– We feel we are fighting against the State Administrator. They are becoming more and more an overriding level, which has less confidence in local knowledge, says mayor of Hemsedal Pål Terje Rørby from the Center Party. The frustration is directed at the State Administrator in Oslo and Viken. They experience that local decisions are overrun due to everything from increased car use, smells from agriculture to playgrounds. Retirement home missing playground Mayor Pål Rørby (Sp) in Hemsedal. Photo: Vilde Jagland / news In Hemsedal, an elderly couple wanted to move to the cabin. The municipality agreed and granted a temporary change of use from cottage to residence. Rørby says that the dispensation was for three years, so that the elderly couple could live legally in the cottage. – It was a great and modern high-quality cabin located in a beautiful natural area. The state administrator used the right of objection and complained. – There was not enough play area for children. Then they have not looked at the age of those who want to live there. – There are almost banal matters that come to the table, and then we get those kinds of arguments. It feels very strange, says Rørby. Pål Rørby says that there are regularly people who want to stay at the cabin in Hemsedal. Photo: Pål Rørby – Energy draining In Sigdal, they agreed to build a home. The municipality is almost seven miles long, and the inhabitants live scattered. The state administrator complained about the decision because it was too far to the nearest playground. – We have the world’s best playground right outside our living room door. Nature. And then the State Administrator cannot use that as justification. Such arguments must end if we are to have confidence in the State Administrator, says Mayor Tine Norman. Mayor Tine Norman (Sp) in Sigdal. Photo: Henning Hope Rønhovde / news In this case, the State Administrator turned around after a meeting with Sigdal municipality. – It takes a lot of time and is energy draining, says Norman. – Undermining local democracy Mayor of Øvre Eiker Knut Kvale cannot move a nursery school away from quick clay. Photo: Eirik Thormodsrud Koren / news In mid-June, the State Administrator turned down the thumbs down for Øvre Eiker to move a nursery school away from quick clay to a new building. The state administrator pointed out that the parents had to use a car to get to the nursery school. In addition, they feared the smell of manure and tractor noise. – We live in the countryside, that’s the way it is, says Knut Kvale, the mayor from the Center Party. This case made the cup run over for his mayoral colleagues in Buskerud. – They care about matters that we can handle locally. It undermines local democracy and cuts everyone across the board, says Tine Norman. There are particularly cases where a local dispensation is granted where the municipalities end up in conflict with the State Administrator. – We at KS Viken have discussed this several times. It seems that the State Administrator is a little bit solution-oriented, and has a little bit of local knowledge, says mayor of Kongsberg and head of KS Viken, Kari Anne Sand. – But the State Administrator must comply with the regulations they are to administer? – Yes, but they have to realize that there are differences between the countryside and the big cities. When the State Administrator put the foot down for the relocation of a kindergarten in Øvre Eiker, several mayors in Buskerud reacted. Here is the building the municipality wants to use. Photo: Eirik Thormodsrud Koren / news The State Administrator: – Good cooperation Valgerd Svarstad Haugland, State Administrator in Oslo and Viken, believes, on the contrary, that there is good cooperation with the municipalities. – I have visited all the municipalities, and I have had a good dialogue with them. – They cannot be successful in all their cases, and I understand that they can be annoyed by that. But I have received an assignment from the government to follow up on national guidelines, says Svarstad Haugland. The state administrator must ensure that the municipalities follow the government’s guidelines, such as reducing car use, the environment and provision for children and young people. – I find the State Administrator to be a bit wrong, says Norman. – If we are a bit cross, it is because the government has asked us to be cross. And they must remember that. This is not something we come up with on a desk in Oslo or Moss. Wants a division of the State Administrator – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio Must use the right to object Valgerd Svarstad Haugland sees the dialogue with the municipalities as good. Photo: Eirik Koren / news If a municipality makes a decision the State Administrator believes goes against national guidelines, they can use the right of objection and say “no”. – If we just say that they should do such and such, then they don’t listen to us. If we have an objection, we engage in dialogue. Very often we get out of that objection by them giving in a little and we giving in a little, says Svarstad Haugland. – There will be desk exercises on which we spend an unnecessary amount of time, says Pål Terje Rørby. Svarstad Haugland admits that they have been too strict in some cases. – In some cases we have been too square, but we have good employees who take the assignment from the government seriously. But she rejects that the State Administrator lacks local knowledge. – There is a difference between Hallingdal and Lillestrøm. We know that well. In addition, both the department director, the section manager and several case managers in the planning department are from old Buskerud.
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Four mayors in Buskerud believe the State Administrator cares too much in local matters – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
