Name: Green Point Stadium
Use: All purpose sports stadium to be built for the 2010 World Cup
Status: Proposed. Construction is due to start in January 2006 with completion in July 2009
Location: Metropolitan Golf Course on Green Point common in Cape Town
Size: 68,000 seats
Height: Equal to a 16-floor building
Cost: $2.49 Billion ($340 million)

______________________________


Action starts on 2010 stadium plans
Myolisi Gophe
October 28 2006 at 12:45PM
Cape Argus

The tender for the management of Cape Town's 2010 soccer World Cup Stadium will be advertised next week, but a spokesperson for the Green Point Common Coalition says the government is moving too fast.

The authorities were planning to start building in January for completion by July 2009, but this would be impossible unless their reasons for building the stadium in Green Point were "sound".

This week President Thabo Mbeki assured the world that South Africa would stage "the most successful World Cup", Fifa head Sepp Blatter said the tournament would go ahead here, and the government approved R15-billion to prepare for the event.

David Polovin of the coalition said the government was working on the proposed 68 000 multi-purpose African Renaissance Stadium on the assumption that there was no opposition, but this should not be taken for granted.

He said his organisation had an open mind and would study all the facts regarding the Record of Decisions and the rezoning application.

"If the reasons given are sound, clearly we will not oppose the plan, but if they are not we will. We will follow all the processes to ensure that our voices are heard. Going the legal route will be the last resort."

The provincial government is set to react to the environmental impact assessment next Tuesday and announce whether the stadium will be built on the existing stadium site, or if part of the Metropolitan Golf Course site would be used.

This will be followed by a 30-day period for appeals.

Polovin said both sites would damage the area.

There were fears that a new stadium would lead to commercial developments and ultimately "the death of the common".

If the new stadium were built on the present site, the 47m high structure would overwhelm the Main Road and dwarf nearby buildings.

Mike Marsden, the City of Cape Town's 2010 project leader, said the process had gone beyond the environmental impact assessment.

He said there were constant negotiations with the coalition to put in place a "win-win" situation that redesigned and reconfigured the area and managed it beyond 2010.

Pieter Cronje, spokesperson for the City of Cape Town on 2010, said the tender for the operation of the stadium would be advertised next Friday.

He said the operator would "fine-tune the design and the construction to ensure that the stadium functions well and is practical".

______________________________


Cape stadium clears hurdle
31/10/2006 12:37
Finance24.com

Cape Town - The Western Cape's ANC government and Cape Town's DA mayor have put their differences behind them to ensure that construction of the city's R2.5bn World Cup stadium gets underway on time, Kickoff reported on Tuesday.
Premier Ebrahim Rasool and mayor Helen Zille both endorsed the business plan which will be presented to National Treasury on Tuesday.

In terms of the joint plan, the city has committed R400m and the province R100m, leaving a balance of R2bn which is being requested from Treasury.

The plan also outlines improved transport systems and other infrastructure.

Rasool said the plan emphasised safety and included the introduction of railway police and extension of a closed-circuit television camera system across province.

The Green Point stadium could host up to nine matches during the tournament, including a semifinal.

A decision on the final site for the stadium, either on the Green Point stadium site or on a new site on the city's Metropolitan golf course, will be made shortly.

___________________________


Golf course gives way to World Cup stadium
Melanie Gosling
November 01 2006 at 05:03AM
Cape Times

Cape Town's 2010 World Cup stadium is to be built on the Metropolitan Golf Course on Green Point common, not on the site of the existing stadium.

This is the decision of the provincial department of environmental affairs and development planning, which gave the go-ahead for the stadium on Tuesday.

Its decision, in a 21-page document that sets strict environmental conditions, was handed to the City of Cape Town on Tuesday.

The fate of the present stadium has not been decided. It may be demolished or kept as a community venue.

The decision is likely to be met with strong protest from the golf club and people living in Mouille Point and Green Point, most of whom are vehemently opposed to the new World Cup stadium being built on the golf course and who favoured the site of the existing stadium.

