<ul> <li>The court has postponed the construction of the controversial bridge in Dresden</li> </ul>

Dresden (Germany) - The decision to start construction of the controversial bridge over the Elbe in the protected cultural zone of Dresden was overturned today by the Higher Administrative Court of the German state of Saxony. Construction work near the Forest Castle was set to begin next Monday, but the court granted the request of environmental protection organizations that oppose the bridge's construction in the Dresden Elbe Valley. Legal disputes through several instances could last another two to three years, wrote the DPA agency.
    Dresden itself had already come to terms with the construction of the bridge in its originally proposed form and had given up efforts for a compromise solution involving a lighter structure that would not significantly impact the character of the valley with its architectural panorama.
    In the implementation of the project, it would be almost certain that the riverbanks in Dresden would disappear from the UNESCO World Heritage List.
    The UNESCO conference at the end of June in New Zealand decided to give Dresden time to propose alternatives, but wants to decide again about the site's status on its list as early as October. Approximately 20 kilometers of urban valley landscape was added to the list only in 2004.
    In recent years, protracted legal disputes have arisen over the construction of the bridge, in which the Dresdner councilors were mostly in favor of canceling the project, while a large part of the Saxon state government insisted on its realization within the planned timeframe.
    Supporters of the project were also vindicated by the Higher Saxon Administrative Court in a previous ruling. Its decision was also based on the results of a 2005 plebiscite, in which local citizens expressed support for the construction by a majority of 68 percent, aimed at diverting some traffic from the congested city center.