Geir Håvard Hjelde is sued for hunting on his own property – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio

– I cannot let this pass because Gjelstein is coming, a multi-billionaire. He could buy ten lawyers against me. I cannot accept that that right disappears without a fight. That’s what Geir Håvard Hjelde says to news. He is being sued by Bjørn Rune Gjelsten’s company Værdalsbruket for hunting in an area they believe he has no right to hunt in. But Hjelde lives on a farm that has been in the family for 150 years. And with the farm, he believes, there follows a right to hunt in this particular area, known as Jurdal and Væren allmenning. – Gjelstein is suing a small man and it is unpleasant, adds Hjelde. Hjelde wanted to go to mediation with Gjelstein, but the forest owner company did not want to. In 1912, Værdalsbruket bought an area from the municipality where Jurdal and Væren commons are located. The forest owners company believes Hjelde has no right to hunt here and bases it on a hunting law from 1899 and a letter from 1874. Værdalsbruket owns 58 percent of Verdal municipality. It is the area within the black lines. Photo: Skjermdump / AS Værdalsbruket Building deed from 1874 Both parties produced a building deed from 1874. The building deed is a lease between the landowner and Hjelde’s great-great-grandfather, who was a tenant. Then the great-great-grandfather had hunting rights. The parties are in disagreement as to whether the right to hunt follows the farm where Hjelde lives now that Værdalsbruket owns the area he hunts in. – Should I contact Lilli Bendriss to get help to wake the dead from the grave to get assistance to understand what the parties meant in 1874 ? That is what lawyer Steinar Mageli, who represents Hjelde in the court case, asks before he concludes that it is the scriptural sources that must be used. Copy of the building deed from 1874. Photo: private – Did the parties think that a perpetual special right should be established for this property? That is what lawyer Guri Uvsløkk Vagnildhaug, who represents Værdalsbruk in the case, asks. She believes there is no basis for saying that the right to hunt still applies, among other things, because it was a lease. But Hjelde disagrees. Especially for hunting? In 1929, Hjelde’s great-grandfather bought the farm and the right to hunt went with it. – Then it says that I am buying the farm with associated rights in the mountains, adds Hjelde. But Værdalsbruk, which bought the hunting area in 1912, does not think this applies because of a hunting law from 1899. – Værdalsbruk is of the clear opinion that no special right to hunt was established, says Uvsløkk Vagnildhaug. In the law from 1899, there was a prohibition against separating hunting rights from property rights. And since Værdalsbruket owns the area in which the hunting takes place, the company believes that only they have the right to hunt here. – Værdalsbruk is turning away, says Mageli in court. Værdalsbruket is Norway’s second largest private forest owner company. The company owns 58 percent of the entire municipality of Verdal. – It shouldn’t be a problem to hunt, there are huge areas, says Hjelde. Værdalsbruk will not comment on the case beyond what has been said in court. Lawyers Guri Uvsløkk Vagnildhaug and Steinar Mageli on each side of the lawsuit in Trøndelag district court. Photo: Sunniva Skurtveit / news



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