The provincial authorities, who weighed up several specialist studies that considered the pros and cons of both sites, found that the golf course site was the better of the two for environmental and economic reasons. These considerations outweighed local opposition.

The decision is also likely to affect the cost of the 68 000-seater stadium, which is to be as high as a 16-storey building.

The business plan that the city and province submitted to the National Treasury on Tuesday was based on the assumption that the World Cup stadium would be built on the site of the existing stadium, not on the golf course.

The city and province, by "tweaking" the size of the stadium and removing certain features, had knocked almost R1-billion off the projected cost, reducing it from R3,3-billion to R2,49-billion.

The rest of the Green Point common is to be redeveloped into an urban park, where the existing sports are to continue, but the sports fields repositioned to use the space more effectively.

There will be increased public access, with pedestrian and cycle ways, and landscaped with trees and benches.

The provincial department said in its decision yesterday that although many of the stakeholders who had commented on the proposal were in favour of the existing stadium site, the department had selected the golf course site because:

The visual impact of the massive stadium would not be as great on that site.

Fewer of the sporting bodies would be directly affected.

More space would be available for recreational activities other than formal sports.

There would be less of an impact on heritage sites.

The common would not be "severed" as it would be if the new stadium were built on the site of the existing stadium, as the golf course was closer to the built-up section of the common.

Another key factor affecting the decision was that development of the golf course site was in line with the Green Point Development Framework that the city adopted in 1998.

The framework focused on the integration of the common with the inner city and the reinforcement of linkages between the two, as well as between the Atlantic seaboard and the V&A Waterfront.

The economic study found that, if adequate funding were to come from central government, the positive spin-offs of the stadium would be "highly significant" for the city and province.

It said the cost-benefit analysis indicated that the stadium and urban park would require "substantial and guaranteed subsidy from outside the city if it is not to become a burden to the city and its ratepayers".

The noise study found that the partially closed roof would mean that the surrounding community would "not be worse off than at present" with noise levels.

The City of Cape Town, as the applicant, or the public, has 30 days in which to appeal against the decision.

If any appeals are lodged, the matter will be referred to Environment Affairs and Development Planning MEC Tasneem Essop for a decision.

I started this thread given the momentous decisions in the last 48 hours. Mo Rush, you are welcome to post the renders and impressions of what the stadium will look like as well as to post other news articles and reports about the development. Also post any pictures of the actual site at Green Point common golf course. This thread I think will go far, maybe even farther than the one already going guns for the new stadium to be built in Durban.

what a farce, why build on a city green belt (golf course) when you can knock down that eyesore and its massive blacktop parking area and fit in a new stadium there.
Clever people running the cape!!!

so CT is losing a public golf course? thats not cool. i can see alot of outcry from the green point coalition over the next few weeks...hope it doesnt turn into the gautrain and court action

Maybe the will move it to some other space.

I don't see why they can't incorporate another green space in and amongst the stadium.. and I'm sure that if the stadium has a beautiful design, it won't be too harmful on the environment but will infact add to it and it will create a more community friendly public space, instead of one that is only available to golf club members..

When the design is released Ill create a new thread

Name: Green Point Stadium
Use: All purpose sports stadium to be built for the 2010 World Cup
Status: Proposed. Construction is due to start in January 2006 with completion in July 2009
Location: Metropolitan Golf Course on Green Point common in Cape Town
Size: 68,000 seats
Height: Equal to a 16-floor building
Cost: $2.49 Billion ($340 million)

______________________________


Stadium Name: African Rennaissance Stadium
Use: Football/Rugby/Concerts and other. Not athletics
Size: 68,000 seats , Post 2010: Max 55,000
Height: 42 -50m above sea level
Cost: R2.49billion ($340 million)

maybe they should build the worlds first mobile stadium :crazy:
so they can move it about as they feel.................a stadium on wheels, now theres an idea!

maybe they should build the worlds first mobile stadium :crazy:
so they can move it about as they feel.................a stadium on wheels, now theres an idea!

