The owner of a private piece of forest in eastern Saxony wants to lodge a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court regarding the expropriation of the land for the Nochten open-cast lignite mine. He wants to defend himself against a decision by the Bautzen Higher Administrative Court (OVG). The court did not stop the so-called land transfer to the energy company Leag on January 1, 2026, as confirmed by a spokesperson. The OVG intends to announce the reasons for the decision in the coming week.
Lawyer: OVG decision incomprehensible
Lawyer Philipp Schulte, who represents the owner, reacted with disappointment to the OVG's current decision. "We consider this decision to be incompatible with the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court on the climate protection requirement," he said in a statement. It is incomprehensible that expropriation should be allowed for projects whose emissions make it impossible to achieve climate protection targets.
From the perspective of the Green League, there is a risk of landslides in the villages of Rohne and Mulkwitz if the forest is cleared, similar to the nearby Cottbus Baltic Sea. "This is another reason why we welcome the fact that the forest owners are not giving up," said René Schuster from the Green League.
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