Svikter kulturkollektiv – Klassekampen

Dissappointed: Kjetil Velo and Allan Andersen is shocked that the new city council wants to sell Hausmannsgate 40, where about 30 residents run a living-collective.
Oslo city council decided yesterday to sell property in a cultural neighborhood. The residents are now forcing the city council to reconsider.
Failing cultural collective
The Oslo city council parties promised to fight for the house squatters in Hauskvartalet. Now they want to sell the building without any demands for the living-collective’s future.
Urban development
It came as a shock for the residents of Hauskvartalet (Haus neighborhood) when the new city council in Oslo advocated the sale of several properties in the neighborhood last week.
The city advisory parties SV (Socialist Left wing party), Arbeiderpartiet (Labour party) and Miljøpartiet De Grønne (Green party) have all supported the squatters who’s resided in Hausmanns street 40 for 16 years. The squatters renovates the residential building, holds conserts and offers sleeping places. Now the future is unclear.
Yesterday, the city advisory sent a recommendation to the city council about selling the building and three other properties in the neighborhood to the company Urbanium.
– It’s impressingly unserious since we’ve gotten such a big praise from the parties earlier. This is a continuation of the right wing city advisory’s politics with privatization of the city, says Kjetil Velo, one of the residents in Hausmanns street 40.
They have now delivered a so called citizen proposal to the municipality, where they state that they want a leasing contract with the municipality which secures that they can stay. They also want there to be established a non-commercial housing foundation that will develop and run two of the other properties.
Since the proposal got over 300 signatures, the politicians are forced to consider it.
– The proposal we have put forward will be feasible within a short time, says Kjetil Velo.
“Unique environment”
“We wish to preserve the city ecological project, get a leasing contract and take care of this completely unique Oslo environment.” This is what Victoria Marie Evensen (Labour party) wrote about the squatters in Hausmanns street 40 in Klassekampen in August. She’s now the leader of the urban development comittee in the city council and says she stands by what she wrote, even though Ap (labour party) wants to sell the property to Urbanium.
– How are you going to secure a leasing contract when it’s Urbanium who decides what happens to the residents?
– I hope both sides are still busy with finding good solutions. We think the environment is unique and something Oslo needs. I hope Urbanium also sees that and that we can find good solutions together.
– The residents proposes to enter into a leasing contract with the municipality?
– We have to deal with the legal preconditions of the sale case. It will be difficult to come to an other conclution than the one the city advisory has ended up at, says Evensen.
She underlines that the neighborhood needs a lift. The city advisory wants to use the money from the sale, 30 million NOK (3 144 548.18 euros), for renovating the culture house Hausmania. The area was regulated to an urban ecological culture neighborhood in 2008. One of the properties is regulated to a culture purpose, and the project Vega Scene (Vega stage) is interested in using it for a film- and theatre house.
– The last city advisory let the area lie fallow. We want further development, and the purpose must be to fulfill the intensions in the regulation plan in the best way. We really want to give clear signals to Urbanium about which expectations we have, she says.
Don’t believe Urbanium
City councillor Bjørnar Moxnes (Red party) is dissapointed in the city advisory’s recommendation.
– The city advisory has to turn around and stand by their election promises. Everything is favorable for us being able to realize the vision of an urban ecological culture neighborhood, but it won’t happen if it’s sold to Urbanium, he says.
Espen Pay in Urbanium has said earlier to Dagsavisen that “There’s no one who buys property that is squatted for the squatters to continue to stay there under the same conditions”. At the same time the company wants to discuss a new solution with the residents.
Oslo city council are going to consider the sale in the new year.

Facts
Haus neighborhood:
• Area between the districts Grünerløkka and St. Hanshaugen in Oslo
• Was regulated to urban ecological culture neighborhood in 2008
• Now the city advisory wants to sell four of the properties in the neighborhood to the company Urbanium. The area will include housing, culture and freespaces.
• It’s unsure what happens with the squatters who have stayed in Hausmanns street 40 since 1999.

Colorful: The area around the culture house Hausmania is regulated to an urban ecological culture neighborhood

Love: The housing collective in Haus neighborhood has been inhabited by squatters for 16 years.

Against the sale: Bjørnar Moxnes from Rødt (Red party) thinks that the city advisory has to turn around and not sell the properties in the Haus neighborhood. Foto: Christopher Olssøn

Victoria Marie Evensen (Labour party)

Translated from “Svikter kulturkollektiv” Mari Brenna Vollan (text) and Siv Dolmen (foto), from Klassekampen, December 11th 2015