Well, a mobile stadium as such does not yet exist, but collapsible stadia are probably going to be quite fashionable in the not too distant future.

http://static.flickr.com/110/289671572_19d1c27188_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/104/289627133_3933b42627_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/104/289626562_ede33848c2_o.jpg

its a shame they had to build it on the golf course when they could have built it on the common but it will upgrade an area that is already looking good.

haha cant wait to see my dads face when i tell him the tearing down the golf course *evil* ps my house is one of those on the first pic HI MOM!

pity about the golf course but of course there are pro's and cons with every site,considering that the entire common will be transformed into an urban park it does justify the selection of the golf course site, the current stadium site would result in horrible views for a substantial amount of people,if one has to be technical and take all things into account, the golf course site is best,even if only by a small margin.

there is potential for a stadium that sort of glides into the surrounding landscape, perhaps surrounding by green slopes of grass, but im not sure the designers are that creative...but ill be finding out more this week...

these images give an idea of the scale of the stadium though

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2852/stadiumthreeot0.jpg
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/9583/stadiumfourjn7.jpg

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/4277/stadium1ka3.jpg

hey whats going to happen to the greenpoint staduim i mean its a waste of space once the final staduim is up and the site coud be used for other things

The Green Point Stadium is also referred to as African Rennaisance Stadium. The moderators have my permission to rename this thread as such if that would be the most correct name for this development.

thanks mosi...perhaps we'll just change things when it all becomes official..for now its ok

African Rennaisance Stadium has never been giving as the official name tho...surely they wont call it that? then again i was hoping they wld change king Senz....

Old Green Point Stadium can be used as a warm-up venue, and should be kept as a warm-up track for any future Olympic bid. But is in dire need of remedial work. Plus the bend on the track is very sharp - a very hard track to run 200m and 400m on.

well i have some ideas for the use of the athletics track, some points though

1. there will be no olympic bid, the construction of a 80,000 seat stadium at an estimated future cost of 6-10 billion rand adjacent to an existing 68,000 seater stadium will not go down well with the people of cape town, and its simply not feasible nor can cape town afford this cost, unless cheap alternatives and i mean really dirt cheap are considered for wingfield an olympic bid is out of the question, it does not appear as if the 2010 stadium will be able to be modified at all, basically an allianz arena....unless we get china to pay for it...or dubai?
2. i proposed based on the "urban park" and its design that an actual athletic facility be built, the current "Stadium" should be demolished but the track should be retained...grassy slopes for spectators should surround the one end of the facility...similar to this image and the facility should be well integrated into park like surroundings, by park i mean LOTS of trees and landscaped and planned "green" areas..
3.with regard to it being used a "warm up track", if an olympic bid does pop up somewhere, as above, two large stadia at the same site is never a wise move, a warm up track elsewhere would be more feasible
4. the athletic facility could act as a practice field for teams during 2010, but not necessarily a designated training venuehttp://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/oceania/australia/new_south_wales/sydney_athletic.jpg

http://www.gamesinfo.com.au/postgames/en/images/vol1/06_special_relationships/04_social_interactions_and_impacts/14_217LR.jpg

OK

I really like the name of the durban one altho I have no idea how to pronounce it!!

I wasn't aware that the new stadium was a dedicated football stadium and not a multipurpose stadium. If so, then the following 2 articles in today's Business Day are cause for concern in terms of the long-term sustainability / viability of the stadium....

--------------------------

Cape Town’s apathy has soccer sponsors up in arms
Mninawa Ntloko

Deputy Sports Editor

SOUTH African football appears to have turned its back on Cape Town after Telkom yesterday joined a growing list of financial backers who would rather take the cup competitions they sponsor in the top flight anywhere else in the country but the increasingly isolated Mother City.

