The matter summarized The Labor Party and Venstre in Bergen withdrew from the negotiations on a light rail tunnel to Åsane on Monday. Both parties expressed frustration at the lack of progress and agreement on the light rail’s future. The main point of the negotiations has been to have a plan B if the tunnel route could not be carried out, which the city council parties could not guarantee. The breakdown in negotiations creates uncertainty about the light rail’s future, as a majority in both the city council and the county council is necessary to get anything through. In the past, the Socialist Left Party and the Green Party have also withdrawn from the negotiations. Negotiator for the city council parties, Eivind Nævdal-Bolstad, has not yet commented on the breach. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – We are sick and tired of arguing about this, sighed Venstre’s group leader in Bergen city council, Per-Arne Hvidsten Larsen, at an impromptu press conference outside the town hall on Monday evening. There was also the Labor Party’s group leader, Rune Bakervik, who is also fed up. – Ideally, we would like to stand here as a united city council in Bergen, and say once and for all that we have now managed to solve the light rail problem. Unfortunately, we have not done that, Bakervik began. – Now we have reached the point where we found out that now it won’t work. We’re not going to finish. We are unable to get the security that is necessary, that we all agree that we will build that light rail, he continued. Rune Bakervik, the Labor Party’s group leader, says that if it had been up to them, they would have been building the Bybanen to Åsane already. Photo: Synnøve Astrid Malt / news The main point they want to get out of the negotiations has been that they could have had a plan B if the tunnel route could not be completed. The city council parties have not been able to guarantee this. They also finally clarified that they are not willing to discuss financing in this agreement. – Today, the negotiator concluded that the distance between us was then too great, and that we could leave the negotiations. That is what happened now, says Hvidsten Larsen. Important for a majority in the county Basically, the sitting city council does not need the two parties to get something through in the city council. The Conservative Party, the Progress Party and the Center Party have secured a majority through the support parties Bergenslist, the Industry and Business Party (INP) and the Pension Party. Their problem is that the county council must also be involved, as the county is responsible for both the operation and development of the Bybanen. There, the same parties do not have a majority and are dependent on getting the Labor Party on board. The light rail to Åsane has long been a topic of discussion in Bergen. For 13 years, both politicians and ordinary people have argued about whether the Bybanen should run along Bryggen or not. The plan was actually set before the local council elections, but this changed when the Conservative Party took power in Bergen. Photo: Synnøve Astrid Malt / news If, for example, Labor Party in Bergen says no to the tunnel solution towards Åsane, this could mean that Labor Party in the county will also turn its thumbs down. – We feel that they have invited us to negotiations because they need a majority in the county, says Hvidsten Larsen. Four parties have withdrawn from the negotiations On Thursday 25 September, both the Socialist Left Party and the Green Party withdrew from the negotiations. – Why did you wait until now? – It is because both from our party – but also in urban society – people have been very clear; try as long as you can, see if you manage to achieve something. We all benefit from that, and we completely agree with that. The people of Bergen are sick and tired of this endless discussion about light rail and routes, and I understand that, says Bakervik. Hvidsten Larsen also supports this. He nevertheless emphasizes that they are fed up with the discussions surrounding the Bybanen til Åsane. – If we could reach agreement on a joint agreement on what is plan A, what is plan B and how do we get this done, then we could let that ball die, says Per-Arne Hvidsten Larsen. Photo: Synnøve Astrid Malt / news – We have schools that are not being rehabilitated as they should, we have kindergartens, we have nursing homes, we have climate and nature that we must take care of. We need to discuss other things. So we genuinely wanted this to be the topic that should stop dividing politics in Bergen and stop dominating the conversation. Negotiating leader for the city council parties, Eivind Nævdal-Bolstad (H), currently does not wish to speak to news about the breach. Published 30.09.2024, at 19.48 Updated 30.09.2024, at 19.48
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– Tired of arguing about this – news Vestland
