Debate, Drammen | Hope Drammen gets a clear no in negotiations about destroying nature

We stand in natural crisis. The world’s natural diversity is being destroyed at record speed. This threatens vital ecosystems and thus also our most important services: clean water, fresh air, food, medicines and so on.

The Norwegian Environment Agency’s brand new overview shows that the destruction of more than 4,000 square kilometers of land in Norway is currently planned and permitted. This corresponds to Norway’s 100 largest lakes combined.

Fortunately, the municipal council has in Drammen have now taken a big step in the right direction to stop this loss of nature, after the majority in our last meeting (May 7) accepted to drop the plans to destroy as many as nine large planning proposals with many hundreds of acres of vulnerable nature.

A bit of history: We in the municipal council made the first proposal for a new spatial plan for Drammen in December 2022. Then the majority agreed to a historic destruction of nature in our municipality, despite all the knowledge we already had about the nature crisis then. Since then, we have had the UN Nature Convention, which obliges all countries in the world to protect and restore 30 per cent of nature. The parliamentary report on Norway’s follow-up to the nature agreement will come in the autumn, and we believe this will lead to a much stricter land policy. The municipalities’ home-alone party, where short-term growth is almost always prioritized over long-term protection, cannot continue. We are not fit to have such a great responsibility.

The majority in Drammen fortunately chose this week to be much more responsible than in 2022. The areas that are now not to be destroyed nevertheless correspond to a great many habitats for our animals, cultivation areas and outdoor experiences that are left in peace, for the enjoyment of the future. All the parties that voted for this deserve praise.

But – unfortunately lies there is still a great deal of natural destruction left in the majority’s proposal for a spatial plan. The giant area in the Solbergelva, where approximately 1,000 acres of nature is still proposed to be destroyed, stands out as the very worst. In addition, various downsizings are proposed in Fjell, Storlie and Eikhaugen in particular, which we in Venstre would strongly advise against.

Fortunately, it is not this over. Drammen will now enter into negotiations with state authorities about these areas which the majority insist on razing, but where there are strong objections. We in Venstre are now putting our trust in the State Administrator and the County Municipality giving Drammen a clear no in these negotiations.

Because natural destruction, i the time of the natural crisis, is something that simply must belong to the past.

We must develop our country so that our grandchildren and all other life on earth in 100 years will have the same experiences and opportunities as we have had in our time. Not that we should fill our pockets with ringing coins today at the expense of the future.

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