Telkom advertising and promotions executive Zikie Molusi did not mince his words when he said Cape Town’s attitude to South African football had been so appalling over the years that he wished none of the remaining Telkom Knockout matches would be hosted in the Cape.

“It pains me to say this as the sponsors of this tournament (Telkom Knockout) but I hope that none of the games will be in Cape Town,” Molusi said.

“The city has really bastardised our product and attendance have also been very poor. Cape Town really needs to be sorted out.”

Molusi’s ire was raised by the fact that the Mother City hosted the most poorly attended match of the opening round of the inaugural Telkom Knockout and a paltry 1500 supporters turned up at Green Point stadium when Ajax Cape Town welcomed Golden Arrows last Friday.

So Molusi was clearly far from thrilled after Ajax secured a home quarterfinal tie against Moroka Swallows during the draw of the Telkom Knockout in Johannesburg later yesterday.

“Cape Town has really got to market itself so that the city becomes attractive, particularly with the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup coming up. We have done everything in our power to market these games, from giving away complimentary tickets, providing transport and entertainment. What more do we have to do for Cape Town to embrace (South African) soccer?”

Telkom’s stance seems to be following that of the PSL and even the South African Football Association (Safa), who appear to have all but removed Cape Town from the list of potential hosts of big matches. Safa have not taken a national team match to Cape Town since Bafana Bafana hosted Jamaica in April 2003 in an international friendly that was used to launch SA’s 2010 World Cup Bid nationally at Athlone stadium.

As far as the premiership is concerned, the PSL cup committee decides on the neutral venues that are usually chosen for the semifinals and the finals of cup competitions. Yet Cape Town has not hosted a cup final since May 2003 when Santos beat Ajax 2-0 in the Absa Cup.

With the possible exception of the meeting between Manchester United and Kaizer Chiefs in July — which was essentially a glorified practice match — no high profile matches have been hosted in Cape Town.

The city’s “unhealthy” preference for English football — as reflected by the many red United jerseys at Newlands on that night in July — has been given as one of the reasons for the removal of the Mother City from the map.

In the other quarterfinal match-ups in yesterday’s draw, Mamelodi Sundowns will host Black Leopards, Santos are away to Orlando Pirates and Silver Stars host Chiefs. The games will take place on November 18, 19 and 22.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A311814

Some might not see this place as the fairest Cape

CONTROVERSY and Cape Town have been such constant companions over the past few months that perhaps the Mother City could do worse than start thinking about enlisting the services of a highly skilled spin doctor.

They might boast about the beauty of the place and gush over their historic mountain, but the reality is many Gauteng visitors usually end up having a greater appreciation of Johannesburg after a trip down to Cape Town.

And this was perhaps one of the reasons why many observers couldn’t find fault with Telkom advertising and promotions executive Zikie Molusi’s assertion that Cape Town’s attitude to local football had been so appalling over the years that he wished none of the remaining Telkom Knockout matches would be hosted in the Cape.

Strong words indeed!

The quarterfinal draw of the super-rich inaugural tournament — the champions will pocket R4,2m on December 16 — was made earlier this week and an incensed Molusi was upset by the city’s self-imposed alienation from South African football.

It would be hard to argue against Molusi’s argument as many visitors from other provinces swear that the place feels like a foreign country at times, and not another part of SA.

A case in point was the scenes that played out at Newlands when English premier league club Manchester United faced Kaizer Chiefs in July.

Red United jerseys appeared to outnumber the Chiefs shirts and when we inquired from those seated on the stands why they had decided to align themselves with a foreign team, they said they did not watch the rubbish that is South African football!

At the end of the day, the sponsors were patting themselves on the back after recording the biggest attendance for a soccer match at Newlands.

No wonder the South African Football Association and the Premier Soccer League have long removed the place from their list of potential hosts of big matches.

Anyway, Molusi might have been deemed controversial on another day but let’s face it, outsider perceptions about Cape Town are anything but normal.

