Ikerasaarsuk is located on the Alanngorsua peninsula – some 35 km south of Kangaatsiaq and 12 km west of Iginniarfik.
The settlement’s name means “the strange little sound”, referring to a location a few kilometres from the settlement. The settlement also goes by another name – Illukoq, which means “the old house”. A relatively new settlement, Ikerasaarsuk was granted settlement status in 1993.
The oldest part of Ikerasaarsuk is located on a small, flat terrain onto the water, whereas the newer part lies on a hill side in a fairly undulant terrain. This terrain means that there are limited possibilities of extending the settlement.
Provisions and subareas
The general provisions apply to all subareas of the municipalities in towns, settlements and open country areas. The provisions are general and do not consider the local conditions in the subareas.
General provisions of the Town Plan
The overall provisions for each subarea are the basis for the municipality"s granting of area allotments and building permits.
The aim is to maintain Ikerasaarsuk’s current service level and range of housing. Further development is to take place within the existing settlement zone and, in the long term, possibly towards the east. Business development is to be supported by providing sufficient areas for fishermen, production facilities and quay area. Leisure activities, such as a soccer field, should be promoted by securing areas for this purpose.
Ikerasaarsuk has 104 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2017). Since 1980 (46), the population has more than doubled and remained relatively stable around 100 since 1995.
Since no significant increase in population is expected, the planning period primarily calls for replacement buildings in connection with redevelopment.
There are 28 households in the settlements that belong to Kangaatsiaq. Ikerasaarsuk mainly consists of detached single-family houses. There is no senior housing in Ikerasaarsuk.
The settlement zone covers two residential areas. Their remaining available space – some ten homes – is considered sufficient to meet demand in the future planning period.
As is the case for the other settlements by Kangaatsiaq, the primary trades are fishing, sealing and whaling. In the summer, the fishermen target lumpsuckers and cod. Royal Greenland operates a small fish factory without freezing facilities in the settlement (B-49, B-63), which primarily receives cod and roe and produces salted fish. The fish factory employs as many as ten persons during peak season. In addition to fishing, sealing and whaling, jobs relate to municipal activities, school and service trades.
The unemployment rate in the four settlements in Kangaatsiaq district as a whole (18,2%) is slightly larger than Kangaatsiaq (17.1%), and almost twice as large as the other districts in the municipality (8.2-10.9%). It is thus also far higher than both the municipal average (10.7%) and the national average (9.1%). No figures on work force distribution across trades are available.
The port includes a quay, which was extended in connection with the establishment of a new KNI shop.
The town plan includes 500 m2 of available space for industry and port facilities.
There is a helistop in the eastern part of the settlement. In the summer, from May to October, Diskoline sails passengers and goods to and from Aasiaat and Kangaatsiaq. The port is navigable from May to December. From January to April, the port is navigable depending on ice conditions. The schooner quay is used for goods, passengers and trading. The area outside the dock is designated as a port authority area.
Ikerasaarsuk has two simple wheel track connections, one running between the heliport and the port. Water supply is based on a reversed osmosis plant by the power plant. The settlement has no sewerage. Day-time refuse, night soil, chemical waste and metal are deposited at the dump, where waste is burned in the open. The dump is located close to the settlement.
Telecommunications is handled by TELE Greenland.
Ikerasaarsuk features a settlement office (B-897), a shop, a nursing station by the school, a service house and a school chapel. Day-care schemes provide child care services.
The school (B-694) - Qaqqannguup Atuarfia - has approx. 30 pupils. The building housing the school and church also features a school chapel.
The school buildings are also used for social and recreational activities. No buildings or areas in the settlement have preservation value or are listed.
