A unanimous municipal council said no to border adjustment. This means that Alta will remain part of Finnmark when the large county is split.
Less than 30 minutes ago
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On Friday, a unanimous municipal council decided that Alta will remain in Finnmark.
– It is expected that the municipal council follows the people’s advice, said mayor Monica Nielsen during her briefing from the Cross-Policy Committee.
A barely majority of the population in Alta have voted for them to remain in Finnmark. It shows the result of the referendum in Finnmark’s most populous municipality on Tuesday night.
Only 123 votes differentiate between 48.16 per cent who voted to report a transfer to Troms, and 50.06 per cent who said no. Just under 4 out of 10 vote.
– There is a narrow majority, yet we have a majority for one of the alternatives and that is good, Nielsen (Labor) told VG.
One of the big issues behind it is the hospital issue: The fight for better hospitals and food supply is absolutely central to many people in Alta, and many have seen hope of having a greater impact in Troms than in Finnmark County Council.
It is possible for a municipality to change counties, but approval is required from the government or the Storting. You can also read more about it in this the case.
With its 20,000 inhabitants, Alta is by far the largest in Finnmark. If they were to move to Troms, Finnmark would by a clear margin be Norway’s most depopulated county, with only 55,000 inhabitants left.
Two year old county
It was Friday, February 25th decided that Troms and Finnmark counties shall be dissolved. The decision was made by 39 to 18 votes.
Troms and Finnmark counties were merged on 1 January 2020. Only five months later, the county council filed for divorce for the two former counties. The division will take place by January 2024.
The wish is that the new county boundaries will be the same as before the county merger. An opinion poll conducted in mid-February showed that over 60 percent of those surveyed in the county wanted to reverse the merger.
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