Windmill law threatens countryside says ruling party
Legislation on wind turbines, which has been dubbed the windmill law, poses a threat to the Polish countryside, Poland's defence minister has said.
Last week, a group of opposition MPs from Poland 2050 and Civic Coalition (KO) submitted to the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, a draft amendment to an act on support for energy consumers, which introduces freezing energy prices and more liberal rules on wind farms construction.
The proposed regulations drew criticism from outgoing ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) politicians who called them "disastrous" and "harmful to Poles" while also claiming they are favourable to large energy companies and might be dictated by lobbyists.
PiS has also claimed that the legislation could lead to people being moved from their homes to make way for wind farms.
"The windmill scandal is a real threat to the residents of small towns and countryside," Mariusz Blaszczak, the defence minister and leader of the PiS parliamentary caucus, wrote on the X portal on Monday.
"Together with local government officials, we will firmly oppose any attempts of forced property expropriation and windmill construction near homes."
The amendment allows locating silent wind-turbines a minimum of 300 metres from residential buildings, while the previous minimum distance amounted to 700 metres. After the changes, the wind farms' localisation will also no longer be subject to the local zoning plan.
In an interview with a private broadcaster, Polsat News, on Monday, Paulina Hennig-Kloska, a member of Poland 2050, announced that amendments would be made to the draft concerning, among other things, changing the minimum distance of windmills from buildings from 300 to 500 metres, and the protection of areas around national and landscape parks. She said there was "no scandal" concerning the draft. (PAP)
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