Urspelt counts just 166 inhabitants, but is also home to the prestigious Château d’Urspelt. When residents recently found out the hotel had been planning a helipad - a project going as far back as 2013/2014 - they were flabbergasted. Resistance quickly mounted.
Residents found out in June that the hotel was planning to let its guests arrive by helicopter.
Fernand Koch, representing the citizens’ group, deplores the lack of transparency and information around the project.
“This made us angry because, as we found out now, the project had been discussed since 2013/2014. The council has known about it since 2016, and this is exactly what makes us upset.”
There have now been info evenings, but the people of Urspelt feel like they’ve been taken for a ride. The number of authorised flights per year, for instance, had been obfuscated.
“Regarding flight numbers, in the first assembly, the hotel owner was present and said it was 52 movements. This means, 26 times two. A ‘movement’ means a take off and a landing. Then one of our colleagues looked on eie.lu and found out it is not 52, but 104 movements.”
There is authorisation from the council to build the helipad. Mayor Emile Eicher says he felt very skeptical about the project, not to say negative, but he was unable to refuse the construction permit.
“I have to respect building regulations and cannot refuse something that is permitted as per regulation. [...] We issue a building permit. Not an authorisation to fly; we are not from the Environment, nor Civil Aviation. This means, the building permit I’ve given is for a platform of 300 square meters, made of lawn grids. Nothing more. And I don’t have the option to refuse this, because it’s no different than some car park.”
In early January, then minister for the environment Carole Dieschbourg gave a favourable opinion, and a few days later the Civil Aviation authority also approved the project. The subject was recently picked up by the ADR and Michel Lemaire, president of the ADR North, raising a political question.
“How could a green minister for the environment authorise a project that was so diametrically opposed to what they keep telling us. Sustainable mobility, green mobility, climate-friendly mobility, soft mobility, away from individual transport, respecting the natural habitat of plants and animals.”
He also found critical words for the mayor: “The mayor knew of the explosive nature of such a project. And then you have to ask yourself, how can it be that there wasn’t a more transparent, more direct, a faster handling of information?”
The hotel owners declined to give an interview. Reached telephonically, they said the project was not currently a priority. Complaints against the building permit for the helipad can be made until mid-September, and that’s exactly what the citizens’ group intends to do.
Video report in Luxembourgish:
