GEORGE TOWN – Civil society groups are in support of Sg Ara residents’ case against the Sunway Hills project, which will be heard in the Federal Court this Wednesday and Thursday.
More than 1,500 residents from the Sunrise Garden Condominium and private homes within 20m of the proposed development are objecting to the project. Notice of the project was distributed between 2010 and 2011.
On November 20, 2015, the Appeals Board under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 upheld the objections by the residents against the approval of the project and the grant of planning permission by Pulau Pinang City Hall (MBPP).
However, Sunway City had argued that MBPP had granted planning permission for the project as the proposed development is a “special project”.
The residents argued that the sensitive hill lands with slopes exceeding the gradient of 25 degrees are unsuitable for the development.
The Appeals Board ruled that MBPP was wrong in granting the approval, as it had failed to consider properly that (in this case), the primary objective of the Penang Structure Plan 2020 that was gazetted in 2007 is to preserve hill lands.
Lands more than 76m above sea level and/or with a gradient exceeding 25 degrees cannot be approved for development.
Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) president Mohideen Abdul Kader said that although there are very limited and justifiable exceptions allowed as “special projects”, no specific definitions were given.
“This is why we have this problem. That is why the residents have to go until the Federal Court to get a decision,” he told a press conference at the CAP headquarters today.
Civil society groups were shocked that MBPP and the state stood in favour of the developers instead of the residents.
Sunway City and MBPP filed a judicial review application to the Penang High Court against the decision of the Appeals Board in early 2017, and the high court decided in favour of Sunway City and MBPP in May 2017.
The residents then appealed to the appellate court in June 2017, and the decision in favour of Sunway City was only made on May 21, 2021.
The residents then appealed to the Federal Court.
Penang Forum spokesman, Khoo Salma Nasution, stressed that winning the case will stop a slew of other developments close to hill slopes in the future.
“We have to preserve this for future developments.
“What is going to happen if developments keep encroaching toward the hills?
“This is one case that will affect all of us,” she said.
Sunway City has proposed constructing 600 units of high-rise apartments and bungalows on hill lands covering 32.27ha, approximately 43% of which are on slopes exceeding a gradient of 25 degrees.
Civil society groups opposing the development include CAP, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, the Penang Forum, the Tg Bungah Residents’ Association and Penang Hills Watch. – The Vibes, May 22, 2022
