Modern 'waterfront' to transform Plett beach
TUESDAY JUL 10, 2012

Ten-year-old plans to build a small boat harbour in Plettenberg Bay appear to be coming to fruition with an invitation to residents and interested parties to take part in an environmental impact assessment for the multi-billion rand project.

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The Piesang River estuary, site of the proposed small boat harbour.

Western Cape Marina Investments, which won the tender in 2002, has made good on an undertaking to proceed, releasing an information document describing plans to build the harbour in the Piesang River mouth, next to the Beacon Isle hotel.

The project includes construction of residential blocks on both sides of the river and a commercial node to replace the ramshackle wooden structure which houses Moby Dick's restaurant and adjoining buildings, transforming Plettenberg Bay's Central Beach into a modern waterfront.

In March, Bitou council put Western Cape Marina Investments on terms to take the small boat harbour project forward or lose the contract. Company owner Peter Ahern at the time said he was “definitely going ahead” and was putting together a team of experts, including marine engineers, architects, quantity surveyors and civil engineers for the development, which he said would cost between R3 billion and R4bn.

Port Elizabeth consultants CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit will conduct an environmental impact assessment, expected to take between eight and 24 months given the raft of regulations governing construction activities in the coastal zone and near an estuary.

The public and organisations have until July 23 to register as interested or affected parties.

The shallow Piesang River estuary will require considerable dredging to make it deep enough to accommodate boats and moorings, and the harbour will be surrounded by three- to seven-storey residential buildings on the northern and southern banks of the river mouth.

Commercial and residential properties are proposed for the Central Beach area, consisting of multi-storey buildings three to seven storeys high.

It is hoped the project will be a major boost to the struggling economy in terms of construction contracts and job and tourism opportunities.

The small boat harbour will also benefit the operators of Plettenberg Bay's whale and dolphin watching and charter fishing enterprises.

Cape Argus

Source: IOL Property (http://www.iolproperty.co.za/roller/news/entry/modern_waterfront_to_transform_plett)

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Plett beach development proposal raises objections
THURSDAY SEP 13, 2012

Environmentalists have objected to the proposed Plettenberg Bay small-boat harbour, saying intensive urbanisation of Central Beach will destroy the safest swimming beach in the town, the natural beauty of the area and suck the financial life blood out of the central business district.

If the R4-billion development, which has been 10 years in the making, goes bankrupt, maintenance of the harbour will fall to the Bitou municipality and ultimately also hit the pockets of already burdened ratepayers, they said.

The Plettenberg Bay Community Environmental Forum yesterday said it had lodged "the strongest possible objection" to the development.

Chairwoman Julie Carlisle said apart from changing the face of the popular tourist beach, it would destroy the safest swimming beach in Plett - a favourite for children and young people.

She said parking and traffic congestion on the narrow bridge that traverses the Piesang River would be hard to address without disturbing the natural beauty of the area.

The harbour development is proposed for Central Beach and runs into the mouth of the Piesang River, which meanders to the ocean alongside the Beacon Isle hotel.

The development by Western Cape Marina Investments includes residential blocks on both sides of the river and a commercial node on the beach front. "Developments of this nature carry a high financial risk. If it succeeds, it may well suck the life out of the CBD in the same way that the construction of a mall devastated the George CBD. If it fails, not unlikely in the current financial climate, tourism in Plett might be dealt a death blow," Carlisle said.

She said if the small boat harbour went bankrupt, the municipality would have to take over maintenance of the waterfront, which could "only be funded by the ratepayers".

The forum also raised concerns about proposals for seven-storey high buildings, both commercial and residential, along the river banks and beach front, buildings situated below the 50-year flood line and the massive dredging that would be required to deepen the river mouth, affecting marine life.

Bitou municipality recently spent R30 million to build a desalination plant with intake wells in the river mouth. "Are we to assume that all that money was just wasted? What if we enter another drought, how do we cope?" Carlisle asked.

Mike Cohen, the Port Elizabeth consultant appointed to do the EIA, said the comments received during the public participation phase were being analysed so that they could be addressed in the scoping and environmental assessment phase. He said although he had not counted the number of initial responses, a large number of important issues had been identified, with "perhaps the major one being the height of the buildings and impacts on Central Beach".

Cape Argus

Source: IOL Property (http://www.iolproperty.co.za/roller/news/entry/objections_to_plett_beach_property)

Scoping report supports Plett harbour property development
MONDAY APR 22, 2013

A small-boat harbour would have many economic benefits for Plettenberg Bay, according to an assessment conducted for the project developer.

A draft scoping report on the controversial development has been submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs.

Port Elizabeth environmental assessment practitioner Mike Cohen, on behalf of Western Cape Marina Investments, said the report investigated potential impacts on the proposed sites for the R4billion development, focusing on the Piesang estuary near the Beacon Isle hotel, the preferred site.

"The economic impact assessment evaluated the balance between financial benefits and costs, and found that although the achieving of profits for some can come at an unacceptable cost to wider society, the overall balance is in favour of the small-boat harbour and marina project...," the report states.

The harbourwould include 482 residential units in eight buildings of three to seven floors, 17 bungalows along the Central Beach strip, a 100room five-star hotel, a plaza, a yacht club and shops and offices.

Local environment groups have objected to the development, saying intensive urbanisation of Central Beach will ruin the economy of the central business district, destroy the safest swimming beach and spoil its natural beauty.

The scoping report, released late last week, says hundreds of jobs will be created for local communities. Employees could earn a total of R44 million in the first year, it says.

The report recognises potential negative effects on the estuary, many of which were raised by residents of the holiday town.

"The construction phase of the proposed development, via intrusion impacts, could spark a decrease in tourists visiting Plettenberg Bay for much of the four-year duration. Many local businesses... are very unlikely to be resilient enough, largely due to the town's cyclical economy, to survive a medium-term decrease in the size of their markets."

Respondents from less affluent areas sounded a stern warning that if foreign nationals - many of whom reside in these areas - were to be employed during the construction phase, "conflict would be inevitable" between locals and foreigners.

The report says there is potential loss of habitat for fauna in the area during the construction and operational phase, that the presence of construction vehicles and staff may disturb and or kill fauna and there is the potential loss of important estuarine habitats through dredging and reclaiming portions of the estuary.

Cohen said all registered parties had been sent an electronic copy of the executive summary and had been invited to a public open day in Plettenberg Bay on May 18 to discuss the report.

Cape Times

Source: IOL Property (http://www.iolproperty.co.za/roller/news/entry/scoping_report_praises_plett_harbour)