Eight kolonihave owners in Vejle have cut down or removed oversized garden houses to meet the municipality’s size limits. One house was sawn straight through the middle.
DR reports that eight owners in the allotment garden areas of Vejle have brought their buildings into line with the local plans. Their houses are now recorded as legal by Vejle Kommune.
One solution was to cut a house in half, leaving a legal main house and a legal annex. Another owner sold the entire house and had it driven away by truck. The plot now stands empty, according to DR.
Erik Junge Madsen is project manager for the legalization of buildings in Vejle’s allotment gardens. He says the eight have reduced their houses to 50 square meters. They then receive a BBR notification stating that the matter has been legalized.
Vejle Kommune’s information page on allotment gardens sets out the current limits. On plots over 300 square meters, the main house may be 50 square meters. Annexes, sheds and similar buildings may together cover 30 square meters, while smaller plots are limited to 30 and 20 square meters.
Many of the houses in the areas are far larger than the new local plans allow. A group of around 100 residents has sued the municipality to have the local plans declared invalid. TV 2 has reported that about 100 allotment houses risk demolition.
Dialogue with nine more owners
Madsen says the municipality is in dialogue with nine other owners who want their houses legalized. They are not necessarily the owners of the largest houses. Work began with houses over 100 square meters, and the municipality is working its way down the pile.
Some of those who have come forward had not yet been reached, per Madsen. He says they may be able to see which way things are going. The municipality is firmly decided that buildings must be legalized down to 50 square meters.
Madsen also says some owners may have lost sleep over the attention around the case, which he says he understands. He has been in contact with residents who openly acknowledged that they had built too much and knew it. One told him he had enjoyed it for as long as he had it.
DR contacted the owner of the house that was cut through and the owner of the house that was removed. The first did not respond, while the second declined to speak to DR. The board of Kolonisternes Haveforening, which brought the case against the municipality, also declined to comment on the eight legalizations.
The municipality’s legalization work in the allotment gardens continues alongside the court case brought by the group of residents.
