– You don’t hear a single boat here, maybe there is a small dinghy all the way over there, says Per-Erik Schulze who is the mayoral candidate for MDG in Kragerø. Per-Erik Schulze (MDG) will stop the plans for a new cottage town in the beach zone in Kragerø. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news Now he fears that a quiet part of Kragerøskjærgården will change drastically. Altogether, developers are planning over 500 new holiday homes. Investment company Fredensborg accounts for most of them. There could be great pressure in the fjord arm. There is one project in particular that Schulze is reacting to, and wants to remove from the municipal plan. It is a new cottage town with around 200 holiday homes within the 100-metre belt. “Unique, sustainable and well-thought-out” are words that characterize the marketing of Fredensborg fritid when they ask people to register their interest. Fredensborg Fritid wants to develop the old quarry into a beautiful lagoon with around 200 holiday homes. Photo: Fredensborg Fritid – It’s a giant project. This will be the largest cottage town project in Kragerø in many years, says Schulze. Previously, there were around 3,500 holiday homes in Kragerøskjærgåden. – Everyone wants a dock and a boat, of course. Preferably more than one boat. So there will be tremendous pressure on this quiet arm of the fjord if anything were to happen, says the local MDG politician. Has started an action group Now he has started an action group which within weeks has gained over 700 members in the municipality with just over 10,000 inhabitants. – The action group has a very specific purpose. These plans are at a standstill, he says. It is not just life in the fjord that he worries about. He explains that in the summer the municipality turns off the water fountains in the center so that all homes get enough water. – We know that Kragerø cannot tolerate much more cabin pressure. We don’t have the infrastructure for that, he says, pointing to the municipality’s lack of water, sewage treatment capacity and parking spaces. On the map you can see where there are currently concrete plans for holiday homes in Kragerø. Will open to the public A recent report from the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (NINA) shows that an area corresponding to nearly 12,000 football pitches has been set aside in the beach probe in Municipality-Norway in the coming years. In Kragerø, too, there are several areas that have been set aside, but where developers have not progressed as far in the process. Soon the politicians will have the new cottage town on the table. The local Center Party mayor will not reject the project: – It is an area where nature is basically gone. It is an old quarry. It also adds up when it comes to natural diversity and the destruction of nature, says Grunde W. Knudsen. In the area where the new cottage town is planned, the encroachment on nature is already extensive. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news He also emphasizes that it is important for the municipality to be predictable. – I am very concerned about being compliant and predictable. When in the previous period I stepped in and supported individual projects, I also committed myself to continuing that attitude, he says. He says the municipalities have not reached a conclusion. The number can be lower, but it cannot be higher. – There will be demands from the municipal politicians when the time comes, he says. The centre-party mayor is also clear that the municipality will not now set aside new areas for leisure development in the municipality. – The new cottage projects in Kragerø are probably at a standstill, he says. – Developed in close collaboration with political leadership Several of the projects that are part of the municipality’s planning system live on. In an e-mail to news, Fredensborg, who also owns the building and the municipality’s administration sits on it, writes that they experience great support for their plans from large sections of the population. – It is good that the local population is involved in the development of their municipality, says Knut Bremer, manager of property development in Fredensborg Fritid. He points out that the municipality has given them the necessary predictability to be able to develop the new cottage town, which they are now marketing widely both in social media and online. – Over many years, we have developed this project in close collaboration with the political leadership in Kragerø municipality, which represents the local population. The municipality has given us the necessary predictability to be able to develop Litangen, he says. Fredensborg points out that the area is currently closed and closed to public traffic. The cottage town was designed by the Lundhagem architecture office, inspired by traditional coastal settlements in Kragerø, rorbue in Lofoten and mountain villages on Santorini. Photo: Fredensborg Fritid – With our project, the natural areas are being used again – to the delight of both residents and visitors. Through collaboration with marine biologists, we will ensure a much richer maritime life than today, and we will also ensure a richer flora. Investigations show that our project will be able to positively affect the environment in the area, says Bremer. Not going to give up The action group has no intention of giving up. They hope that a new municipal council will clearly say no to the plans. It is not too late, says MDG politician Schulze. – It is only when the cabins have received building permission and are under construction. Then it is too late and the municipality can claim compensation. But to stop a plan, about something that has not yet been built, there is no problem. The municipality can do that at any time, he says. He is dismayed at how the ban on building in the beach zone is handled locally and believes that large developers who can afford to draw up zoning plans can convince municipal politicians much more easily than others. Among other things, with laws on jobs during the construction period and a larger tourism industry. – Then you can still get through, I would say, the wildest large development plans in the beach zone, says Schulze.
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Race against planned cottage town in 100-meter belt in Kragerø – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
