The Coastal Authority’s permit allowing Nakskov Harbour to deepen and establish the channel through Nakskov Fjord is at risk of expiring before the work begins. The permit stipulates that the work must commence within three years of its issuance.
Must begin before October 2025
Nakskov Harbour received the Coastal Authority’s permit two years ago, on October 19, 2022. Therefore, the work must begin by October 19, 2025, if it is to proceed under the current permit. However, meeting this deadline might prove challenging.
The work can only be carried out during the winter months, and it is already too late to begin this year. This became clear after the Minister for Business answered a question from Peter Skaarup, a member of parliament from the Denmark Democrats. The minister stated that a decision on the appeal regarding Nakskov Harbour’s permit to deposit sediment in the Langeland Belt is not expected before the end of November this year. As a result, Nakskov Harbour cannot start the dredging work until the winter of 2025, which might be too late.
Question to the minister
This paradoxical situation has prompted another question from Peter Skaarup to Minister for Business Thomas Bødskov (Social Democrats).
“Nakskov Harbour received a permit from the Coastal Authority on October 19, 2022, in connection with the need to adjust and expand the channel to Nakskov Harbour. A condition of the permit is that it will expire if the construction work has not commenced within three years from the date of issuance, meaning by October 19, 2025. How does the minister view the fact that this permit is at risk of expiring because Nakskov Harbour has yet to receive a permit for the sediment relocation applied for on May 18, 2020?” Skaarup asks.
Stopping the clock
Peter Skaarup acknowledges that, as a member of parliament, there is little he can do to assist Nakskov Harbour in the immediate term. However, he suggests a procedural change for the future:
– In cases like this, the processing of an appeal should put the permit’s expiration on hold and stop the clock while the complaint is being considered. Otherwise, the project is doomed from the start if it cannot commence before the deadline, says Peter Skaarup.
Nakskov Harbour has now been waiting six years to start the deepening and straightening of the channel.
