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Odda’s newly created car park company creates buzz among the population. Now more people are speaking out to dissolve the company. – I’m tired of the whole thing, says the mayor.
– This is the least predictable you can imagine. I hope Odda Parking is closed, says Gunvor Riim Opedal.
He lives ten kilometers from Odda and is completely dependent on a car to get to the city center. In every year he has parked for free in the industrial city of about 4,000 inhabitants.
In June, for the first time in Odda’s history, it would cost money to pay for it in town. Trolltunga tourists have been creating chaos in the parking lot for several years.
But the idea was that it would only cost money to park for more than two hours.
The bottom line after the parking scheme was introduced in June is that the company has made just over a penny per customer.
– It’s probably a silent protest from the people of Odda, who move the car to another parking area before two hours have passed, says Opedal.
Odda Parking, which was established in 2018, ran a staggering deficit as fewer people than expected paid to park.
Therefore, the board decided, without asking the owner of the municipality of Ullensvang, to introduce a tax from the first minute from January 1, 2021, to the large protests of the population.
– The fact that the parking company is forcing people to pay to park has caused a furor among the population, says Andreas Jacobsen from Rødt in Ullensvang, who has spoken out to dissolve the parking company.
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The former mayor goes flat: – Sometimes we have to admit that we were wrong
The list of residents, politicians and actors reacting to the fact that Odda can be charged for all parking during the New Year is long.
The organization of interest to the business community, Odda By, writes that 95 percent of member companies are against the parking fee and that frustrated customers walk into stores every day and complain about the parking fee. .
Gard Folkvord (Labor Party), a former parliamentary representative and mayor of Odda, is among the politicians who have previously voted to introduce a parking fee in the city. Now, however, it has come back.
– We introduced a parking fee in the belief that there would be two hours of free parking, so that people could get rid of purchases without paying any fees. This is not Manhattan or the Champs Elysees, this is not a fierce battle for parking. But in the summer there can be a bit of a rush, which is why we introduced a tax after two hours, says the Labor politician.
He doesn’t think it’s economical to go ahead with the parking company, and the parking fee that Odda Parkering wants as of January 1 is very unpopular with the locals.
– I will not evade responsibility, because I was part of this. Introducing a parking fee has proven reckless. There are many infallible politicians, but I am not one of them. Sometimes we have to admit that we are wrong, says Folkvord.
On Thursday, there is a new meeting in the city council of Ullensvang. There, the former mayor hopes that the majority will vote to dissolve the parking company.
– When the parking company gets behind our back and adopts a rate from the first minute, without consulting the owners, we must say no. This is a major violation of the assumptions we made. As it stands now, as of January 1 we will introduce a new municipal tax that has not been politically discussed. Therefore, I hope that we will dissolve the company, says Folkvord.
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The mayor: – I’m tired of everything.
On December 1, Odda Parkering presented the results of the first term with a parking fee for the Ullensvang municipality presidency. After more than 208,000 parking spaces between June and October, motorists had only left around 257,000 crowns.
As the revenues did not meet expectations, the Odda Parking Board had to introduce a fee from minute one.
– As a board of directors of a limited company, we are responsible for sound financial operations, replied Chairman of the Board E claim Tokheim at Odda Parkering when Hardanger Folkeblad confronted him with the tax increase.
On Thursday, Mayor Roald Aga Haug (Labor Party) in Ullensvang Township will present a separate case in the municipal council for political consideration of Odda Parking’s decision. The mayor says the tug of war over parking fees has been going on for almost ten years, and he’s tired of it all.
– There have been some very committed activists protesting the implementation of what has actually been a decision since 2011, however it was only when the vending machines arrived and the collection began that the reactions really came from some residents and some in commerce, says the mayor.
He maintains that his job as mayor has been to implement the adopted policies, and the parking company is trying to operate in accordance with the Business Law by achieving balance in the accounts. If politicians say no to the tax from the first minute, it will have consequences.
– Then we must ask the parking company to find another way. Possibly closing the company and financing the debt that the company has with the municipality of three million crowns. The municipality may have to cancel it through other cuts to the municipal budget, Haug says.
The mayor records that there is division in most of the parties in Ullensvang over the parking dispute, even in his own party.
– Now that the tax has been implemented, it has created a violent uproar. Then a series of politicians who have embraced consistency for ten years. Politicians must take responsibility for their own actions. I’m tired of the whole thing myself and think we should either liquidate the company and move on, or we should support the work of the parking company and find an acceptable arrangement, says Haug, adding:
– There has been so much chaos associated with this hersen fee, which was originally intended to contribute to positive regulation for urban development and business.
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