Those who are fighting tooth and nail to stop the cottage development in Vinje, will become politicians to put the brakes on. The cottage rebels in Norway’s fourth largest cottage municipality submit a cross-party village list for next year’s election. – You cannot stand on the outside and complain endlessly. Then you may have to be willing to be involved and take responsibility, says initiator Irja Godal, who is a teacher at Rauland school by day. It was Vest-Telemark Blad that reported the news first. Godal and her gang love the village they live in, and are seriously concerned about the large-scale cabin construction close to protected nature. The initiator of the new village list in Vinje, Irja Godal, says they will focus more on sustainable tourism in the future. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news According to Statistics Norway, over 100,000 new cabins have been built in Norway in the last 20 years. Over 2,000 of them have been set up in Vinje in Telemark. Do you think they will get a lot of votes? One of the other initiators, Bjarte Hestdalen, is clear that they should also focus on issues other than stopping cabin construction. Bjarte Hestdalen is one of the initiators of the village list in Rauland. Photo: Kurt Inge Dale / news In short, it is about taking care of the values and resources in the municipality in a sustainable way. He has great faith that they will get enough votes to be able to influence politics going forward. – Absolutely. During the cabin uprising, we had a very good response and strong commitment from many who normally do not dare to speak up. – Will affect the election campaign in many municipalities Political commentator in news, Lars Nehru Sand, says it is no secret that a cross-party local list can get a lot of attention. Precisely because they like to sell themselves with a fight case. Lars Nehru Sand is a political commentator at news. Photo: Vidar Ruud Sand has not heard of a similar list yet, but says he thinks cabin development will influence next year’s election campaign in many municipalities. – Tourism and business on the one hand, and nature and environmental management on the other, have reached a different pain point now than five and ten years ago. – Could this district list in Vinje be the start of something bigger? – It is a bit early to say, but the problem itself is a topic in many Norwegian municipalities. There will be an additional problem around this. Sand is convinced of what is the weakness of a village list that they are now creating in Vinje. – In a municipal council, there are often a lot of issues they have to decide on. It is difficult to keep the gang together over time. Not afraid of competition Jon Rikard Kleven (Sp) has governed Vinje municipality for seven years. He is not afraid of competition, and says that political involvement is exclusively positive for the municipality. – But does this not express distrust towards the established parties in the municipality? – No, I don’t think so. But of course there are some who do not agree on how it is managed now. Jon Rikard Kleven is the mayor of Vinje and is happy about political involvement in the municipality. Photo: Martin Torstveit / news Kleven is open about the fact that his own party, the Center Party, is split down the middle on the issue of further cottage development. – We must think that the tourism industry in Vinje is our cornerstone business. NOK 300 million is left a year, and it is not something we can just put a line over. Then we must have a very good alternative for where the 400 people will work.
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Running for election to stop all new cabin construction in Vinje – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
