New Technical College project faces delay over Hafnarfjörður land dispute

The planned expansion of Iceland’s Technical College at Flensborgarhöfn harbour in Hafnarfjörður is in jeopardy because the municipality is facing challenges in providing land for the project, mbl.is reports. An agreement on the development was signed in 2024 after several years of preparation.

The project involves a 30,000-square-metre building designed to accommodate around 3,000 students. Icelandic National Broadcasting Service first reported the issue on Thursday.

“The Technical College is continuing on its path towards building a new school, with strong political support, and we are not wavering from that,” Egill Jónsson, chairman of the school’s board, told mbl.is.

He said the school had worked closely with Hafnarfjörður because it had long been decided that the new building would be constructed at Flensborgarhöfn. However, he said the municipality was facing “fairly significant challenges” in providing the plot, which was its part of the project.

Jónsson declined to provide further details, saying the municipality would have to respond to the challenges. “There is nothing wrong with the Technical College in this regard. Hafnarfjörður has simply faced challenges in providing the land, and that is where the matter stands today,” he said.

Hafnarfjörður had previously offered the school’s representatives a plot in the municipality’s Vellir district. However, no other location is now being considered, as the Flensborgarhöfn site has been zoned and the design work has been put out to tender.

Design work would have begun around the turn of the year had it not been for the challenges, meaning the project is now being delayed.