– It is perceived as an overrun by local democracy and the local planning authorities. This is what city council leader Raymond Johansen (Ap) and city development councilor Hanna E. Marcussen (MDG) write in the city council’s statement on the hospital plans. They cannot recommend the two giant developments without major changes being made. Force through The dispute over the Oslo hospitals has raged for a number of years. The fronts became no less steep when the government decided to overrun Oslo municipality and local resistance to force the plans through. CRITICAL: City Development Council Hanna E. Marcussen (MDG). Photo: Nadir Alam / news – There was no reason for that in these projects. The progress was good, says Hanna Marcussen to news. – We have poor experience with government regulation from the Government Quarterly. Here, many of the local needs have not been taken care of, she says. Hearing body Normally, it is the municipality that has the last word when it comes to what is to be built and what is not to be built. In this case, Oslo municipality has been demoted to a hearing body. Oslo City Council must adopt the consultation opinion on 7 September. The city council’s recommendation is now available. The disputed plans are briefly based on the following: Ullevål is to be closed down. And new hospitals will be built in Gaustad and Aker. It is the plans for the two new hospitals that the city council is now thinking about. And the objections are many. Both new Gaustad and new Aker will be too large and dominant. Consolidating psychiatry at Aker is a mistake. The site at Sinsenkrysset is not suitable due to a lot of noise, bad air and scarce outdoor areas. The need for capacity in the future is underestimated. Planning for a third local hospital must start early. – As the projects are now, we do not recommend them from the city council’s side, says Hanna Marcussen. She expects the government to change the existing plans. – Here you try to squeeze a lot of things into very small plots. It comes at the expense of both nature, cultural heritage and the local environment, she says. NYE GAUSTAD: The new hospital adjacent to Rikshospitalet will rise 55 meters above the ground. Photo: Projekteringsgruppen New Rikshospitalet Labor-Høyre alliance There has been tension over what Labor, MDG and SV city council would think of the plans. In Oslo city council, the Conservative Party and the Labor Party have supported the plans. The other parties are against it. The closure of Ullevål in particular has weighed heavily on many people’s chests. After the municipal elections in 2019, the Conservative Party and the Labor Party lost their majority in the city council. This means that today’s majority is against the hospital plans. Deprived of power The chance that the city council will turn its thumbs down is therefore high. The government would not take that chance. Therefore, they stripped the Oslo politicians of power and authority over the process. Oslo Ap has long refused to go too hard against the plans that both the previous and current governments have been eager for. It is connected with the desire to have a new hospital built at Aker. The old Aker hospital was closed in 2011. For Oslo Ap, it has been important not to put the new Aker at risk. Nye Aker will become a local hospital for the patients from Groruddalen, who today attend Ahus in Lørenskog. Slaughter new Aker That is why it caused a stir when Oslo municipality’s planning and building agency recently went out and slaughtered the Aker plans. According to the agency, the site is too small for such a large hospital. It is exactly the same criticism that has long hit the second planned large hospital in Gaustad. NYE AKER: The hospital at Sinsenkrysset will rise 77 meters above the ground. Illustration: Team Aker
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The city council criticizes new hospitals in Aker and Gaustad – news Oslo and Viken – Local news, TV and radio
