Districts need growth, not waterlogged

Linda Hofstad Helleland’s “coastal and inland” strategies smell like scorching heat.

Tuesday in the morning District and Digitization Minister Linda Hofstad Helleland (H) announced that she will create new strategies for the coast and inland.

It was not easy to understand what the minister would really achieve with what she said in Politisk kvarter in NRK. What is the real background of these strategies?

«The opportunities and the challenges they are not the same in Frøya and Trysil, although both are part of the District of Norway. The coast and the interior have different food chains and different growth and development paths, ”Helleland tells the website of the Ministry of Local Government.

But the challenges are not the same in all coastal municipalities either. For example, it is not clear what the country is going to do with yet another strategy.

The press release is filled with phrases such as “highlighting the opportunity we have for growth and development”, “unleashing potential” and “facilitating a vibrant business community.” There is no word on what the strategies will be about, or why Helleland will split the districts in two.

The same day As aired in the Political Quarter, the Storting report “Living Communities for the Future” was to be discussed at the Storting. In the district government report, there are no traces of the strategies that the minister wants now.

If they are so important, why not write about them in the government’s own plan for district policy? Shouldn’t it apply anyway? Does the government change its mind?

It hasn’t been long since Norway went through a major county reform. It will be some time before the new county structure is put in place, especially since several of the larger counties may seek dissolution after next fall’s parliamentary elections.

Some of the opinions With this reform, several divisions of the country followed the same pattern, such as police districts, health companies, etc. In this way, different parts of the public sector can work together more efficiently.

Now the government put a whole strategy on this. This was probably the last thing the district needed, in the midst of a period characterized by large and rapid changes in many fields.

Instead of giving counties and municipalities big new tasks and tools to strengthen areas struggling with relocation, they are now given two strategies.

Districts need jobs people, money and power. They don’t have time for departmental topics from Linda Hofstad Helleland.