A class action lawsuit with the potential of tens of millions of shekels was submitted this morning (April 17, 2023) to the District Court in Lod on Saturday as a court for administrative matters against the municipality of Ra'anana for the noise hazards it causes to the residents of the city.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed through lawyers David Shub and Uriel Boni, the municipality of Ra'anana has been operating in recent years in violation of its own by-law and other legislation, by carrying out construction, development and upgrading of infrastructure during the night and into the early hours of the morning in hundreds of documented cases throughout the city.
In the lawsuit, it was clarified that the municipality acted contrary to the provisions of Section 6 of Ra'anana's noise prevention bylaw, which states that it is forbidden to use construction machinery and equipment near a residential area between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and that such a permit can only be granted in the event of an urgent need there Prevention of immediate danger to public safety.
It should be noted that according to the many documents attached to the lawsuit, it appears that the municipality performed the works at night in order to meet project schedules that it claims have been delayed for many years and not due to any immediate danger to public safety as the law requires.
The city of Ra'anana: "Torturing the residents" (Photo: ShutterStock)
The lawsuit was filed following the numerous appeals to the municipality by Tal Robinov, a resident of Ra'anana and a lawyer by profession, who claimed that he suffered for a long period of time from noise hazards caused by the municipality as a result of the construction work it carried out at night.
According to the lawsuit, Rubinov sent dozens if not hundreds of requests to the municipality over a period of more than a year, in which he asked it to stop the works it was carrying out in violation of the law in view of the seriousness of the violation and the great damage caused to him and the residents.
In view of the seriousness of the violations committed by the municipality, Robinov and other residents turned to the Ministry of Environmental Protection in order to check the conduct of the municipality.
However, after it also ignored the warnings of the head of the noise and radiation prevention division at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Prof. Stelian Gelberg, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, through the engineers Roi Gottlieb and Doron Ein Eli, prepared an expert opinion that was given to Robinov for submission to the court, in which it was clarified that the municipality violated the the law and performed illegal night work that caused loud and unreasonable noise, even though she was required to avoid it.
The opinion also detailed the various damages caused by the noise hazards.
The testimony of another elderly resident of Ahuza Street in Ra'anana, which was attached to the lawsuit, reads: "Late at night I heard a horrific noise of construction work and machinery outside my home window, I felt that it was penetrating my brain. The noises returned in another case at 4:00 in the morning and caused me to wake up in a panic. As a result of these works At night, I am very anxious during the day, I wake up in the morning with a headache and feel that this affects my basic ability to function."
The requirement: NIS 500 for each day a person is exposed to noise hazards
The decision to file a class-action lawsuit on a significant scale came after the municipality refused to stop carrying out work at night, and responded to a request under the Freedom of Information Law that Rubinov sent to it, to which it attached references and admissions that it had carried out construction and development work and infrastructure upgrades for more than 800 nights in the last few years alone, and this despite The aid expressly forbids this.
Also, although the clear warnings about a class action lawsuit by the residents hovered over his head and it was even made clear in them that he should be considered, among other things, personally responsible for the damages caused to them, in the lawsuit it was made clear that Mayor Haim Broida tried in June 2022 to amend the bylaw so that he would be given the authority approve night work.
From a review of the minutes of the meeting from June 1, 2022, it became clear that the mayor did not give proper disclosure to the council members that prior inquiries before filing a lawsuit regarding the noise hazards had already been submitted to him.
From a review of the protocol, among other things in view of the multitude of complaints from residents, and despite the lack of proper disclosure, the city council rejected the mayor's bill by a majority vote, while making it clear that the mayor's judgment should not be trusted.
Despite all of the above, the municipality under the leadership of the mayor of Broida continued to carry out infrastructure works that include horrific noise hazards at unreasonable hours and is now exposed to a class action lawsuit with the potential of tens of millions of shekels.
The plaintiff requests compensation in the amount of NIS 500 for each day that a person is exposed to noise hazards caused by the municipality.
This amount is based, among other things, on damage estimates determined by the courts in regards to environmental damage claims - when it comes to at least 800 such cases that affected thousands if not tens of thousands of residents, this means tens of millions of shekels.
The Ra'anana Municipality stated:
The claim was received at the municipality's offices.
The municipality will respond as is customary in court.
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