More than 600 people have their legal domicile in Skeiða and Gnúpverjahreppi, but there is a lot of construction going on there, not least around Árnes, where the population is expected to double in the coming years.
The municipality is one of those that has had decision-making rights in relation to the construction of Hvammsvirkjun, and in the minutes of the local council from March, it can be seen that not everyone has agreed on the decision to activate Þjórsá.
“I am optimistic that the power plant issues will be less of a debate and we are looking to the future and we are looking at the development of society,” says Haraldur Jónsson, mayor of Skeiða and Gnúpverjahreppi and leader of L-list in the elections on May 16. An interview with Harald appeared in Iceland today, where several municipalities in the south were visited on the occasion of the municipal elections this spring.
“You can feel that there is optimism in the community. We are in the process of building infrastructure and I am optimistic that in the coming years the population here will increase greatly and the quality of life will improve.”
Have the issues of Hvammsvirkjun been a difficult issue in the local government?
“The power plant issues have been heavy and difficult, and the discussion in the local government has often been difficult, and it has been dealt with there. It seems to me, based on how the candidates are now, that there are only two candidates, and those candidates have spoken in favor of development. I don’t think there will be the same conflict in the coming years in the power plant issues, at least I hope so,” adds Haraldur.
Says the tourism industry will change completely
A lot of development is taking place around Árnes and elsewhere in the Skeiða and Gnúpverja districts. Haraldur mentions, among other things, the construction of the Blue Lagoon, which will create two hundred year-round jobs in the coming years, and the power plant construction in the coming years and decades will also create employment.
The population in the area is expected to double.
“We are looking forward to the fact that here in the region, the travel service has had a little less importance, and that will change a lot with the opening of the mountain baths and the visitor’s center in two years. So I think there are big challenges towards the community and taking good care of new residents, that those are the big issues.”
“It needs to be divided fairly”
Recently, the local government decided that there will be no further work on the planning of energy structures in the area until the exemption of such structures from real estate assessment has been repealed.
It is necessary for the local community to be guaranteed fair benefits from the development.
“This is just a matter of fairness. We have been fighting for this for another decade. Everyone has actually agreed on this, in parliament, the energy companies, the local community. There needs to be more benefit in the local community,” says Haraldur.
“The case has just gone through a consultation portal where over forty reviews came, both from local authorities and energy companies, and everyone agreed that the local community should enjoy more benefits. This needs to be divided fairly.”
He considers it a matter of formality that the matter is settled.
“The bill is before us, it will be recommended whether it will be this spring or this fall. I think it has become a matter of formality that this issue is completed and thus enables us to build a stronger community abroad.”
