillor’s language unacceptable.

The response said councillors must initially comply with a mayor’s ruling on order in the chamber. They can then raise the issue at the next council meeting or refer it to the municipal supervisory authority.

Roger Buch, a local government researcher at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, said he did not understand why the mayor had intervened. A mayor could step in if people were speaking disrespectfully to one another, he said, but should not dictate whether something is called solar panels or “iron fields.”

Smalbro said the council should use proper names for people and institutions. He described “iron fields” as a nickname that might be used in an election campaign or public debate, but not in the council chamber.

Hjørring Municipal Council has previously attracted media attention over tensions in its chamber. The municipality livestreams its meetings through its Council TV service.