The National Subcommittee on Planning Principles Issues today discussed the national masterplan for marinas on the Mediterranean coast. The Committee decided to reject the plan to build six new marinas and only approve the new marina in Nahariya. The discussions included participation from the local authorities, government ministries, environmental organizations and rank and file citizens.
The plan put forward by the Israel Port Authority and Ministry of Transport asked to build marinas in Nahariya, Bat Galim (Haifa), Hadera, Netanya, Sde Dov (Tel Aviv) and Bat Yam. The plan also calls for expansion of six existing marinas in Akko, Shavit (Haifa), Herzliya, Jaffa, and Ashdod, and to use existing facilities at Tel Aviv Port and the nearby Reading power station.
The Planning Administration spokesperson said, "The Committee thinks that due to concerns about harming the coastal environment and past experience has demonstrated that sands on the beaches have been diminished and the impact of the reduction in sand on the rate of erosion of the cliffs and the reduction in available beaches for use by the public, which represents an open public space free of charge for leisure, entertainment and sport, there is in general no room for promoting new marinas.
"In the opinion of the Committee, there is no room for preferring building marinas to serve a relatively small population over the use by the public at large. The Committee sees the social repercussions and importance of keeping available, open beaches without restriction of access, which will allow every person to enjoy the beach resources in a completely free way. The Committee sees the population doubling over the next 30 years and the clear need for increased beach resources for leisure and available to the general public.
The Committee said that there was less concern about diminishing the sand in the Nahariya region because of the dominant sediments there.
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel said, "If this will be the decision of the National Commission, then we can certainly say that cancelling the plan to build five marinas, on the beaches othat belong to everybody, is an enormous public achievement from which the public, nature, the environment and of course the beaches will profit because they will continue to be natural, open and accessible. Despite this, the Society for the Protection of Nature will continue to work with all its efforts to also cancel the marina in Nahariya. It is possible to provide a solution for future berth needs and even double the number of existing berths, only by making the existing marinas more efficient and expanding them with no need to even build one more marina."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 30, 2021.
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