Reform of Finland’s land use legislation – key takeaways for project developers

Reasons behind the reform

The aim of the reform is to simplify the land use planning system, reduce administrative burden and speed up planning processes. The three-tier hierarchy of the land use planning system – regional plan, local master plan and local detailed plan – would remain unchanged, and municipalities would retain their central role in land use planning. While the structure itself remains familiar, the content and legal effect of many of the tiers would change significantly.

Key amendments

1. Lighter legal effect of regional plans

• The role of regional plans would be limited to matters of at least national or regional importance, while decisions of sub-regional significance would be outlined in municipal local master plans and local detailed plans.
• The steering effect of regional plans on local master planning would be more flexible: when drawing up a local master plan, it would be possible to deviate from the regional plan’s guiding effect for a justified reason and subject to certain conditions.
• The authorities’ obligation to promote the regional plan would be removed. In practice, this would give municipalities more leeway in their planning decisions, and the guiding effect of the regional plan would be less absolute.

2. Joint processing of local master plans and local detailed plans

• The government proposal introduces provisions on the joint processing of local master plans and local detailed plans, pursuant to which these plans could be drawn up simultaneously and approved by the same decision.
• The aim of joint processing is to streamline the land use planning process and to shorten administrative processes in situations where both a local master plan and a local detailed plan are needed for the same area.
• With joint processing, the land use plans could share a joint participation and assessment scheme, interaction stages and public notices, even though legally they are still two separate land use plans.

3. Limited right of appeal against local detailed plans

• The right to appeal against a decision to approve a local detailed plan would be restricted to interested parties in situations where the local detailed plan is drawn up for an area covered by a valid local master plan while adhering to the plan’s guiding effect. This means that members of a municipality would not have a right of appeal in such cases.
• As a general rule, associations would have an obligation to submit an objection to a local detailed plan proposal in order to retain their right of appeal.

4. Wind power: minimum distance of 1,250 metres from residential areas

• If a local master plan for wind power is not situated within a wind turbine area designated in a regional plan, the minimum distance between a wind turbine and existing residential buildings, as well as residential building sites that have been granted a building permit or designated in land use plans, would be 1,250 metres.
• However, the distance requirement is not absolute:
• If a local master plan or local detailed plan guiding wind power is already in force in the area, the distance requirement would not apply.
• The minimum distance could also be waived with the written consent of at least 4/5 of the landowners and holders of land lease rights for the residential buildings and residential building sites located within 1,250 metres of the wind turbine.
• The 1,250-metre minimum distance requirement is a significant constraint on the land use planning of wind power projects, reducing the land available for wind power development.

5. Solar power: planning obligation for projects of 50 hectares or more

• The Building Act would be amended so that constructing a solar power plant spanning at least 50 hectares would always require a local master plan for solar power or a local detailed plan.
• Under certain conditions, the local master plan could be used directly as grounds for a building permit of a solar power plant.
• There would be specific content requirements for local master plans for solar power: electricity transmission must be feasible, the plant cannot be located on undrained natural-state peatland, and a significant proportion of the plant’s area cannot be located on forest land.
• Clearer rules are a welcome change in a sector where the boundaries for land use planning obligation have been open to interpretation.
• On the other hand, 50 hectares is a relatively low threshold that brings a significant proportion of industrial-scale solar power projects within the scope of land use planning.
• It also remains open how the requirement that a ‘significant proportion’ of a solar power plant’s area cannot be located on forest land should be interpreted, as well as how the 50-hectare limit should be interpreted when it comes to solar power plants developed by the same developer but located on separate parcels of land within the same municipality.

6. Climate change as a content requirement for planning

• Climate change mitigation and adaptation would be explicitly added to the matters covered by national land use guidelines and to regional plan content requirements.
• Proposed new content requirements for local master plans and local detailed plans include provisions on preparedness for increasing extreme weather events and flood risks, as well as requirements concerning the preconditions for stormwater management systems, which would be of particular relevance with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
• The climate change-related content requirements for planning are multidimensional: among other things, they cover the assessment of climate impacts of siting decisions, the reduction of transport needs and emissions, and the consideration of carbon sinks. Project developers should therefore be prepared for land use planning processes that require increasingly explicit analysis of climate impacts going forward.

In summary

On the positive side:

• The reduced guiding effect of the regional plan would give municipalities and project developers more leeway.
• The joint processing of local master plans and local detailed plans would shorten the overall planning time in certain projects.
• The limited right of appeal would reduce the risk of appeals in certain local detailed plan projects.

On the negative side:

• The 1,250-metre distance requirement for wind turbines would restrict the areas available for wind power production and could push wind power projects further from residential areas to more remote locations where project development is often more challenging, not least due to nature values.
• The categorical land use planning obligation for solar power projects of 50 hectares and above would bring within the scope of land use planning even relatively limited projects, including in areas where other land use pressure is low and the need to reconcile different forms of land use is limited. The increased emphasis on procedurally burdensome land use planning processes would require additional resources from municipalities and prolong project development.

Timetable

The proposed acts are intended to enter into force on 1 January 2027. The old provisions would continue to apply to all land use plan proposals that are presented to the public before the new acts enter into force.