Lincoln Hills: residents meeting to plan the continuation of the struggle

(Hai Fe) - The Green Areas - The residents living near the planned neighborhood on the slopes of Lincoln and Tel Aharon met yesterday evening, Monday, 23/12/2024, to hear an overview of the planned construction and to be updated on the progress of the fight to prevent the establishment of the neighborhood or at least reduce its scope.

The team working to deal with the construction known as the Green Mountain explained that at the beginning of November this year, the council approved transferring the plan to the district committee. At the moment the district committee is examining the plan and later a hearing will be scheduled for depositing the plan. After the discussion it is possible that the district committee will demand changes and corrections of the plan and then there will be a discussion of the plan again or the committee will accept the plan as it is and then there will be 60 days to submit objections. After submitting the objections, there will be a discussion in the district committee, after which the decision will be made whether to approve the plan, reject it or approve it taking into account some of the objections.

Continue the fight

The activists listed the main things that have already been done in order to fight the plan, such as gathering the opinions of experts to write objections, recruiting civil and public bodies to write objections on their behalf, and creating a public campaign and influencing public opinion, and explained that the next step in the fight is the continuation of fundraising and an active dialogue with the municipality and recipients The decisions have already been made regarding the policy change.

The Morot Lincoln Tel-Aharon plan

The Mordon Lincoln Tel Aharon project will include 2,850 units on an area of ​​approximately 711 dunams. 370 units of this will be another extension of the Neot Peres neighborhood. The neighborhood will extend below Harofeh Street and above Freud Road. The neighborhood will include residential houses , public buildings, green areas and bridges. The construction of the neighborhood requires quarrying in the mountain and felling trees and the cost will be high due to the slopes of the mountain, which ranges from 25% to 65%. The opponents of the construction claim that the wadi will be fatally damaged by the construction and this will be the opening shot for the elimination of the wadis in Haifa, those who are in favor of the construction refer to the fact that the plan for the Lincoln slopes was approved over 100 years ago during the British Mandate.

Years of attempts to promote the program

As you may recall, last month the local committee headed by Deputy Mayor Sharit Golan Steinberg decided to recommend to the district committee to deposit the plan. The decision was made after over a decade in which attempts were made to promote the program, but without success. In the end, the rights holders turned to the court in order to compel the municipality to advance the plan, and the court determined that the latest target for submitting the plan to the district committee would be April 2024.

Architect Noa Belter: Those who come to Haifa will encounter construction and not nature

The first speaker yesterday was the architect and urban planner Noa Belter. In her words, she referred to the open spaces in the plan and claimed that over time they will be used for different purposes and lose their original purpose. "You have to think about what those who come to Haifa from the south will see. Instead of enjoying nature and greenery, they will be met with construction. The plan includes 711 dunams from Freud Road to the entrance to the Carmel tunnels. This is what those who come to the city will see. You also have to take into account that some of the slopes in the area are very dramatic, 65 %, and usually don't build on such slopes."

Belter referred to the history of the program:

"What motivates the municipality is the approval given during the period of the British mandate, concerning Tel Aharon and the Lincoln slopes. The British sold land in order to enrich their government coffers. But it must be understood that the British, when they divided the lots, saw a town before their eyes 
with houses only two stories high, without referring to the construction of orders of magnitude as there are today. In the current plan of the Lincoln slopes, a road is planned that goes down from Freud to Magorshi Sephard square, as well as another road that connects to Harofeh street. The municipality claims that these infrastructures will solve the neighborhood's explosion problem. Today, according to the statistics, there are about 2000 units above the planned neighborhood. The municipality is adding 2,500 units. It will be a new and enclosed neighborhood. Now residents will have the option to cut Freud Road through the new neighborhood. People may use the neighborhood to get on Route 2 and avoid getting off on Freud Road. The transportation issue is really unresolved and the Lincoln Hills may intensify the transportation problem, which already exists in the estate. We need to check the transportation programming in order to check that the residents' quality of life is not affected."

Belter pointed out a number of other significant problems. First she talked about the need for massive quarrying in the new neighborhood, which has many consequences. Second, she emphasized the damage to the city's landscape, which is irreversible. In the end, she also referred to the new roads, which are to be paved in the neighborhood, and according to the claim are supposed to provide an answer to the residents in emergency situations. She emphasized that the certain roads that will be built in the neighborhood are designed for normal conditions and not for emergencies and will not be able to respond in cases of fire, for example.

Activist Benny Eitan: The plan, which is currently in the district committee, is not final

The speaker after her was an activist in the Shambor neighborhood, which adjoins the planned neighborhood and an environmental activist, Bnei Eitan. Eitan showed a number of simulations and photographs of the plan and the intended area in order to explain exactly what will be built on the slopes of Lincoln. He divided the construction into several parts and explained in each of them what was planned both in terms of the construction and in terms of the bridges and roads. "The plan that is currently in the district committee is not final, and the heights in it will still be determined. We are currently still trying to work with the elected officials in the municipality even before the objections stage." Eitan referred to the quarrying and presented to those present a photo of a quarrying in the Carmel Castle, which according to him can be used to understand the planned quarrying for the intended program.

Chairman of the Green Association in Belv Asaf: The animals and plants on the property are an asset that must be protected and not consumed

The chairman of the Yerok Belv Association, Assaf Ben Levy, from the Society for the Protection of Nature, commented on the environmental effects of the plan. "Since 2012, there has not been an urban nature survey in Haifa. In Haifa, there is a very nice combination between the urban part and nature, and an attempt is made to preserve the wadis. When you look at the area designated for the program, you see an area that, according to the experts, is very developed in terms of flora and fauna. This is an asset that we need to preserve And not to consume it. In Nahal Azov there is an unexpected wealth of plants. Today the route is not so steep, but it can be changed Something that is very important to understand, and is not so reflected in the plan. Even the areas, which according to the plan are intended to be open without construction, will not remain that way because the Haifa municipality is obliged to create buffer areas, which will surround the neighborhood."

What will be on the trees?

Ben Levy also addressed another issue - the trees: "In the designated area there are about 3,000 trees designated for conservation and 3,300 trees for felling. It is also important to take into account that not every tree designated for conservation will really last during construction."

A new neighborhood is being built at the expense of the Wadi, when there are 4,000 abandoned ghost apartments in the city

At the end of his remarks, Ben Levy referred to the implications of the plan for Haifa as a whole. "This plan has serious planning and transportation implications," he said, "This neighborhood is going to harm existing neighborhoods. People would prefer to buy new apartments in the new neighborhood, rather than apartments in the old neighborhoods. In Haifa there are 4,000 abandoned ghost apartments. Instead of using these apartments, new neighborhoods are being built and at the same time destroys and vapors".