FPÖ accuses mayors of blocking citizen initiative motions

Mayors are repeatedly delaying or rejecting citizen initiative motions, including those concerning wind power projects, the FPÖ in Lower Austria said on Wednesday, according to ORF. The party accused them of undermining citizens’ rights and attempting to bypass public consultations.

Dieter Dorner, the FPÖ’s spokesperson for municipal affairs and energy, said mayors often place the subject of an initiative motion on the agenda of the next municipal council meeting soon after it is submitted. The mayor’s party then allegedly approves measures such as zoning designations for wind power projects.

“Facts are being created without asking the will of the municipality’s residents. I find that highly undemocratic,” Dorner said. In his view, this contradicts the purpose of the initiative right. He also claimed that citizens sometimes receive an official decision only months later declaring further consideration of their motion inadmissible.

Dorner cited Velm-Götzendorf and Matzen-Raggendorf, both in the Gänserndorf district, as examples. He said a similar incident had occurred in Mödling over parking spaces.

The FPÖ also criticised financial support for wind power projects, specifically the so-called market premium. Dorner said the scheme made wind farms a lucrative business. “If a wind farm receives substantial revenue protection for 20 years, generates millions in profits at the same time and can continue operating debt-free after the subsidy expires, the appropriateness of this support model must be openly discussed,” he said.

The office of Stephan Pernkopf, the deputy governor of Lower Austria and a member of the ÖVP, said the ÖVP and FPÖ had made the “massive expansion of wind power” a shared goal. Since 2023, the state government had already approved more than 200 wind turbines, it said. Domestic energy, the statement added, strengthens supply security and makes the region less dependent on Russia or the Arab world.