Italy's highest administrative court on Tuesday overturned a regional court's ruling against the planned expansion of an air base here to make room for American military personnel.
Upholding an appeal from the Italian government, the Council of State said the TAR of Veneto, which came out against the expansion on June 20, had no remit for political questions involving Italy and the United States.
It also stressed that there was no legal requirement to sound out the local population, which is believed to be largely against the expansion.
The Council of State said there was no ''hard evidence'' for the kind of environmental damage protesters claimed the expansion of the Dal Molin base would bring.
But the Codacons consumer group which filed the original suit against the project said it was ''not bothered'' by the Council's ruling.
''This is neither here nor there because there is another hearing at the Veneto TAR on October 20 where new evidence of serious enviornmental risks will be presented,'' it said.
Codacons claimed the US military admitted there were risks to local rivers in its report on the expansion.
The 'No Dal Molin' protest group, which has staged a series of large demonstrations against the base, said it would keep fighting the expansion.
''The citizens of Vicenza will continue in their opposition to the base,'' said campaign leader Cinzia Bottene.
''We'll see if the US has the nerve to force it on us anyway''.
Local mayor Achille Variati said that plans to hold a referendum on the base on the second Sunday in October (October 12) would not be affected by the ruling.
''I think it is the Americans who will be most embarrassed by this verdict because they are caught between a government that says 'full steam ahead' and a local population which has hosted them in the most friendly fashion for 50 years and just wants to have its say,'' he said.
EXPANSION WOULD BRING 2,000 US SOLDIERS FROM GERMANY.
The expansion plan calls for building new barracks and other facilities at the Dal Molin airfield to accommodate 2,100 US soldiers and thus unite the 173rd Airborne Brigade, which is currently divided between Vicenza and Germany.
The Dal Molin airfield is across town from the main Ederle military base which hosts the headquarters of the Southern European Task Force (SETF), which has been in Italy since the early 1950s and includes a rapid reaction force which has seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In its suit against the project, Codacons pointed out that before giving its green light to the expansion, the government had failed to consult the local population.
It said this was provided for in a US-Italian memorandum.
Codacons also argued that the expansion would have a ''devastating effect'' on the city's urban fabric and the surrounding environment, with a high risk of damaging water tables.
Other arguments against the project included the possibly that it would make Vicenza a target in the event of a military conflict or terrorist attack.
Concern was also voiced about the impact an expanded base would have on a city which is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, boasting a host of buildings and villas by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio.
There are other local groups who are in favor of expanding the base because of the added business it would bring to the town.
