The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel claims the farm will damage a scenic open space.
The National Planning and Building Board's committee on principle planning matters, headed by Shamay Assif, has approved construction of a wind turbine farm for electricity production at Ramat Sirin. The wind turbines farm will be built along the cliffs above Menahemia in the Galilee.
The committee on principle planning matters rejected objections to the plan by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, which claimed that the plan damaged a scenic open space. The committee accepted the Ministry of the Environment's position that clean energy production is paramount, even if it adds only a little to Israel's electricity production.
Committee members also noted the aesthetics of the turbines on the local landscape, and that they were a tourist attraction. The plan will ensure that the entire area will remain open to the public, and that power lines will be underground, in order to minimize the damage to the landscape.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 16, 2005