Five new sea baths will be created in the city centre

INDRE INDRE INDRE OSLOFJORD (Dagbladet): After rains of biblical proportions, the bathing waters of central Oslo have been overflowing with sewage for the past few days. But now that the water has been declared healthy, the Green Party has its plans ready: here, directly below the town hall and Akershus Castle, they want to install a new swimming area. It will be one of five new bathing spots on the fjord in Oslo. One of them becomes a year-round sea bath.

– Oslo people love to swim, and year-round swimming has become a new folk sport. On a hot summer day, the swimming area in Sorenga is visited by as many people as the packed Ulleval Stadium. So more sea bathing is necessary, City Councilor for Environment and Transport Sirin Stav (MDG) tells Dagbladet.

Many bathing places

The sun is blazing and the water temperature is still good for early September. Oslo generally has good bathing water, but only in the bathing areas near the city center Bathing water quality is just that.

– Does bathing water ever get this far into the city?

– We have to do more to deal with extreme weather, but other measures to take care of the fjord. For example, we have doubled the capacity of the refinery in Bekalaket, says Stau.

In addition to the relatively new bathing areas at Sorenga and Operastranda, Oslo residents already have several bathing areas to enjoy. On the eastern side of the fjord are Kattan, Bekkeläksbadet and Hvervenbukta, and several accessible bathing spots in Ormea, Ulvoia and Malmöya. In the western part of the city are the bathing areas of Paiktoi Sjobad, Hag and Paradisbukta. Additionally, there are shuttle boats to islands outside the city center.

– How many bathing places do we really need in Oslo?

– If you had asked 30 years ago, many people would have said that we don’t need anyone, says MDG President Arild Hermstad.

— but now we see that the bathing areas near the center are successful. This is important for those with access to the sea. “We want to take the tenderloin away from the cruise tourists and give it back to the people,” says Stau.

Public health

– You want to give people a citizen’s wage, close the streets and replace the docks with cafes and bathing facilities. Does everyone enjoy sitting on a donkey in MDG’s Oslo?

– People want to live a good life in the city. Alternative use is not ideal. This is also good for business. When the New York Times writes about Oslo, they write about bathing areas and sauna rafts. It is also good for tourism and business, says Sirin Stav.

– Five sea baths will be built and operated. What does it cost?

– We haven’t fully calculated it, says Chirin Stav.

– It costs something. But compared to what you get back in terms of quality of life, it’s worth it. Hermstad says it aims to improve public health and people’s quality of life.

Lobster and asparagus

– I’ve had some of the best experiences in my life in the coastal zone, close to the sea, Hermstad sighed.

The MDG leader has that distant, nostalgic look you get when you look out over the ocean on a warm late summer day.

– Here you can sit and sip a glass of wine, eat a crab or lobster.

– No, the lobster here is preserved, reminding the party colleague Sirin Sta.

— or an asparagus, for that matter, says Hermstadt.