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AJAX ACES IT AGAIN: Ajax Cape Town were, for the third time, crowned the u/17 Engen KnockoutChallenge winners, after a nailbiting 2­1 final against Africa Soccer Development (ASD) at the StephenReagon Sports Complex in Westridge, Mitchell’s Plain on Sunday (31 July). In its eighth year, the annualtournament – of which People’s Post is the print media sponsor – saw Cape Town’s 16 top u/17 teamscompete for the coveted title from Friday to Sunday. See more on pages 15 and 16. Photo: Rashied Isaacs

Developmentplans opento scrutinyDALEEN FOUCHÉ

YOUNG adults of Kommetjieare uniting against “inap-

propriate” developments and isworking with the KommetjieResidents and Ratepayers Asso-ciation (KRRA) to seek expertand legal opinion to comment onthe recently published Environ-mental Impact Assessment (EIA)reports for three Kommetjie Vil-lage developments.

The EIA plans for three develop-ments by Kommetjie Estates andRedcliff Properties, which includesthe proposed central developmentand the two Wireless Road develop-ments, were made available on 29June and are now to face publicscrutiny.

The public can comment on thefindings of the EIA, which was com-piled by Chand EnvironmentalConsultants, until 7 September.

The KRRA along with a group ofyoung adults from Kommetjie planto employ a specialist to help themto comment on the EIA’s.

The proposal of the developmentscaused a public outcry in April lastyear, with residents strongly ob-jecting to what they deemed “inap-propriate developments” (“Kom-metjie says no to ‘urban sprawl’”,People’s Post, 27 April 2010).

The proposed Central Develop-ment consist of a retail and residen-tial node, situated on a 1.9 ha site,between Kommetjie Main Road andTeubes Road.

The developer is proposing tobuild 31 residential units, with twoparking bays per unit and a retailcentre (approximately 1 400m²)with 62 parking bays and access

from Teubes Road to both the retailand residential nodes. Part of thedevelopment plan is to leave a pub-lic open space in between the resi-dential and retail nodes, whichaims to protect the rare Cape FlatsDune Strandveld vegetation will re-main on this land.

The proposed high density hous-ing development on Wireless Road,a Kommetje Estates development,consists of a 1.55 ha portion of erf948 and is located along WirelessRoad and south of the Bokrams-pruit.

The erf is zoned for rural use butan application is being submitted torezone and subdivide the area for 44residential units, consisting of twoand three story buildings.

The proposed high density resi-dential development, known asWireless two, a Redcliff Propertiesdevelopment, lies wedged betweena Telkom telecommunication facili-ty, Kommetjie Road, BokramspruitRiver and the proposed Riversidedevelopment.

The developers preferred propos-al, includes 27 houses and 74 apart-ments in two and three story build-ings and 143 parking bays.

Daryn Smith, who serves on theKRRA executive committee, saysthe developers have not takenmany of their concerns into consid-eration to keep with the “villagecharacter”. He said the two pro-posed Wireless Road developmentsdo not fit in with the “Kommetjievibe”. “When I think of Kommetjie,I do not think about apartmentblocks,” he said.

Smith, along with a group ofyoung Kommetjie residents, organ-ised the “Keep Kommetjie Real”party, to raise funds to hire special-

ist and legal opinion to fight the pro-posed Kommetjie developments(“Residents party to keep Kom-metjie real”, People’s Post, 11 Febru-ary 2011).

More than R37 000 was raised andmore than 800 people gathered forthe fundraiser. Smith said the rea-son why a younger generation isgetting involved, is because most ofthem grew up in Kommetjie andwould like to protect it for their ownchildren.

Smith’s main concern regardingfuture developments, is that eachdevelopment’s impact is measuredin isolation. Smith said there areseveral other developments in theKommetjie and Ocean View areason the table. The major concernsare the impact of the developmentson the road and sewage infrastruc-ture.

Bruce Campbell Smith, executivecommittee member of the KRRA,reiterates Smith’s concern regard-ing the cumulative impact of devel-opments. He said the Kompanjies-tuin Development on KommetjieRoad next to Ocean View, has al-ready been approved and two pro-posed developments in Kommetjie

are still pending, with the latterconsisting of over 230 housingunits. Campbell Smith further stat-ed that traffic studies are bound tolook at the impact on local roads,but says that the studies shouldlook at the bigger picture and theimpact on roads like Ou Kaapse-weg. He added that upgrades on in-frastructure should be completedbefore any development commenc-es.

The KRRA strongly criticised apress release from Redcliff Proper-ties and Kommetjie Estates lastyear, trumpeting infrastructure up-grades as a result of developmentcontributions payable by develop-ers. Campbell Smith called thepress release a “cheap trick”. Hesays the funds for the upgrades will“trinkle in slowly”.

Patrick Dowling, chairperson ofthe KRRA, criticised the EIA reportfor not including a social impactstudy, which would investigate thesocial effects and consequences ofthe proposed development, despitea specific and motivated request forthis.

He agrees the designs do not re-flect the “village feel” of Kom-

metjie. Dowling said the develop-ments will cause a jump in popula-tion and densification and a rapidincrease of traffic. “Sustainabilitycriteria and green design principlesare not evident.”

Junior van der Horst, propertymanager and a director of Kom-metje Estates, told People’s Post,that the developments are aimed atchanging Kommetjie from a “dor-mant suburb” intoa sustainablevil-lage. He said Kommetjie residentshave to travel to other areas forwork, shopping and to attendschool. He said that these develop-ments will help residents to live,work and shop in Kommetjie.

Van der Horst further said thesedevelopments will address the ex-isting need for lower cost housing.“It is very difficult for young peopleto find a residence in Kommetjie.”.

JBB Developers, which is head-ing up developments in the village,could not be reached for commentbefore going to print.

The EIA’s can be viewed at theKommetjie Library, SomersetRoad, or downloaded from the web-site at www.chand.co.za/Kom-metjie.asp