City to Oppose Dassenberg Development

The City of Cape Town will go ahead with the court application opposing the development of portion 7, farm 940, Dassenberg, Noordhoek after the Planning and Environment Portfolio Committee( PEPCO) last week decided to apply for review of the decision.

Although the City previously attempted to lodge an appeal in terms of the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) and regulations, the Provincial Legislature stated that no such right of appeal existed as the then Provincial Minister for Environmental Affairs had unilaterally taken the decision himself. The City expressed strong objections against the MEC's decision at the time.

The application will effectively take the decision of 17 April this year by the previous Provincial Minister of Environmental Affairs, Pierre Uys, granting environmental authorization and rezoning, on review.

According to Alderman Brian Watkyns, chairperson of PEPCO, the City expressed itself against the positioning of the proposed development as well as the visual impact of parts of the development.

The City's Legal Department will lodge the application for review with the court today.

Background on the process so far:

The former South Peninsula Municipality (SPM) took a decision to refuse the rezoning of Portion 7 of 940, Dassenberg, Noordhoek in 1999. The applicant for rezoning appealed to the Provincial Government who decided that SPM did not have the delegated authority in terms of the General Structure Plan to consider the matter.

Province considered the SPM's decision to be a recommendation and approved the rezoning application on 5 March 2000. The Provincial Minister for Environmental Affairs at the time changed and the successor took the previous Minister's decision on review. The High Court set aside the decision by the new MEC, however, the environmental legislation changed between the time that the application was made and the judgment handed down and it was necessary for the applicant to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before re-submitting the rezoning application.

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Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town