She wants to preserve Vågan, he wants to build Northern Norway's largest municipality

Meet for debate. Hanne Sommerseth Olsen of the Vågan Center Party and former Conservative mayor Eivind Holst, meet for a debate on municipal mergers at Thon Hotell Svolvær on April 9. Then ask Lytring : Are you ready to close down your municipality?

She believes the population in the municipality is large enough, he would prefer to increase it by 110,000 inhabitants. The fronts in the debate about municipal mergers are still steep.

"The municipality we have is large enough and is able to take care of the residents we have. We will lose services and there will be fewer people participating in local democracy if we get bigger," says Hanne Sommerseth Olsen, leader of the Vågan Center Party.

On Thursday, April 9, she will be on the panel that will discuss the question. Lytring Traveling at Thon Hotel Svolvær: Are you ready to close down your municipality? 

While there is a resounding no from Sommerseth Olsen, the former Conservative mayor of Vågan wants the municipality to merge with others.

"We must join forces to acquire enough expertise to solve the tasks of the future. Small municipalities only deliver 50 percent of the statutory tasks they have today," says Eivind Holst.

Stronger together

The incumbent county mayor speaks in the debate as a member of the Conservative Party in Vågan.

"It's difficult to be very strong, but in general you are stronger together than you are alone," says Holst.

If it goes as his party wants nationally, the commercial reform will mean even more tasks for the municipalities – and that speaks in favor of large municipalities, Holst believes.

— If the goal is for the municipalities to take over the tasks of the county municipality, I think Lofoten and Vesterålen, and preferably central Hålogaland, must merge. In that case, it will become the largest municipality in northern Norway with 120,000 inhabitants.

"It will be more difficult for the Storting to overlook the wishes, demands and opportunities that come from such a municipality than from many small ones," says Holst.

Want other measures

Sommerseth Olsen believes the reasoning is not valid, and points to the success the six Lofoten mayors had when they traveled to the Storting to fight for a tourist tax.

"It went through right away. That's when the Lofoten Wall came down to Oslo, the effect wouldn't have been the same if only one had come," she says.

She wants to keep the Norway we know with settlements throughout the country.

"I want vibrant local communities, with businesses and production all over the country. It is also important for our preparedness. The problem is that the municipalities are underfunded," says Sommerseth Olsen.

IN Lytring -debate in Svolvær we will also hear what research tells us about the consequences of municipal mergers.

Researcher Arild Gjertsen from Nordland Research Institute participates in the panel, together with the municipal director of Moskenes, Ketil Finastad-Steira and Carl Hõjman of Vågan MDG.