FREE MALAYSIA TODAY. 22ND MAY: Five associations have joined hands with residents of outlying Sungai Ara in their years-long bid to stop a property development on “environmentally sensitive” hillsides there by Sunway City.
The five groups are the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Penang Forum, Tanjung Bungah Residents Association, and Penang Hills Watch.
They said today they stood in solidarity with Sungai Ara residents in the residents’ appeal to the Federal Court against the granting of planning permission for the project by the Penang Island City Council.
The Sunway Hills project is for a gated housing scheme comprising 600 houses and high-rise apartments with two clubhouses on a 32 hectare plot on the Sungai Ara hillslope.
The citizen groups said the Sunway Hills project involves housing development on sensitive hill land that is more than 250 feet (76m) above sea level with a gradient exceeding 25 degrees.
The council’s approval of the project was quashed by the Penang Appeals Board in 2016, but restored by the High Court the following year. The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal last year, and the residents took the matter to the Federal Court.
The Federal Court hearing will take place on Wednesday and Thursday.
The five citizen groups said the case is of significant public interest, as it involves aspects of planning laws and protection of hills from development in Penang and the entire country.
“This case has serious implications for all citizens affected by development projects in environmentally sensitive areas, especially on hill lands and highlands,” the groups said in a joint statement released today.
They said the Federal Court case covers planning law on structure plans and local plans. The implications of this case would be significant on how planning permission is granted particularly for hillslope development.