– The fine level is ridiculously low. Today, it means nothing to people who have a lot of money, says Lord Mayor Bjørn Ole Gleditsch in Sandefjord. He believes that it pays to take measures when the increase in the value of the cabin is greater than the fines. Offenses in the beach zone, such as blowing up, should be fined with, for example, 30 per cent of the market value of the property, suggests Gleditsch. – If you know that what you are doing is illegal, and you take action, it is environmental crime. Then it should have much more serious consequences than it does today, says Gleditsch. Deconstruction continues 68 percent of the beach zone in Norway is now accessible to the public, new figures from Statistics Norway show. In the inner Oslofjord it is worse. Around 30 percent of the beach zone is accessible here, according to the number. Vestfold and Telemark are the counties with the third most decommissioning in the country. 41 percent of the beach zone is open to traffic, while the rest is affected by buildings, railways, roads or cultivated land. Tala is familiar from earlier this year, says acting department director in the Norwegian Environment Agency, Terje Qvam. The pressure is clearly greatest along the Oslofjord, he says. Acting Director of the Norwegian Environment Agency, Terje Qvam. Photo: Terje Trobe / Norwegian Environment Agency – In some municipalities, only a few percent of the area in the 100-metre belt along the sea is accessible to the general public, says Qvam. A large part of what is left of the accessible beach zone in the Oslofjord is public open space, he points out. He adds that many areas are state-protected through cooperation with municipalities and inter-municipal outdoor councils. But this is expensive. Don’t be surprised The municipalities must take responsibility for stopping the construction, says leader of the Nature Conservation Association, Truls Gulowsen. Truls Gulowsen, Norwegian Nature Conservancy. Photo: Marte Iren Noreng Trøen / news – The municipalities must say no to dispensations in such areas. And government authorities must become much more active with objections to municipalities, landowners and contractors who do not respect the regulations. According to Statistics Norway, over 60 per cent of applications for construction in the beach zone have been granted by way of dispensation in recent years. SV’s parliamentary representative for Vestfold, Grete Wold, reacts to that. – Then the alarm must go off. It breaks with the plans and intentions one had in the first place. Storting representative for Vestfold, Grete Wold (SV). Photo: Silje Rognsvåg / news She is not surprised by the new numbers. – Every single summer we have to note that the beach zone is being built down bit by bit and meter by metre. It goes beyond the common law for all of us, she says. SV wants, among other things, to enshrine the common law in the constitution and give more money to the municipalities so that they can buy up properties. The decline has slowed somewhat In Vestfold and Telemark, the State Administrator has complained about seven dispensations granted by the municipalities so far this year. In total, they have issued judgments on 190 cases. Grethe Helgås, director of the environmental protection department at the State Administrator in Vestfold and Telemark. Photo: Gry Eirin Skjelbred / news – We have appealed in cases where it entails further downsizing of the beach zone, says director of the Environment Department at the State Administrator, Grethe Helgås. The decrease in available beach area in the county is slightly less than before. – Development is still going in the wrong direction, but to a slightly lesser extent than before, she says. In Sandefjord, 34 out of 39 applications for new buildings in the 100-metre belt along salt water were granted with exemption from the planning and building act, and five were refused, Kostra figures from 2022 show. – Uses common sense Mayor Bjørn Ole Gleditsch believes it is often about smaller measures that are good for the environment and lead to less privatisation. – We use common sense. There are minor measures that we grant dispensation for, and there is an opportunity to do so under the Planning and Building Act, he says. There are strict rules for how big cabins can be in the beach zone, the mayor points out. – Shouldn’t the municipality itself take responsibility for and say no to more dispensation applications? – No, many of the measures improve the environment, such as sanitation. There are also other smaller measures, for example if you have three buildings on your plot, you may be allowed to build on the main cabin and renovate other buildings. This means that there will be less privatization in the area, says Gleditsch.
ttn-69
Sandefjord mayors want stinging fines for people who settle in the beach zone – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
