Two municipalities merge with Lohja to form massive new city west of Helsinki

Two municipalities merge with Lohja to form massive new city west of Helsinki

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The local councils of Lohja, Nummi-Pusula, and Siuntio agreed to a proposal on Wednesday to join forces and form a new City of Lohja. The new local authority will extend nearly 100 kilometres from the Gulf of Finland to the north.
      The vote was close in all three councils. In Siuntio the 14-13 vote would have gone the other way if Yrjö Kokkonen, a councillor representing the Greens and an opponent of the merger, were not on holiday on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands at the time. His alternate voted in favour of the merger.
      Kokkonen had booked his family holiday under the assumption that the crucial vote would have been in October, but it was unexpectedly postponed.
     
Also opposing the merger was Marcus Nordström of the Swedish People’s Party, who pointed out that two thirds of voters in Siuntio had voted against the merger in an advisory referendum.
      There are concerns in Siuntio, which is officially bilingual, that linking up with Lohja might have a negative impact on the interests of Siuntio’s Swedish-language population.
      Supporters of joining Lohja voiced the view that Siuntio could not survive economically on its own.
     
Citizens opposing the merger gathered outside the school where the Siuntio Council was meeting. The protesters held a mock funeral for Siuntio, complete with candles and a coffin.
     
In Lohja the merger passed by a vote of 27 to 24.
      Lohja Council Speaker Pekka Räsänen (SDP) said that the new entity is in keeping with the goals of the national government’s upcoming municipal reform.
      In Nummi-Pusula the vote was 15 to 12.
     
The merger of Lohja, Siuntio, and Nummi-Pusula will take place in 2013. At the same time, the municipality of Karjalohja will also merge with Lohja, based on a previous decision.
      The new municipal entity will be the largest in the Uusimaa region, covering nearly 1,200 square kilometres.
      A council for the expanded City of Lohja will be chosen in municipal elections next autumn.


See also:
  Centre Party lashes out at government proposal for municipal reform (29.9.2011)

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