Russian party leader to argue plan of Moscow development in court

Leader of the Russian Yabloko political party was to dispute in court the general plan of Moscow development to 2025 adopted in May, local media reported on Sunday.

According to Sergey Mitrokhin, after the plan comes into force a new wave of infill development and deforestation in parks will take place.

The party leader cited the insufficiency of the expert report of the plan for his argument, which was signed merely a month after it was sent for review.

"This fact is sufficient for the plan withdrawal, yet in our appeal we point out the range of procedure infractions," he said.

The general plan on Moscow development for the following 15 years sparked disputes between both politicians and residents, who believed the plan to be "harmful and outraging the residents rights."

So far, the Moscow authorities denied any accusations, saying the document concerns the questions of infrastructure, transport, life comfort and placement of subjects of traffic.

The city mayor, Yury Luzhkov, blamed Russian media for shaping such an attitude to the plan.

During the first hearings on the plan in August 2009, over 70,000 complaints from residents were filed.

The plan is expected to come into force in mid-June.

Source:Xinhua