(haipo) The struggle of the residents of Savyoni Danya against the plan to build 550 apartments in the neighborhood is escalating. After the chairwoman of the Haifa District Planning and Building Committee, Ruth Schwartz-Hanoch, rejected the residents' request in June to receive permission to appeal to the National Council, yesterday, October 5, 2026, the committee reversed its position. Following the comments of the Haifa District Court in the context of the petitions submitted by the residents and the developer, the residents were granted permission to appeal the plan before the Appeals Subcommittee of the National Planning and Building Council.
From a decision to reject the appeal – a district committee that changes its position
The plan, approved in the spring of 2026, allows for the construction of approximately 550 new housing units in the Savyoni Danya neighborhood, which is adjacent to Danya and the University of Haifa.
In June, the chairwoman of the district committee rejected the neighborhood residents' request for permission to appeal to the National Council. In her decision, she determined that there were no flaws in the district committee's decision and that there was no justification for transferring the discussion to the national planning level.
But four months later, the picture changed. During the hearing of the petitions submitted to the Haifa District Court, the judges made comments to the parties regarding the procedures. As a result, the chairwoman of the district committee agreed to grant the residents the appeal permission they requested.
Following the agreement, the petitions submitted to the court were deleted today.
Residents will be able to present their claims to the National Council
Now, residents of Savyoni Danya will be able to bring their claims before the Appeals Subcommittee of the National Planning and Building Council, the senior national planning echelon.
Attorneys Oren Katz and Eli Hirsch of the law firm Yosef Yeshurun & Co., representing the residents, said that this was an exceptional step and a significant achievement for them. According to them, permission to appeal to the National Council is granted in few cases, when issues of fundamental importance, public sensitivity or broad implications are involved.
One access road to the neighborhood – and 550 new apartments
At the center of the dispute is the issue of infrastructure and safety in the neighborhood. Savyoni Danya currently has about 1,000 families, and the neighborhood, they say, has only one entrance and exit road.
The residents also point out the neighborhood's location in an area exposed to the risk of forest fires. According to them, Savyoni Danya is included in the list of the 20 most dangerous areas in Israel for forest fires. They also note that the State Comptroller warned of the need to create an additional access road in 2018 and 2025.
According to the residents, a connection of approximately 250 meters between Savyoni Danya and the Ramat Alon neighborhood already appears in valid plans, but has not yet been paved.
The concern: Building the first 200 apartments before paving the road
One of the residents' main claims concerns the possibility of starting construction of the project and even occupying the first 200 apartments, before the additional access road is completed.
They claim that this means increasing the number of residents in the neighborhood without simultaneously providing a satisfactory solution to the issue of safety and accessibility in the event of an emergency.
Residents raise additional claims regarding the plan, including a restriction previously imposed on construction on some lots, which they claim was not legally lifted. They also point to the lack of public buildings in the neighborhood and the gap between the scope of the additional housing units and the planned upgrade of the transportation and infrastructure system.
The Haifa Municipality also filed an appeal.
The Haifa Municipality is also joining the fight. The local planning and building committee in the municipality has filed its own appeal against the plan, and at this point it is possible that the municipal appeal and the appeal filed on behalf of the residents will be considered jointly.
Now the residents will be required to submit the appeal to the National Council, and later the hearing procedures will be determined by the authorized authorities.
At this stage, the planning process has not yet been completed. The residents, for their part, are expected to continue the fight against the plan in its current form until the appeals are decided.
The District Planning and Building Committee "forgot" that infrastructure is needed before approving new construction.
Where will 550 new apartments be located? Where will customers of the commercial center proposed by the contractor park?
The excessive construction will affect not only the residents of the neighborhood but also everyone who travels on Abba Khushi Boulevard, which is already congested today.
Hundreds of trees will be cut down and instead of a green landscape, a landscape of gray concrete towers will be seen.
It's time to stop disrespecting the residents who used their best money to purchase apartments in a neighborhood designated for low-rise construction.
Residents who pay maximum property taxes and receive minimum compensation.
The neighborhood will be called Sibbech Danya in the future.
The Haifa Municipality promotes every project in a sweeping manner, leaving us the residents who live in a city with poor infrastructure, a lack of parking, transportation problems, and ignoring any possible preservation value, congestion on old, crowded streets, destruction of the Carmel's character, destruction for generations.