The idea of building a wind farm "Čestobrodica" on the Bukovik mountain disturbed the local population, mainly because of the potential cutting of forests, but also because of the impact of the wind farm on wildlife
The wind farm construction project includes the municipalities of Sokobanja and Boljevac, and the villages of Jošanica, Vrbovac and Rujevica are located near the planned construction site.
Local residents organized meetings in local communities where they discussed the potential dangers of the construction, as well as the steps that should be taken to prevent it.
As stated in the detailed regulation plan, the total area of the proposed scope is 11.162 hectares, of which 5.860 hectares are in the municipality of Boljevac (KO Krivi Vir and KO Lukovo), and 5.302 hectares in the municipality of Sokobanja (KO Jošanica, KO Rujevica and KO Vrbovac).
The detailed regulation plan for the construction of the "Čestobrodica" wind farm on the territory of the Sokobanja municipality was made based on the decision made by the Sokobanja Municipal Assembly at the session on July 18, 2022, and the changes were adopted on April 25 of the following year, 2023, writes Sokobanjapress.
This does not yet mean that the construction has been decided, as well as the appearance and size of the eventual wind farm, as could be heard from various sources. Harmonizations are yet to come, public inspection and the like. It is certainly positive that the public has taken an interest in this environmental issue in green Sokobanja.
Four villages may run out of water
Activist Igor Stojanović says that the fact that Bukovik mountain is the source of water for four villages: Trubarevac, Jošanica, Rujevica and Vrbovac poses a particular danger. If the project is implemented, the inhabitants of these villages would be left without water in their households.
"We have been feeling the lack of water here for years, even without a wind farm." According to the spatial plan, this project would occupy three-quarters of Rujevica's land, but also almost half of Jošanica's land. Nearby is the famous Jošanička spa, which has 15 healing springs," warns Stojanović.
He characterized the construction of Cestobrodica as "forced emigration of local residents" from the area of these villages.
In order to build 55 windmills, he says, it is necessary to widen roads, which would also destroy forests.
He states that disgruntled citizens met on several occasions, and also had a conversation with the president of the Rujevica Local Community, from whom they asked to see the documents of the "Čestobrodica" project.
The meeting in Rujevica, according to the provided data, in addition to the residents of Vrbovac, Rujevica, Jošanica, Vrmdža and several other villages, was also attended by representatives of the Public Enterprise "Srbijašuma" and the Sokobanj Ecological Society, as well as several councilors of the opposition.
Windmills and wind roses
Doctor of technical sciences and electrical engineer Miroslav Parović explains that projects related to energy in Serbia are carried out in such a way that the demands of investors are favored, while the needs of the local community are neglected.
"The threshold for obtaining a building and use permit is low in our country. In EU countries, you must first prove that the project does not damage the environment or the interests of the local community, and only then can you get permission for the project. The procedure is similar in our country, but the local community is not asked anything and its needs are ignored", explains Parović.
The power of the wind farm would be around 260 megawatts, which, as he states, is too great a danger because it is located near one of the largest air spas in Serbia.
"The wind park would be very close to Sokobanja. I don't know of another case where such a strong wind park is so close to a spa. This could also damage the wind roses, for which this spa is known", he explains.
As another illogicality, he sees that 11.162 hectares are needed for the wind farm, because only the rates and roads that are part of the wind farm are counted in the area of the wind farm.
He states that one of the mandatory conditions is that within the area covered by a wind farm, the conditions for normal performance of activities must be met.
Windmills can drive away game
Representatives of the Sokobanj Ecological Society reacted to the early public inspection of the detailed regulation plan for the construction of the wind park with a petition on which they collected around 1700 signatures. They announced this kind of reaction when the municipality publishes a public inspection.
Saša Trpković from the Sokobanje Ecological Society expressed his fear that the construction of the wind farm will have a negative impact on wildlife, and that the project in which the state has invested large amounts of money will fail.
"The state invested huge resources to bring the deer back to this area and it was done." The deer was returned to Bukovik. The game is looking for peace and food. With the construction of the wind park, among other things, the wildlife also loses peace", the representative of the environmental society expressed his fears.
The gathered citizens announced that they will continue to meet and that the only solution for them is to stop construction. Although the public inspection of the detailed regulation plan will still take place, the citizens say that they have noticed that a suspicious object is growing in the yard of the village of Jošanica. They expressed fear that it was a measuring station for testing the strength of the winds and that it was being erected for the needs of "Čestobrodica". This suspicion was also confirmed by the representative of "Srbijašuma", saying that it was a private property and that his company had submitted an application for illegal construction.
At the meeting, it was also heard that the investor has allegedly started buying or leasing plots of land in Bukovik. This information has not been officially confirmed yet.
The locals agree that, although there were politicians at this meeting, they do not want to politicize this event and that they are not interested in who is from which party, but they only want to preserve their mountain and the villages that they do not want to leave.
The development of the plan for the construction of the "Čestobrodica" wind farm was financed by "Vetroenergo" doo Belgrade, which, according to data from APR, is owned by "Wind Alinace", which is also registered at its Belgrade address, but the share of about 65 percent belongs to the company "Comay co Limited" from Cyprus.
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