also stated that it was necessary to keep a ferry for people with fear of tunnels. Political processes Bømlo Municipal Council voted unanimously in favor of the Triangle Link on 22 February 1988. Two days later, the issue was discussed in Stord Municipal Council. Olav Akselsen at first proposed supporting the pontoon bridge, but after a trial vote he withdrew the proposal and also Stord supported the Triangle Link. The following week, Sveio Municipal Council voted in favor the Triangle Link, without either a debate or dissent in the council. Fitjar Municipal Council voted on 15 March to work with both proposals. Hordaland Public Roads Administration still supported a pontoon bridge, and stated that two and a half years of work on a master plan had been wasted. A new master plan for the Triangle Link was published in early 1989, estimating the costs at NOK 890 million. It recommended that the Langevåg–Buavåg Ferry remain, but the other four ferry services be terminated. The report concluded that the maintenance costs of the fixed link would be lower than the subsidies of the ferry, that the project would be economical of society and would reduce emissions. During late 1989, advance tolls on the ferries were approved by the municipal councils and the county council, who recommended that collection start from 1 July 1990, but this was not immediately supported by the government. On 18 and 19 September 1990, the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications visited the region and looked at the proposed areas of the Triangle Link, the Hardanger Bridge and the Folgefonna Tunnel. By then it had been established that the Triangle Link would not need state grants, as it could be entirely financed with tolls. Tore Haugen, Conservative parliamentarian from Akershus, proposed that the project be considered independent of the regular national road plans. However, Lars Gunnar Lie, Minister of Transport and Communications from the Christian Democratic Party, stated that he planned a single report to Parliament for all three projects. In 1991, the master plan was appealed by the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The appeal was seconded by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. In the 1991 municipal election, the Socialist Left Party was the only party which was opposed to the fixed link, and they received a large increase in votes, increasing for 7 to 21