– We are very happy to get started again, and that the conflict with the municipality is over, says Per Fineid, general manager of Pihl AS. With a trail network of 350 km and a six-month ski season, Sjusjøen has been named Norway’s best cross-country skiing destination several times. With just over 6,000 holiday properties in the area, Sjusjøen is also known as Norway’s largest cabin town. Now there can be even more cabins. RELIEF: Directors Per Fineid and Pihl AS have reached an agreement with Ringsaker municipality. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news In 2018, landowner Pihl AS was approved for 96 new cabin plots in Kroksjølia. The first six lots were sold quickly – and then came the building ban. Ever since June 2019, a conflict over water and sewage has put a stop to construction in the area. Four years later, the ban has been lifted. The plots can thus be put up for sale. It was Hamar Arbeiderblad that first mentioned the case. Kvass conflict The reason why a construction freeze was introduced at Sjusjøen in 2019 was that Ringsaker municipality believed there was too little access to water for the cabins. Brøttum Almenning, Ringsaker Almenning and Pihl AS, for their part, believed that the water supply was good enough for many new housing units. The conflict was about the capacity of the water and sewage system, and the financial responsibility for development. SKIING: Many people visit the cross-country trails around Lake Sjusjøen every year. The picture was taken in Easter 2023. Photo: Arne Sørenes / news In November, the municipal council in Ringsaker municipality approved the settlement between the municipality and the landowners. The parties reached an agreement through legal mediation. This opens up the municipality for further development. What is the agreement between Ringsaker municipality and Brøttum almenning, Ringsaker almenning and Pihl AS? The Landowners pay, as a full and final settlement for all claims and counterclaims in the Case, including the Landowners’ notified compensation claims, NOK 25 million to Ringsaker municipality. Payment takes place 14 days after the agreement has been approved by Ringsaker municipal council. Ringsaker municipality establishes VA infrastructure, including water works, for the delivery of water to Ringsaker mountain, in accordance with the development agreement entered into in 2010, and cancels the introduced connection stop as soon as practicable, and at the latest within 14 days after the agreement has been approved by Ringsaker municipal council. Ringsaker municipality is obliged to complete the new waterworks by such a time that there is no need for further connection shutdowns at Sjusjøen. The parties jointly cover the costs of the district court, including co-mediators. Otherwise, the parties each cover their own costs. The agreement becomes valid as soon as it is approved by Ringsaker municipal council. The case is requested to be dismissed as settled, through joint pleadings, as soon as the agreement has been approved by Ringsaker municipal council. Source: Ringsaker municipality – Very happy Kai Ove Berg (H), mayor of Ringsaker, is happy that the conflict with the landowners is history, and that the construction freeze has been lifted. – We find that very pleasing and we have already registered that there is more activity now than there has been for a very long time. CROSS-POLITICAL FOCUS: Ringsaker Mayor Kai Ove Berg says that there is a cross-political focus on having good development plans for free areas. – And I also feel that the landowners are very concerned about that, so we have a good dialogue about those questions with both landowners and interest organisations. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news Ringsaker is the largest cottage municipality in Norway with almost 7,300 holiday homes. It is the municipalities that facilitate the construction of cottages. But such development puts pressure on infrastructure such as roads, power supply and water and sewerage. This is particularly noticeable in large cottage municipalities. RECORD NUMBER OF NEW BUILDINGS: During the corona pandemic, more and more people wanted to build a holiday home, and in 2022 6,690 new holiday homes were completed. Inlandet is the only county where more holiday homes were completed than homes, according to figures from Statistics Norway. Photo: SSB Berg says that Lake Sjusjøen is an important area for the municipality, and that they have a plan for it to assess the development. – In 2024, we will focus on ensuring that there will be no development further into the mountains, but that there will be densification in areas that are already built up. Want to touch the landscape Morten Aas in the Forum for nature and outdoor life Innlandet, on the other hand, is not enthusiastic about new building activity on Sjusjøen. – It’s not a happy day for the nature and outdoor life organisations, I can say that. But then it will be interesting to see how the market responds. In addition to a sluggish cottage market, he points out that densification is a difficult strategy when it comes to holiday homes. – The closer you build, the more you get the feeling of a city or town. Many of those who have bought a cabin on Lake Sjusjøen in their time have bought to get that free space. PRAISES THE MUNICIPALITY: Morten Aas in Forum for nature and outdoor life Innlandet praises Ringsaker municipality for setting up a more restrictive land use policy in the future. He believes it is good for everyone who is happy with the qualities of experience that exist today. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news He believes that the different perceptions around well-being can limit densification on Sjusjøen: – Densification is not easy. How tightly can you condense before it affects well-being and quality of experience? But it is far from the first time that someone is concerned: Space for more people The strategy for the development at Lake Sjusjøen is densification – that is, build more, and utilize the capacity, in areas where it is already built up. This means that cabin owners will have to count on getting neighbors closer to them. According to figures from Statistics Norway, there were over 481,000 cabins or leisure buildings in Norway as of 1 January 2023. Around 52 per cent of the buildings are located in more densely built leisure building areas. Fineid in Phil AS says that development on Sjusjøen is not only negative for the established development. – Water and sewage are brought to existing cabins at the same time. So you get that offer, but then you have to put up with a few more units coming. As landowners, they have clear plans for further development: – We will continue to investigate the possibilities for that, within the existing framework. THE FREE AREAS ARE IMPORTANT: – The free areas are also important to us. Ski slopes, hiking opportunities, hunting and fishing, and so on. That is the reason why people come here, says Per Fineid in Pihl AS. Photo: Reidar Gregersen / news Demanding market But the market is completely different today, compared to when Phil AS received approval for nearly a hundred cottage plots in 2018. – There is a completely different interest now than then, so it means that we are a bit excited. But we do believe that there are some who would like a cabin and cabin plot on Sjusjøen, says Fineid. He states that there has been good interest after they announced that there would be new plots for sale. On the first day of sales this week, there was still only one sale. In total, around 11,400 holiday homes were sold in Norway in 2022, according to Statistics Norway. Of these, 1,700 were new cabins. Most new cabins were sold in Hol in Hallingdal and Øyer in Innlandet, where you can find skiing destinations such as Hafjell and Kvitfjell. THE MOUNTAIN IS POPULAR: 6,100 of the cabins that were put up for free sale in 2022 were in a typical mountain cabin municipality, 4,200 were in a lake cabin municipality, while 1,100 were in a forest cabin municipality, according to Statistics Norway. Photo: SSB Abrupt halt in construction Guro Hauge, director of social policy at the National Association of the Building Industry, believes it is good news for the industry that the construction halt has been lifted at Sjusjøen. – It provides predictability. Unsettled situations are very destructive, especially when the market situation is demanding, she says. In addition to the fact that sales of new homes so far this year are 35 per cent lower than in the same period last year, the cottage market has also been hit hard. HARD HIT: Guro Hauge in the National Association of the Construction Industry says they expect the industry to reduce around 30,000 man-years by 2025. Photo: Nicolas Tourrenc The National Association of the Construction Industry expects that 2024 will be a very tough year and that the number of unemployed in the industry will continue to increase. At the same time, Hauge believes the settlement in Ringsaker will result in increased activity in Innlandet, an area that has been particularly hard hit by the market situation compared to the rest of the country. – I think that everything, all activities, are very welcome in the construction industry now, she says.
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Norway’s largest cabin town on Sjusjøen can become even bigger when more plots are now put up for sale – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
