Land-use management

Longyearbyen Local Council is responsible for planning within the Longyearbyen planning area, while the Governor is the appeal body. In the other planning areas, the landowner is responsible for planning, while The Governor has the authority to adopt plans and process notifications and applications.

Longyearbyen

The current spatial plan was adopted in 2017. The current land-use plan and sub-plans are available on the Longyearbyen Local Council website.

Ny-Ålesund

Kings Bay AS is responsible for the planning. The current land-use plan was adopted in 2024. The current land-use plan and partial plan are available on the Kings Bay website.

Barentsburg

Trust Arktikugol is responsible for the planning. The current land-use plan was adopted in 2004.

Pyramiden

Trust Arktikugol is responsible for the planning.The current land-use plan was adopted in 2014.

Colesbukta

Trust Arktikugol is responsible for the planning. No land-use plan has been approved for the area.

Before initiating activities or a division in planning areas with approved plans, the project owner must notify the party responsible for planning and the Governor. In Longyearbyen, the task is delegated to Longyearbyen Local Council.

The notification shall provide sufficient information to indicate whether the activity or subdivision is in accordance with the plan. In the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act, an activity is defined as a single instance, recurring or continuous undertaking of a commercial or non-commercial nature.

In the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act, it is stipulated that activities that conflict with the terms of the plan cannot be initiated without the plan being changed. The Governor may nevertheless grant permits for activities that conflict with the supplementary provisions to a plan.

Excavation and drilling notifications

Longyearbyen Local Council is responsible for excavation and drilling notifications in Longyearbyen. To ensure that measures do not conflict with cultural heritage, the form must be presented to the Governor for approval and signature.

The form can be found on the Longyearbyen Local Council website.

The Svalbard Environmental Protection Act sets requirements for a separate impact assessment for activities that can have more than an insignificant impact on the natural environment outside the planning areas or that can have a significant or long-term environmental or social impact in a planning area.  

The purpose of an impact assessment is to clarify the impact of an activity to improve the decision-making process.

Provisions on impact assessments are laid out in sections 59–61 of the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act and in the “Regulations relating to environmental impact assessment and delimitation of the land-use planning areas in Svalbard”.

Relevant links