City Explains Princess Vlei Mall Development Proposal

The proposal involves several City Departments, most specifically Planning and Building Development Management which is responsible for consolidation and rezoning applications, City Parks which owns the land on which the proposed shopping mall will be built and the Environmental Resource Management Department which is charged with ensuring the environmental integrity of the Vlei.

Insight Property Developers approached the City some time prior to 1998 with an unsolicited proposal to purchase a portion of Erf 82176 for the development of a regional shopping centre.

In May 2002, the relevant City authority, then Executive Councillor for Economic Development and Tourism, approved a direct sale to the applicant subject to, inter alia, a public participation process, the outcome of the rezoning and Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) process and subject to agreement on conditions of sale and the purchase price.

In that year, Insight submitted a composite land use application in order for the property to be zoned from Public Open Space to a business zone to permit a shopping centre. The re-zoning application and the intention of the developer to attempt to purchase the property from the City were widely advertised at the time. Following an EIA, Insight amended the application. This amended rezoning application was re-advertised in 2006. The Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP) is the competent authority to grant or refuse rezoning applications that involve Public Open Space.

On 29 November 2005 the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning: Integrated Environmental Management issued a Record of Decision (ROD) in terms of the Environmental Conservation Act of 1989 (No. 73 of 1989). This ROD (now considered an Environmental Authorisation in terms of the EIA Regulations promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management Act of 1998 (No. 107 of 1998), is valid for a period of four years. If the approved activities do not commence prior to 29 November 2009, or an application for the extension to the validity period is not made prior to this date, another application will need to be made to DEA&DP which will entail a further EIA process. The City of Cape Town, as the current applicant, will be submitting an application for the extension of the validity period to DEA&DP timeously.

In 2008, DEA&DP granted approval for the rezoning, subject to conditions. This approval was limited to the rezoning of the property and the City of Cape Town was tasked with taking a decision on the subdivision (i.e. the separation of the shopping centre site from the parent property).

In April 2009 the City's Spatial Planning, Environment and Land Use Management Committee (SPELUM) resolved to approve the subdivision. The objectors to the original application have been granted the right to appeal the approval of the subdivision in terms of Section 43 of the Land Use Planning Ordinance No 15 of 1985. This appeal is to DEA&DP and relates to the subdivision only.

The purpose of the report that was before Council in May 2009 related to the amendment of conditions imposed by DEA&DP at the time of rezoning approval. The nature of the aforementioned amendments is limited to technical issues that do not change the fundamentals of the proposed development.

At this stage no purchase price has been determined. The proposed sale will be re-advertised once the negotiations between the City and the developer have been finalised in principle and this public participation process will assist in determining the purchase price for the consolidated property.

On the conservation side, the City of Cape Town is working closely with interested and affected parties.

"The City of Cape Town, as the holder of the Environmental Authorisation granted on 29 November 2005 by the Provincial DEA&DP, is legally obliged to comply with all the conditions contained in the ROD," says Piet van Zyl, Executive Director: Strategy & Planning. "These conditions include managing the immediate impacts of the development as well as contributing towards the ongoing maintenance of the entire Vlei. The ROD will need to be transferred to my buyer for the site in question prior to or as part of the sale of the land."

In July 2008 the City was approached by members of an NGO called Biowatch with a proposal to rehabilitate a section of land adjoining Princess Vlei. In August 2008 the City signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Biowatch and the South African National Botanical Institute (SANBI). The City was represented by City Parks, as the custodian of the City land and the Biodiversity Management Branch of the Environmental Resource Management Department, as the conservation authority.

In short, the MOA stipulates that the City will provide technical and operational support such as tools, mechanical plant, transport, etc. and apply for capital funding for infrastructure. SANBI will provide labour and plants and Biowatch will manage and administer the project. The project commenced shortly afterwards and, since then, the area has been levelled and a number of plants established. Despite experiencing some minor difficulties the project is still alive and well and the different parties are committed to make a success of it.

The DEA&DP has approved this development with stringent conditions contained in the ROD. In addition, an operational management agreement must be entered into between the developer and the City as part of the sale of the land. This agreement will include the requirements of the City's Environmental Resource Management Department for the management of the vlei, in order to ensure that negative environmental impacts are mitigated and positive impacts are enhanced.

Further information can be obtained by consulting the City of Cape Town's website by reading the planning report that went before SPELUM in April 2009.

"Both City conservation officials and their Provincial colleagues are committed to ensuring as far as possible the environmental integrity of Princess Vlei," Van Zyl said. "They are assisted in this by recent environmental legislation which places a far more onerous conservation obligation upon developers than was the case in the past. Everyone involved is determined to ring-fence this project in a manner which best conserves the Vlei and addresses the environmental concerns of those who live near it."

Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town