– We have many people who are positive. Many locals and others around, says Rune Kilebu.
He walks along a dirt road with the remains of a historic quarry in a forest landscape. There are hiking trails in many directions and some small cabins in Sand Pa Hvaler.
Investor Rune Kilebu and president of the Hvaler business association Kenneth Haraldsen are confident the hotel will come to fruition.
Photo: Carolyn Berkley Tolfsen / NRK
On one of them is a small elevation with a view of the archipelago they In one of the country’s most famous shantytowns, two investors will build a large hotel.
Rune Gilebu is one of the people behind the project. They are collaborating with the international company Intercontinental Hotels Group.
– When the plans are now, you can look at them and see what kind of positive things the hotel in Hvaler can lead to for people and businesses, which I think is something that people want.
It caused many reactions
– I almost think it’s an attack on our nature. Then there is the attack on cultural and historical values in the sandy area, says former mayor of the municipality Paul Henriksen.
The debate has intensified in the small cottage municipality of Vigan. Among politicians, residents and cabin owners. A group of nearly 2,000 members has been launched on Facebook to stop the scheme.
Henriksen fully agrees that Hvaler needs a hotel, but he doesn’t want this one.
– I have long encouraged the Hvaler Labor Party to be absolutely clear in its opposition to the plan.
Local newspaper Fredrikstad Blad He has written several articles on the debate surrounding hotel projects.
On top of the hotel on the sand, the developers will have a room accessible to all, with a view of the cliffs. This is how it can be seen from a height of 45 meters.
Photo: Christian Nygaard-Monson / NRK
Great commitment
– It’s something completely different from what we see in Hvaler, so I fully understand that it’s engaging and that some people think about what it will look like, says Anne May S. Olsen, mayoral candidate for Høgre.
This is not the first time that hotel projects have caused a great deal of controversy. There have been reactions in recent years at Svolvær, Sogn and Ljøen in Geiranger.
Støtvig Hotell in Largolen in the municipality of Moss was the subject of great debate a decade ago. But the hotel has been successful over the years, and in 2016 it was named the best hotel in Norway, according to TripAdvisor.
The developer hopes the hotel will lead to more tourism and more activity for the business world.
Description: GRIFF Architecture
Hotel plans in the sand are currently only on paper. Whether that becomes a reality will be decided in the spring.
Developers have submitted proposals for this Regulatory SchemeIt is treated Project selection At the municipality in a few weeks. After that, it will be decided whether the projects will continue Hearing.
– Hogray has not yet taken a stand on the proposal and will look into the matter when we get it for political consideration. But the site is slated for a hotel and Høgre is for a hotel on the sand, says Olsson.
– We don’t need a tall building
– We are not going to say yes to realizing something like this, says Mayor Mona Voger (AP) in the municipality of Hvaler.
He believes the hotel breaks the natural and cultural history of the area.
Vauger disagrees with the developers and believes the project will not come to fruition.
Mona Voger (AP) says the high-rise hotel conflicts with the municipal plan.
Photo: Carolyn Berkley Tolfsen / NRK
– But wouldn’t it be better to get a big hotel in Hvaler?
– Jav, we need a hotel, it will be a hotel in Hvaler. But we don’t need a high-rise, says Vauger, where you have to take the elevator up to the 16th floor and get the only view over Hvaler that a high-rise hotel can’t see.
Despite many negative signals, Gilebu is confident that the hotel will be built.
– Our development occupies less than 10 percent of the plot area and is close to the beautiful outdoor areas in Hvaler. So if this isn’t a good place, I don’t know.
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