Coastal protection

If you own a piece of land next to the coast, you yourself are responsible for protecting your property against the effects of the sea (erosion) and flooding.

You must apply for a permit if you want to establish, change or restore coastal protection.

Coastal protection is typically:

• Slope protection
• Breakwaters
• Hips
• Diger
• Flood walls 
• Sand feeding

When do I need a permit?

You must apply for a permit if you want to:

• establish brand new coastal protection
• expand existing coastal protection
• restore existing coastal protection
  You restore if the current coastal protection no longer has a coastal protection function.
• renovate existing coastal protection
  By renovation is meant that the system changes either in relation to construction, choice of material or that you change the dimensions.
• maintain coastal protection from before 1988, which is not continuously maintained

You do not need to apply for a permit to carry out ordinary maintenance of legally erected coastal protection if the choice of materials and dimensions are unchanged. A permit typically obliges the owner to maintain the facility in good and proper condition. A facility that was established before 1988 is basically legal without a permit, as the Coastal Protection Act requires here for the first time that future coastal protection has a permit. Facilities from before 1988 can be maintained to the condition they had in 1988 with the same structure, materials and dimensions, provided that ongoing maintenance has taken place over the years.

It is possible to apply for coastal protection for just a single property, but it is often relevant for several properties on a stretch to get coherent coastal protection. In this case, you can apply for a joint project or, as the Coast Protection Act states - a municipal joint project. Here it is possible to ask the municipality to act as a process authority.

Do I need other permissions?

Since coastal protection can have negative effects on nature and the environment, the project must also be assessed in relation to other legislation. In order to optimize the processing of coastal protection cases, a number of legislation will be included in the permit. It can be the Nature Protection Act, the Forest Act, the Hunting and Game Management Act. The Watercourses Authority can assess whether the Watercourses Act should be included in a permit for coastal protection.

Sønderborg Municipality must assess whether the project may significantly affect an international nature protection area (Natura 2000 area) or certain designated species in relation to the coastal habitat order.

The municipality also assesses whether the project has a significant impact on the environment. This is done on the basis of a separate EIA report, which you must complete in a special report form - see below - and send it together with your application for coastal protection

Be aware that you may need to apply a land zone permit depending on the location of the coastal protection facility.