A decision that cannot stand

Photo: Horizon on the way up into the planning area at Kjølberget.

Monday's performance in the municipal council in Våler surpasses most of what I have witnessed in my 25 years in environmental matters. It is a blatant breach of all the rules of the game in terms of municipal management, proceedings and process. Discernment and openness. Predictability and overview.

The way the mayor pushes through a chairman's proposal that has been adopted under pressure less than an hour before the municipal council meeting is a breach of legal certainty for those affected. Here, the residents of the municipality who have to bear the consequences of a development. Våler municipality's politicians must take another round of the councilor's recommendation. An attitude that was correct and that took the realities into account. There will never be peace in Våler municipality until this is done and put in place.

The content of the chairman's proposal is and was a falsity without parallel in this case. This means that it cannot be left standing. Making such a proposal is also grossly insulting and offensive to the municipal council.

The NMF expects within a short time that what happened on 27 May will be rectified and cancelled.

Jan-Hugo Holten
Regional manager Eastern Norway in the Norwegian Environmental Protection Association (NMF)