Orri urges expansion of capital region growth boundaries

Orri Björnsson, leader of the Independence Party in Hafnarfjörður town council and chair of the town council executive committee, has welcomed the decision to consider expanding the capital region’s growth boundaries, mbl.is reports.

He said the boundaries had long needed to be widened. Reykjavík Mayor Hildur Björnsdóttir said on the Spursmál programme that the city’s new majority would not oppose the expansion and would not use its veto against it.

Orri said the housing shortage should not be blamed on alleged municipal land speculation or on municipalities selling building plots at excessive prices.

“The opposite is true. The fact is that municipalities such as Hafnarfjörður have wanted to create more building land and increase the supply of diverse housing for people and companies,” he said.

He said the problem was a system in which one municipality had been able for years to use its veto to delay normal development in other municipalities in the capital region. The growth boundaries had kept Hafnarfjörður and other municipalities in the region constrained, he said, while lawmakers had taken no action.

Social Affairs and Housing Minister Ragnar Þór Ingólfsson said in parliament on Wednesday that it was unacceptable for one municipality to be able to stop another from growing through a veto over regional planning or the growth boundaries.

In July, the ministry published proposals for amendments to planning legislation for public consultation. The changes are intended, among other things, to address that situation.

“It is long overdue to review this arrangement and ensure that municipalities have real room to meet their residents’ housing needs,” Orri said. He added that it was welcome that the issue had finally reached the legislative agenda and praised the minister for advancing it.