– It will not look like it does now. It won’t be a nice, idyllic forest. Marthe Lemming and her husband live right next to Toftebergskogen in Fredrikstad. One day a letter arrived in the mail. The forest directly behind their house could become a business park. The mountain can be blown away. Permission has been requested to extract 30 million tonnes of stone over a period of 25 years. news recently told about Viken Park, which is planned in Fredrikstad. The project will be one of the largest nature interventions in Norway if it is adopted. The family lives here in relation to the development plans. Photo: GG Gruppen AS The entire planning area is over 1.8 million square metres. More than 700,000 square meters have been set aside for the buildings in the industrial area. That corresponds to over 100 football pitches. The area has both cultural monuments, old pine forest and red-listed species. This is the case The business area at Tofteberg in Fredrikstad will become one of Norway’s biggest natural interventions, if it becomes a reality. The nature in the area was never mapped before an area equivalent to 250 football pitches was set aside for commercial land, news’s investigations show. In the area there are great natural values, old pine forest, red-listed species, protected cultural monuments and large amounts of agricultural land. According to the plan, commercial buildings are to be lowered into the landscape, and occupy around a third of the area. Several local politicians believe they were not sufficiently informed before they agreed to the project. news has also found several ties in the planning work. Those involved believe the bonds are unproblematic. The politicians in Fredrikstad will make a final decision on the plan after the summer. In this last round, a comprehensive survey of nature has been carried out. The administration in the municipality believes that the matter has been handled in the correct way. Has spent a lot of time understanding the documents Lemming has spent hours reading up on the project. She believes that it is difficult for neighbors and residents to understand the full scope. Several people news has spoken to say it is difficult to decipher the documents. – Now I’ve tried to have a fixed routine and check the municipality’s website with announcements several times a week, but still I can’t quite keep up. I don’t think it’s possible to understand the scale. Behind the stables you see in the picture, the landscape will be completely changed if the plans are adopted. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Several neighbors and residents submitted consultation input to the area regulation plan in February. These are some of them: Consultation statements from neighbors and residents “It is so hostile to nature and poorly thought out on the part of the municipality and the developer. And nature again seems to have zero value.” Hearing statements from neighbors and residents “I can’t see that neither politicians nor residents I’ve been in contact with have a real understanding of, or perspective on, the project’s enormous sizes in terms of area and volume of mass.”Consultation statement from neighbors and residents”Otherwise, we believe that this gigantic project has received surprisingly little attention in the media and with the municipality/local community, and we are afraid that many in the local community have not understood the scope of the project and what this actually means for the area. »Consultation statement from neighbors and residents«As neighbors of the new industrial area, we are very concerned about the future quality of housing. For noise, pollution, dust and particles from blasting, the traffic pattern with increased frequency, especially of heavy transport, the school route for the children, etc..”Consultation statement from neighbors and residents “We believe that the value of the open air area around Vetatoppen will be greatly diminished as a result of the measure. As a result of the working hours for noisy construction activities that have been outlined, this entire area will be exposed to a lot of noise throughout large parts of the day, for a long time to come.” – Moving is so far away – It doesn’t help no matter what you do, it just keeps coming. It’s a really, really bad feeling. How many days have I gone around crying because of this. She tells about spring with chirping birds and deer in the garden. Walks in the forest and fields right outside the door. Free range chickens. The family has chickens in the garden. Here, daughter Lilly (3) feeds the chickens. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news The family has chickens in the garden. Here, daughter Lilly (3) feeds the chickens. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news – The feeling there is so damn good, that’s why you choose to live here. Nature, wildlife and diversity – it is not measured in money. – Have you thought about moving? Lemming begins to cry. Between crying, she tries to explain what she feels. – I really want to live here, we have spent over ten years on this. Especially before we had children. We have spent all our money building it up here. It is so enormously far away to move. In the work on the area plan, the politicians got the green light – no registrations for natural values. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / NRKI work on the area plan was given the green light by the politicians – no registrations for natural values. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Understands that it is demanding, Fredrikstad municipality says all guidelines and legislation have been followed in the process with Viken Park. Per-Erik Torp, acting head of the section for culture, environment and urban development, has previously told news that he understands that it is difficult to familiarize oneself with such large-scale processes. State manager for urban development and the environment in Fredrikstad, Per-Erik Torp, explains that there are many considerations that must be weighed against each other. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news – On a general basis, I can say that I have great understanding that people who do not work in this as a profession find it demanding to familiarize themselves with public planning. That is why we do our best to try to translate these things and also carry out a number of activities along the way that make visible the things you are currently working on. – We have had dialogue with neighbours, had dialogue with local communities and we have had a public meeting, precisely so that the residents can come and ask and hopefully get good answers. Whereupon someone took advantage of that opportunity. According to Torp, there is always a balancing act in community planning and development. They believe that the matter has been sufficiently informed in the process. To be decided after the summer Ultimately, it is the politicians in the municipality who finally decide whether the plans that have been proposed become a reality. This happens after the summer at the earliest. news has told how the natural values were not mapped, when the area was set aside for industry. Several politicians have told news that they did not know enough about what they agreed to. Several parties have turned their backs on the matter and say they can no longer stand behind the area regulation plan. The Conservative Party, the Progress Party and the Labor Party are still in favor and believe it is important that the project is carried out. Among other things, because of jobs and green industry. The development will have major consequences for nature at Tofteberg. Here you will find, among other things, red-listed species, old pine forest and wildlife. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / NRKU The development will have major consequences for nature at Tofteberg. Here, among other things, there are red-listed species, old pine forest and wildlife. Photo: Even Bjøringsøy Johnsen / news Advisor for Viken Park, Carsten Lier, has previously told news that Viken Park is part of the green shift. He points out that the project is a political initiative, where the politicians in Østfold have chosen to secure areas for the industry for a long time to come by putting ties on one large area instead of many small ones. Among other things, Tofteberg was chosen ahead of other areas with much more arable land. Marthe Lemming believes that consideration for nature and wildlife must weigh more heavily. – No argument is good enough to destroy so much nature. Published 24.06.2024, at 20.44
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Neighbor despaired because of development plans on Tofteberg in Fredrikstad – news Østfold – Local news, TV and radio
