Sp prioritize land preservation over local democracy
A proposal from the Centre Party (Sp) to increase land preservation at the expense of local democracy is rejected by the Norwegian Parliament, but Geir Pollestad does not give up that easily.
When the Parliament recently dealt with the agricultural chapter in the state budget, the Centre Party’s proposal that the municipalities must have permission from the County Governor to build on agricultural land was dismissed.
Geir Pollestad tells Nationen that he will continue to fight for tightening of the law, even if it moves power away from the local democracy to the representative of the Norwegian state.
– Land protection is one of the areas where two considerations clash. One is local democracy, the other is soil protection. We have formulations in the party program that say that agricultural land is a national resource, and should be managed nationally, Pollestad, who heads the Industry Committee of the Parliament, maintains.
– We have taken it a step further and say that whittling down cultivated land and weakening the livelihoods for future generations is not part of local democracy.
Pollestad believes the proposal will not entail depriving the municipalities of responsibility for land-use planning since the County Governor is already supervising cases concerning the decommissioning of soil.
– But we turn it a little bit upside down. You must ask for permission first, Pollestad concludes.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today