Hundreds of landowners on Bahrain's west coast could finally be allowed to build on their properties if a new move by the municipal council brings an end to a decades-long planning battle.

For almost 20 years, around 300 villagers in Demistan, Saddad, Hamala and Karzakan have pushed to build on a 10km stretch of land set back from the coast.

Planning permission has never been granted for this area because the Municipalities and Urban Planning Affairs Ministry wanted it reserved for "future projects", outgoing Northern Municipal Council member Jassim Al Mahdi told the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

But now, the council is backing calls to have the area re-classified as "agricultural land", so that some partial development can take place.

"Landowners have wanted to turn the place into a commercial-residential district for around two decades and have been trying to get that classification," he said.

"But the ministry has always refused, saying that those plots are good stock for future projects - and it has not allowed the owners to build on them ever since."

A compromise is now being proposed, Al Mahdi said, that will allow the land to be built upon whilst keeping it from being overdeveloped.

"We have suggested that the land is classified as agricultural to allow landowners to build on it up to 30 per cent - which is equivalent to a huge villa on many plots. At the same time, it will encourage cultivation, rather than leaving the whole place deserted," he said.

The councillor said that several landowners had suggested building compounds, but this had been met with scepticism by the council for fear that it would breach a recently imposed development ban.

"These plots are very close to the coast and while they don't fall in the ban zone, if they are turned into residential compounds, then landowners would eventually overreach the limits of their property," he said.

Such attempts at land-grabbing could have a detrimental effect on the council's attempts to create nine new public beaches, Al Madhi cautioned.

"It will be left to the ministry's general directorate of urban planning to determine the classification, but as we have said, we want them to be classified as agricultural land so that everyone is happy," he added.

The GDN reported last week that a development ban had been imposed on Bahrain's west coast, to allow work to start on an ambitious beach-creation project. Scheduled to begin more than three years ago, the project was derailed in 2011 after the outbreak of anti-government protests. – TradeArabia News Service