Cape Town - The Table View Action Forum (GTAF) and the Sunridge Action Group have vowed to appeal a decision by the City’s Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) to approve an application for a “monstrous” development in the Milnerton area.
The MPT’s approval of the application, brought forward by the First Plan Town Planners on behalf of Flandorp Family Property Trust at 21 Canary Crescent in Milnerton in terms of section 98(b) of the City of Cape Town Municipal Planning By-Law, will result in a development comprising more than 300 units.
The application proposed a gated development, which would consist of duplex houses, apartment units, and a clubhouse. The units are proposed to be a combination of three and four-storey blocks. Duplex houses would form street-facing, single residential units outside the development.
On approving the application the MPT said the proposed development complied with the criteria set out in sections 99(1) and 99(3) of the Municipal Planning By-Law, 2015 and was consistent with the 2018 Municipal Spatial Development Framework and the 2012 Blaauwberg District Plan.
It said the development had no negative impact on existing rights as it did not detract from the residential amenity and general character of the surrounding area, and the provision of a private wastewater treatment package plant was deemed an appropriate alternative to address sewer capacity constraints at the Potsdam Waterwaste Treatment Works (WWTW).
The MPT contended that the conditions of approval imposed were deemed sufficient to address the concerns expressed in the objections received against the application.
At the centre of the residents’ opposition was the developer’s plan to install a temporary on-site private waste water treatment plant for the period of the Potsdam WWTW upgrade, estimated to conclude in 2025/2026, so it skipped the current moratorium on developments.
On its application, First Plan said the on-site wastewater treatment plant was a tried and tested system and was operational in various locations within the province, and that this had been approved in several residential developments within the city.
GTAF chairperson Karen Davis said the forum would appeal the decision as it had discovered a wetland on the site, which the MPT ignored.
SAG member John Stothers said this was a nationally recognised wetland which was mainly on the school site opposite, but overlapped on the Flandorp Land. He said the MPT in its decision disregarded 89 points of objections from the residents.
Stothers said SAG was aware of three other applications in the pipeline for similar private sewerage plants.
“At a recent MPT, permission was verbally granted to build a privately owned and operated sewerage plant. It is subject to all licences / permissions, which means they have passed the responsibility to the Department of Water and Sanitation. However, no environmental impact study has been carried out.
“Can the stormwater system accommodate 8.5 million litres per month and what effect this will have on the Diep River Estuary system? How can an MPT ignore the concerns raised by the Department of Environmental Affairs, ignore the Mayoral Committee Draft Management Plan for the Diep River Estuary,” he said.
Stothers said wildlife was known to be present in the area and a survey should be undertaken to establish the extent of the animal habitats of the wetland.
He said given the new facts, the rezoning applications needs to be rejected.