Conflict over Lindekollen – the police stopped construction work at the Rikshospitalet in Gaustad – Greater Oslo

For several weeks, conservationists and hospital campaigners have been camping in tents at Gaustad. They want to prevent Helse Sør-Öst from cutting down old trees in an area called Lindekollen. The construction machines have been ready for just as long. The trees must be removed to make way for a new road in connection with the construction of a new giant hospital, which will receive patients from all over the country. According to the Nature Conservation Association, this will destroy an area with 150-year-old deciduous forest and several red-listed species. CONSERVATION CAMP: Conservationists and opponents of a new large hospital have been camping in Gaustad for several weeks. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news Ban on logging Last week the case took a new turn. Then hospital shareholders discovered that it is Oslo municipality that owns Lindekollen, not the state. On Friday, the campaigners went to the Oslo district court with a demand for a temporary stop in the construction work related to the road. The background is that Oslo City Council has banned the cutting of woodland and larger trees on their properties during the breeding season out of concern for bird life. LINDEKOLLEN: This natural area must give way to a new road to the Rikshospitalet in Gaustad. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news Police: – Waiting On Tuesday morning, workers nevertheless began to put up fences to start the construction work. When campaigners tried to prevent them from doing so, Helse Sør-Öst called the police. After talking to the parties, task leader Magnus Strande in the Oslo police district Health South-East got the work to stop. – There are two conflicting interests. Helse Sør-Öst wants to build, and some want to protect nature. – This is a case that will now go before the district court. What we have agreed on now is to wait for the district court’s conclusion before possibly taking a decision on what happens next, says Strande to news. CLEARING AWAY: The workers had to remove the construction fences they put up earlier on Tuesday morning. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news Permission missing On Monday, the Real Estate and Urban Renewal Agency (EBY) in Oslo municipality confirmed to news that Helse Sør-East has not yet received the necessary permission to work on the site. EBY looks after Oslo municipality’s rights as landowner. Helse Sør-East then told news that they are waiting for the work until further notice. On Tuesday, news asked why they still wanted to start when permission from Oslo municipality is missing and the case is pending in the district court. – The work is at a different location than Lindekollen, writes Bjørn Hødal, communications advisor in Health South-East’s project organisation, in an SMS. READY: The excavators are ready to start re-laying Sognsvannsveien over Lindekollen. Photo: Hallgeir Braastad / news Published 02.07.2024, at 12.05 Updated 02.07.2024, at 12.36 p.m



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