Lynetteholm should be subject to a referendum

The project to build an Island to extend Copenhagen doesn’t make everyone happy. According to a survey ran by an anti-Lynetteholm alliance in early august, 52% of Copenhageners think there should be a referendum to decide whether it should be discontinued, changed or stay that way.

Lynetteholm is the name of the project. It is meant to become a peninsular connecting Refshaleøen and Nordhav, two areas in the North of Copenhagen’s coast line. 

It includes climate protections based on the UN international climate change panel, and should be able to become home of 50 000 people.

The project was agreed on in October 2018, but according to the alliance “Saet Lynetteholm pa pause” (Pause Lynetteholm) and surveys ran in the past, Lynetteholm was never met with enthusiasm.

Note that no neutral surveys have been done in a couple of years. They have only been ran by anti-Lynetteholm organizations.

The results of the last survey ran by YouGov on demand of the anti-Lynetteholm alliance were published on September 9. Only 17% of people think that Folketinget, the Danish parliament, doesn’t need to reconsider the project.

Debate hosted by Saet Lynetteholm pa pause

Politics of all kinds were invited for a debate in Christianshavn on the 10th September. 

People from Niels Peder Ravn, member of the conservative party, to Karoline Lindgaard, member of the green party Alternativet attended the event.

Niels Peder Ravn and Ane Storm, member of Venstre, the liberal party, are in favor of keeping the construction going. Both pointed the fact the Copenhagen is lacking space to welcome all the people who want to live there.

Niels Peder Ravn explains that it is not the first time Denmark has built over the sea to extend its area. “Actually where we are standing right now, Christianshavn, was made that way.”

On the other hand, left-wing parties are mostly against it. They regret that the housing built on Lynetteholm are not going to be affordable for most people.

“What we want is more public housing, which is housing that doesn’t need to earn a profit” – Mikkel Skovgaard, member of Enhedslisten, the red green alliance.

Mikkel Skovgaard suggest that instead of building an island where people need to live, the city could build climate protection along its whole coastline and be protected from the south too. According to him, the real danger are rising sea levels from the south.

“Today we actually have announced a demand which is that we should have a public vote on it when we go to the municipal election in November.” -Karoline Lindgaard

When asked wheter the debate is a key subject in the upcoming elections, parties in favor of Lynetteholm say it is not. But parties who want it to change, or stop, say they hope it will be.

Lynetteholm should be as big as 275 hectares, and the construction of the landfill is not expected to be finished before 2050. 

It is supposed to finance the new metro, which will go from Lynetteholm all the way to the city center.

Citizen opinion

Next to the Lynetteholm’s construction site, there is a spa where Rasmus Vennevold works. Being next to the soon to be new area of Copenhagen, he says he is not against it. 

He thinks that Copenhagen needs development and building over the sea the extend the city is not something new.

There have also been some concerns about the metro, which will go through his urban garden. But he says it’s something people need. 

According to Rasmus, people are complaining about how long it take to go from Refshaleøen to the city center, and the metro will be faster.

He even says that the noise from the construction site are not bothering his business.

As a whole, he think this project just shows how Copenhagen is growing. More people want to live there, so they need more space to welcome everyone.

It will be voted on September 18 wheter a referendum should be held or not.

This story is for an audiance in the Nederlands and could be published on ad.nl