Greens join appeal against kibbutz building plans

The plans call for 800 dunams of agricultural land belonging to Kibbutz Glil Yam to be attached to the city of Herzliya.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID HAY (TRANSLATED)
The Sharon Forum environmental party has asked to join an appeal by dozens of Herzliya families against the conversion of agricultural land to residential land at Kibbutz Glil Yam, reports the Hebrew weekly Ha'ir Ra'anana. The Forum has asked the National Planning Council's Appeals Committee to allow it to join the appeal on the grounds that the plans contravene national regulations and would cause the unnecessary destruction of green spaces. According to the report, the plans call for 800 dunams of agricultural land belonging to Kibbutz Glil Yam to be attached to the city of Herzliya for the purposes of building 3,000 residential units and new roads. Some 340 Herzliya families appealed against the plans, and the Sharon Forum is now aiming to join them. Forum coordinator Dror Ezra said the plans were in breach of national regulations requiring that the area between the Ayalon freeway and the beach be left open, and that this was particularly important in Herzliya because it had a relatively low percentage of green space compared with other cities. Ezra said that allowing the plans to go ahead would enable the kibbutz members to become wealthy at the expense of Herzliya, and the city was failing in its duty to preserve green areas appropriate for a modern city. A municipal spokesman responded that Herzliya was one of the least crowded cities in Israel, and that the building plans had been drawn up with environmental considerations in mind. No date was reported for any decision on the appeal.