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Different land on Nesodden

Yes-side and no-side quarrels like never before. About the seaweed pier at Nesodden.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

It is said that old friends have stopped talking together on Nesodden. Tangen pier is a taboo subject during family idyllic Sunday dinners. Local newspapers have almost no room for reader posts about anything else. Last Tuesday there were four pages about the future of the pearl of the Oslo Fjord. Yes, "what's wrong with us who live on Nesodden?", Asks an indignant writer who wonders if the pier warns of the new black death.

On March 4, nosoddinger goes to the polls to decide the fate of AF Ragnar Evensen's housing project at the far end of the bare headland. The temperature has reached such a high level of fever that local newspapers in leadership positions have reminded the parties that "even if there is a fight, there is no war". During the chairmanship meeting a little over fourteen days ago, KrF member Helge Pettersen asked both the yes side and the no side to stop spreading incorrect information via their respective stands.

"I do it during the day", says a young woman to local newspapers when asked if she should use the opportunity to vote in advance:

"And I'm going to vote yes. This is more important than a parliamentary election ”.

To an outsider, for example seen from the neighboring municipality of Frogn, the whole dispute seems quite parodic. While the loud quarrel is going on outside the post office at the Tangen center, the Port of Oslo is planning a deep-water landfill at Malmøykalven, which in the worst case could have major environmental consequences for the entire Bunnefjord. The toxic debate about Tangen pier overshadows the poison – 780.000 cubic meters – which is approaching Nesodden from Oslo.

"It is frightening how little attention this case has received", says Nils Hallberg in Nesodden Velforening to Akershus Amtstidende. And adds:

The quarrel about Tangen pier is a huge issue, but that it is planned to dump toxic waste in our "backyard", almost no one has gotten involved ".

But, it is only on the outside that the debate about Tangen brew seems parodic. Inside it is bloody serious. More important than a parliamentary choice. A small thumbnail of the 1994 EU vote: Who should decide? The people or the politicians? Who has the most to gain from the yes side winning? Power and money, of course. Says after pages.

The yes side says they will build 60 homes with a varied standard in the old car park – reserved for the people of nesodden, open to nesodden people with nesodden shops and restaurants on the ground floor for public entertainment. "Is it right to give cars the most important place at sunset", the architect asked during the information meeting on Thursday two weeks ago. 175 interested parties had already registered with the contractor.

But the people are divided. And that's the politicians fault. As usual.

It has been over four years and NOK 1,5 million since the municipality made its decision to regulate the pier for housing. The proposal from AF Ragnar Evensen was not to the liking of, among others, the Progress Party and SV. During the last municipal election, Tangen Brygge was the number one election campaign issue. SV, the Progress Party and several small parties gained a majority and had their plans shelved. But when the contractor wanted financial compensation for work done, one man from FrP turned around – that was enough to overthrow the no-majority. AF Ragnar Evensen continued the work of satisfying Nesodden municipal council, until a new majority agreed to the proposal that the building plans should be submitted to a referendum.

This is the kind version of the procedure. The detailed variant is, to put it mildly, chaotic – and warlike.

The dispute is – strictly speaking – not about whether the people are for or against housing on the pier, but whether they want AF Ragnar Evensen's project or not. If Nesodden shelves the current proposal on 4 March, new proposals will be tabled. New battles. New family quarrels and new reader posts. The match is not over with a first. If Nesodden says yes to AF Ragnar Evensen, the homes will be ready for occupancy no earlier than the summer of 2005. At that time, the process took a total of eight years. If Nesodden says no, it is possible that the opera on the other side of the Oslo Fjord will be finished first. It does not seem to bother the people of Nesodden significantly. Democracy is a test of patience. Full of emotion. To quote a reader post from KrF politician Pål-Erik Plaum in Amta under the title "A guided thought trip to Tangen pier":

“You are also not guaranteed that the homeowners will appreciate that you sneak down an early Saturday morning with your son to fish where you have always been. (Your father stood there before you and in fact everyone on the father's side has stood there since time immemorial. There were times there). Instead of being able to look out over to Oslo, you will look at 6 long blocks which with their height of almost 11 meters make it completely impossible to get the panoramic view and the good feeling of freedom ”.

The further use of the term is not very reminiscent of political reflection from KrF's deputy leader at Nesodden: “new rulers”, “private territories”, “selfish owners”, “center of selfishness”…

What kind of politicians do we have here at Nesodden? ask a more anonymous reader post writer. Another post encourages the youth to join in deciding the fate of the Nesodden. A third post threatens the alternative is a two-story parking garage on the plot. A fourth post criticizes the architect's prospect drawing because people are too happy and the proportions are wrong:

“See how nice it is. “Southern idyll!” Notice the woman sitting in the panoramic window on the 2nd floor: She is much bigger than those down on the sidewalk. When this giant woman gets up, she is 2.40 tall. ”

At Nesodden the contractor company is not called Ragnar Evensen. It's called RE. Yes or no to RE?

They are probably right to say that there is no genuine involvement in this country outside the struggle for and against the EEC, the EC and the EU. We find the model from 1972 and 1994 these days at Nesodden; massive information campaigns, populist politicians, scare propaganda, emotions, family divisions and factions. We hate the Keys more than we hate the opponents. A well is despised for democracy. Throw them on the sea!

The battle for Tangen Brygge is the fight for Nesodden's soul. The different country died in Norway and then resurrected at Nesodden.

While the blood is flowing on the pier, at least Oslo people may feel flattered. The capital must pretend to be a beautiful killer from the other side.

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