– We live in the countryside, that’s how it is, says the mayor of the municipality of Øvre Eiker Knut Kvale of the Center Party.

For almost two years, the local community of Skotselv and the politicians of the municipality of Øvre Eiker have been looking for a new solution for the kindergarten in Solbakken.

Now they thought they had found it, but the state administrator of Oslo and Viken disagrees.

Rather car and tractor than fast clay

The indoor climate of the Solbakken kindergarten is poor and the children have to be divided into groups so that they are not allowed to be in the same place.

To improve the indoor climate, the municipality must bring in large machines and drains. But the kindergarten is located in a fast clay area.

The mayor therefore does not wish to dig around the nursery.

– It’s in a confirmed fast clay area, so we refuse to do anything there, Kvale said.

– Must be a local decision

The municipality therefore looked for another suitable location. The choice fell on a former Bible school, located one kilometer from the current kindergarten.

The municipality has concluded a purchase agreement for more than NOK 20 million. Provided there are daycare operations. In order to be able to use the building as a kindergarten, the town planning commission had to grant a derogation from the municipal plan for a change of use of the new building.

When such an exemption is granted, the state administrator can appeal the decision. And that is what the administrator of the state has just done.

– A little pissed off

It doesn’t sit well with Mayor Kvale. He believes the complaint is interference in purely local affairs.

– I get a little annoyed when other people get involved. It’s inappropriate, Kvale said.

– It must be a local decision. All point to the same place. It is an administrative practice that is not good, says Kvale.

Parents agree

The parents’ committee of the Solbakken kindergarten in Skotselv also wants the new location. Away from bad indoor climate and fast clay.

– That was the problem. The parents become worried and nervous and are excited about a new location. We and the municipality agree, says Mikal Lorentzen, head of the parents’ committee (FAU) of the Solbakken kindergarten in Skotselv.

Gives no special treatment

The state administrator of Oslo and Viken agrees that the kindergarten should be moved, but says no to the building the municipality has chosen.

In a letter to the municipality of Øvre Eiker, the state administrator complains about the exemption of the municipality from using the new building.

– We have national guidelines that we must follow. They are the same all over the country, but we have made a concrete assessment in this case as well, says Gunhild Dalaker Tuseth.

She is a department manager in the climate and environmental protection department of the state administrator in Oslo and Viken.

Risk of tractor noise, smell and use of the car

– We have emphasized the interests of children and young people. There are problems with road safety and noise, which is unfortunate for children and young people, and it will be necessary to use the car to have a nursery school there, explains Dalaker Tuseth.

In the complaint letter, the state administrator writes that the dispensation decision does not meet the interests of children and young people. And points to:

1. That it is against national and Buskerud guidelines to reduce car use
2. Risk of noise, traffic, odors and dust of agricultural origin

– It just shows that they didn’t get involved in the case. They complain about the noise, but there will be less noise where we offer, and that’s a fact that most people deliver by car today. Farm machinery is just plain fun for children, says FAU’s Lorentzen.

No control

There are no trains in Skotselv, and compared to Drammen, Moss or Oslo there is a long distance between bus departures. The building, for which the municipality has granted an exemption, is located without a footpath or cycle path, about one kilometer from the current nursery.

– We decide the location. This is the place that interests us in this case, said Dalaker Tuseth.

– What did you find while inspecting the new building?

– We were probably not inspected. We review the documents we have received and make an assessment of them.

– Why weren’t you inspected?

– There are resource considerations, said Dalaker Tuseth.

Mayor: – The alternative is to keep driving

Earlier in the week, Kvale emailed Oslo and Akershus state administrator Valgerd Svarstad Haugland directly. He asks for the complaint to be withdrawn.

The state administrator does not do this. Now the mayor plans to challenge the state administrator and start in the new building in the fall.

– The alternative is to continue as before and not to comply. I’m more inclined to do it, but we have to discuss it politically, says Kvale.

State Administrator Gunhild Dalaker Tuseth reacts as follows:

– We’ll have to decide if that happens.