BARI/STUTTGART (dpa-AFX) - Following massive protests by environmentalists against the expansion of a huge Porsche AG test track in southern Italy, the Italian region of Apulia has halted the project for the time being. Activists had recently collected around 40,000 signatures against the plans of the Stuttgart-based car manufacturer. The president of the region in the "boot heel" of the country has now put his foot down and decided to suspend the agreement on the project at the test site, according to a statement on Wednesday evening.

"The region is once again showing that it wants to reconcile the public interest underlying the implementation of the project with environmental protection," said Michele Emiliano, according to the press release. In agreement with the Ministry of the Environment in Rome, the region has taken a decision to reconsider some aspects of the procedure. Porsche had yet to respond to the suspension of the expansion plans.

The Volkswagen Group subsidiary Porsche operates one of the most modern test centers in the world not far from the municipality of Nardò, just a few kilometers from the Gulf of Taranto. The Nardò Technical Center (NTC) includes the circular Pista di Nardò test track with a length of 12.6 kilometers and a diameter of around four kilometers. The site also has other vehicle test tracks. Porsche is involved in the high-performance testing of new vehicles on the more than 700-hectare site.

The car manufacturer's plans to expand the test track have caused displeasure among environmentalists and local residents. According to media reports, Porsche wants to spend around 450 million euros on the expansion. Environmentalists complain that a huge area of countryside and parts of a forest will have to be sacrificed for the project. Although there are plans to reforest the cleared part of the forest at a later date, this does not go far enough for the activists./rme/DP/men