Biltema’s prayer is not heard: – Incredibly disappointing

STAVANGER (Nettavisen Økonomi 🙂 Last week, Biltema boss Dag Bergby made an urgent request to Minister of Local Government and Modernization Nikolai Astrup (H) to help him sell his products in Stavanger.

The background was that Biltema has twice refused to sell products in the retail category by the county governor, as the group has placed its warehouse on a parcel regulated for so-called “space-consuming commerce.”

FRP’s Sylvi Listhaug was among the politicians who took a hard line against what she described as “making rules that simply border on insanity.”

After the meeting with Biltema, Listhaug’s colleague at the Storting Roy Steffensen (Frp) asked Astrup a written question to clarify the minister’s position on the matter.

On Thursday, the minister’s response is clear: Astrup writes that he does not see that the ministry has a basis to intervene in the case, and the decision of the county governor stands.

Believes Conservatives should start the national meeting with a minute of silence

After Stavanger politicians decided to grant a waiver so Biltema could sell its full range of products on Forus, the Rogaland County Governor complained about the decision. The reason was that Biltema’s products would conflict with the municipal trade plan and could help move trade from the city center to the Forus department stores.

Astrup notes that then-Minister for Local Government and Modernization Monica Mæland (H) also addressed the issue in 2018, and the ministry could not see that the county governor had done something wrong.

FRP’s Roy Steffensen believes the minister’s lack of intervention is shocking and will send a new question to Astrup.

– This is a minor decision that should have taken five minutes to repeal with a strong government minister. If the conservatives are serious about the fact that Biltema is not allowed to sell car-related products in his new modern department store, then they should start this weekend’s national meeting with a minute of silence because the last few remnants of common sense have disappeared, says Steffensen.

It indicates that the Public Administration Law clearly establishes that an administrative body can “revoke its own decisions without being appealed if the change is not detrimental to someone to whom the decision is addressed or directly accommodated.”

In his follow-up question, Steffensen will ask Astrup why the Minister is not actively taking the opportunity to reverse the decision.

– Here, a modern department store is ready to hire dozens of people as soon as they get the permit. The department stores are located in an area with other stores like Elkjøp, Monter, XXL, Jernia, etc. It makes no sense to refuse to sell his entire range, says Steffensen, who believes the minister should listen to local democracy.

Stavanger FRP leader Mats Danielsen notes that MP Aleksander Stokkebø (H) recently thought last week that the Biltema affair was a good example of how local democracy was being invaded.

– The right is speaking in two languages ​​at the moment. The response to Astrup is sad for Stavanger and for our entire region. We lose huge jobs because of a minister who prioritizes the decisions of county governors over local democracy, says Danielsen.

– The county governor’s job is to ensure compliance with the municipality’s zoning plan

The online newspaper Økonomi has sent a request to Astrup to develop the answer to Frps Steffensen’s question and respond to the criticisms in this article.

Last week, Astrup responded to Nettavisen that the county governor must comply with the zoning plans that municipalities adopt.

– If a municipality regulates a parcel for space-intensive commerce, then it is the county governor’s job to ensure that the municipality’s zoning plan is adhered to. Most of the time, parcels are regulated for space-intensive commerce to support shopping downtown in competition with car-based malls, Astrup writes.