Haifa aims to involve public in plans

A large group of public representatives met with Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav and city officials last week as part of an official campaign to increase public participation in municipal plans, reports www.local.co.il. The dozens of public representatives, who came from various neighborhood and residents' committees and sectarian groups, were given an official presentation by the city engineer and the head of the city's planning team, and were then divided into groups to discuss various specific issues. Among the matters discussed were plans for the land between the new port and the city center, options for developing the summit of Mount Carmel, and possibilities for land development on the sea front. The report said that earlier, as part of the same campaign, some 130,000 questionnaires were sent out to Haifa residents to find out their broad preferences for the future development of the city.