Cape Town - Despite fierce opposition to the proposed development at the intersection of Arnold and Gie roads in Table View, the City’s municipal planning tribunal (MPT) has approved the application – much to the residents’ disapproval.
The application to enable the development of a consolidated property with a 5-storey block of flats within 100m of Blaauwberg Road was brought forward by FJC Consulting Town Planners and Land Surveyors on behalf of East African Properties (Pty) Ltd plans in 2020.
However, unlike most development applications brought forward in the area, the application was approved with the provision of a private on-site temporary wastewater plant.
In approving the application the MPT said the proposal was compliant with the 2018 Cape Town Municipal Spatial Development Framework and the 2012 Blaauwberg District Plan, and that it aligned with the 1998 Blaauwberg
Road management strategy. It said the proposal supported inclusive economic growth strategy by creating employment opportunities and would not affect the surrounding properties negatively.
When the Greater Table View Action Forum opposed the application in March last year it said the application contravened national legislation as it was not compliant with the National Environmental Management Act and the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act.
The forum said the applicant made false and misleading claims about the economic benefits of the application.
It also said the applicant wrongfully claimed that the application would have little or no impact on traffic. It said the proposed development was not environmentally sustainable.
Resident and activist Phillipe Roche said water and sanitation Mayco member Zahid Badroodien and his team had a huge task ahead, as developments were racing far ahead of the intended upgrade of Potsdam WWTW.
Roche said the City planning department was not only ignoring the objections of the affected communities but was taking no notice of the alarm bells sounded from various other frontline departments.
“It feels to us, the voters and ratepayers, that the City planners and the municipal planning tribunal do not even consider objections seriously. Their minds, which are controlled by their objectives, are made up even before notices are sent out – if they are sent out at all,” Roche said.
He said the City’s building policies and strategies needed to be amended and proper long-term planning for pleasant suburbia, which covers a range of building designs, be implemented.
“This blind one-dimensional concrete architecture will fail in the long term and the total ambiance of the greater Table View will fail as well, as is already happening.
“This will become a huge regret just like so many areas in South Africa and the world,” he said.