The development near Ramot was opposed by local residents and environmental groups.
The High Court of Justice today cancelled Jerusalem Regional Outline Plan 47/1, which called for the construction of a 2,000-unit residential neighborhood on Givat Mitzpeh Naftoah, near the neighborhood of Ramot. High Court of Justice President Dorit Beinish, Judge Edna Arbel, and Esther Hayut accepted the petition against the development filed by local residents and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
The core of the judges' ruling was that the development plan violated National Outline Plan 22 for Forests and Forestation, which designates most of Givat Mitzpeh Naftoah as forest and a nature reserve. The judges also ruled that there were material flaws in the approval process of the development by the planning commission.
When the plan was submitted, the Society for the Protection of Nature argued that it was a back-door maneuver to revive the cancelled Safdie plan. It said that separation of the plan for the Givat Mitzpeh Naftoah development from Safdie plan for the development of the region west of Jerusalem was intended to prevent a review of the damage that the development would cause to the natural habitat of the area.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 4, 2008
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