Every point rests on a document written by the authorities themselves. Quotations are kept in Danish, because that is what the sources say. The English underneath is our rendering, not the source.
Politikerne · Document 001
What has been decided
On 25 June 2026 the Copenhagen City Council decided to proceed with a nature and culture park with room for up to 60,000 people on the golf course in Kalvebodkilen, the protected, state-owned land between Amager Fælled and Kalvebod Fælled. 52 voted in favour, 3 against. It is not a decision to build. It is a decision to investigate, and money for it has been requested in the 2027 budget.
Indstillingen blev godkendt efter afstemning med 52 stemmer imod 3. Ingen medlemmer undlod at stemme. For stemte: Ø, F, A, C, B, V, I og O. Imod stemte: Å og Q
The recommendation was approved by a vote of 52 to 3. No members abstained.
Borgerrepræsentationen, 25. juni 2026
Lejekontrakten · Document 002
The state cannot deliver the land
The land is owned by the state and leased to the golf club until 31 December 2047. The Danish Nature Agency, which owns the land and signed the contract, has stated in writing that the agreement cannot be terminated by the state, that a political wish does not in itself confer a right to terminate, and that intervening would require expropriation, a specific act of parliament, or a voluntary agreement with the tenant. The state considers itself liable for compensation. It says itself that it does not know how large that compensation would be, and its memo on the costs of a termination is withheld from freedom of information requests. The City of Copenhagen has stated that it does not know the terms of the contract.
Nej, et politisk ønske kan ikke i sig selv give staten ret til at opsige en gældende kontrakt.
No, a political wish cannot in itself give the state the right to terminate a valid contract.
Naturstyrelsens presseafdeling, 6. august 2026
Fredningen · Document 003
The right to walk there is protected in three places
The 1990 protection order keeps the whole area open to pedestrians. In 2023 the Conservation Board for Copenhagen refused permission to fence off the area and charge entry for up to seven days a year for a golf tournament, and in June 2025 the Environment and Food Appeals Board upheld that refusal definitively. The appeals board found that the protection order's list of ways to restrict access is exhaustive. The lease itself also forbids the tenant from closing the area's main paths, including during events.
bestemmelsen i fredningens § 8 efter klagenævnets vurdering indeholder en udtømmende oplistning af mulighederne for at begrænse offentlighedens færdsel inden for hele det fredede område
in the appeals board's assessment, section 8 of the protection order contains an exhaustive list of the ways in which public access within the entire protected area may be restricted
Miljø- og Fødevareklagenævnet, 3. juni 2025
Arterne · Document 004
The species were counted. They were never assessed.
The city's own survey recorded five bird species with red-list status on the site, including the black-headed gull in the endangered category. For breeding birds the site is among the five richest of 45 locations in all of Copenhagen, in joint third place. Measured on overall species richness it ranks 21st of 57, and both figures apply to the city's 44.2 hectare monitoring locality, not the whole golf course. Even so, the city's entire written assessment of strictly protected species on this particular site consists of two sentences from February 2024, based on a database lookup. On 21 August 2026 the Danish Nature Agency stated that it has not assessed the question in connection with this case. On 4 August 2026 the city stated that no species survey was planned. The 2027 budget agreement commissions one on 3 September 2026, a good two months after the decision had been taken.
Københavns Kommune har ikke kendskab til eventuelle bilag IV-arter på arealet. Der foreligger ingen nyere observationer på den nationale artsportal.
The City of Copenhagen has no knowledge of any Annex IV species on the site. There are no recent observations on the national species portal.
Lena Kongsbach, vicedirektør, 26. februar 2024
Fredningen · Document 005
The administration itself concluded in 2024 that it probably cannot be done
As early as 26 February 2024, the Climate, Environment and Technical Administration wrote that the city expects an exemption probably cannot be obtained, because converting the area into an event venue would conflict with the purpose of the protection order. On the protected forest on the site, the administration wrote that an exemption is considered unlikely, and that the Danish Environmental Protection Agency is the competent authority. That memo was on the table when the City Council voted two years later.
Det er imidlertid kommunens forventning, at der sandsynligvis ikke kan opnås dispensation, da omdannelse af området til festivalplads umiddelbart vil stride mod fredningens formål.
It is, however, the city's expectation that an exemption probably cannot be obtained, since converting the area into an event venue would immediately conflict with the purpose of the protection order.
Lena Kongsbach, vicedirektør, 26. februar 2024
Lejekontrakten · Document 006
It began before the proposal
The political proposal to find a site for a large outdoor arena was tabled on 13 November 2025. But the city's administration was already working on the golf course in December 2024. A meeting was held with the tenant on 17 January 2025, where two specific locations on the course were discussed, and where it was agreed that the tenant would inform the Danish Nature Agency of the interest.
Der er som sagt politisk interesse for en festivalplads i området og vi vil derfor gerne undersøge mulighederne for om der på den lidt længere bane vil kunne tages entré i området, der så både kunne muliggøre festival og golfturneringer.
As I said, there is political interest in an event venue in the area, and we would therefore like to look into whether, in the slightly longer term, an entrance fee could be charged in the area, which would then make both a festival and golf tournaments possible.
Mads Monrad Hansen, kontorchef, Team Planlægning, 20. december 2024