Hell, even people from Cape Town are less than thrilled about some of the things that have come to be regarded as everyday life. Consider the fact that many Capetonians cheered wildly when it was announced that a new stadium would be built for the 2010 World Cup.

While those who were opposed to the idea questioned how a new stadium could be built when Newlands was available, the supporters of the plans listed many reasons why the sport be awarded a stadium befitting its status.

They pointed out that, for an example, Ajax Cape Town have used Newlands for their bigger homes matches over the past few years. But now we hear Ajax have, in fact, had to endure ridiculous demands from the stadium over the years that have made all those associated with the club bemoan the lack of proper soccer facilities in the Cape.

When we contacted our sources at Ajax to confirm the claims, they told us that there have been instances when they had been told to tell their supporters to blow their vuvuzelas and wait for it, and cheer goals at acceptable noise levels because the residents of Newlands do not appreciate the noise!

How in the world are 55 000 screaming supporters supposed to cheer a goal politely?

It boggles the mind, doesn’t it?

It doesn’t end there because football supporters tell us that they are required to make themselves scarce immediately after the final whistle or risk being charged with trespassing. Wow!

Small wonder then that plans are under way to ensure that the 2010 World Cup stadium supposedly planned for Greenpoint is sound-proof.

Nearly R1bn will apparently be spent to ensure that “the noise is contained” because the stadium will be located in a residential area.

Are you surprised then that some Capetonians even wish that their city was never considered as a host of any of the 2010 World Cup matches in the first place?

At this rate, even the best spin doctors in the world would be out of their depth in this town.

‖Ntloko is deputy sports editor.

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/sports.aspx?ID=BD4A312705

Green Point residents to oppose 2010 stadium

November 08 2006 at 04:12PM

By Dianne Hawker and Yunus Kemp

A group of Green Point residents are threatening to scupper Cape Town's plans to build the multi-billion rand 2010 stadium on the site of the Green Point Common.

At a meeting on Tuesday night of the Green Point Common Coalition (now known as the Green Point Common Association) unamimously voted to oppose the building of the stadium on the site.

Coalition spokesperson David Polovin told the meeting: "There is an opinion that we can reasonably fight this. The city has to start building soon and time is on our side. Legal process will take time and we may win by default."

'In my opinion, this is an illegal land grab'
There are 25 days left for interested parties to lodge objections against the recent Record of Decision (RoD) by environment, planning and economic development MEC Tasneem Essop which announced the common and Metropolitan Golf Course as the designated site.

The appeals could include legal action which would stall the beginning of construction work on the stadium which is set for January.

Mayor Helen Zille said on Wednesday she was waiting on a full briefing on Tuesday night's meeting.

"The timelines are extremely tight and everybody involved knows this," said Zille.

MEC for cultural affairs and sport Mzonke Whitey Jacobs said on Tuesday the process had been outlined and that there might be a number of groups who would appeal to Essop.

However, he was confident the building of the stadium would go ahead.

"We are on track and the construction of the building will commence by the end of January," said Jacobs.

Ward Councillor JP Smit, who was at Tuesday night's meeting, said the vote was overwhelmingly against the building of the stadium.

"There were five hands in favour," he said.

Smit said residents were concerned about the viability of the stadium.

"They see it as a steady loss," he said.

"They have worked out that it will run at a R18 million loss a year."

Smit said the city had had a series of constructive consultative meetings with the coalition.

At the meeting, residents were faced with accepting the government's decision to build the stadium on the golf course, "fighting", or negotiating further with the city.

Polovin estimated that the group would need to raise at least R1-million to oppose the decision.

Residents were asked to contribute as much money as they could to the effort before the 30 days were up.

Polovin said the coalition would oppose the decision on the grounds that the environmental impact assessment process was flawed.

Resident Kenneth Isaacs told the meeting he, too, did not agree with the stadium being built on the common.

"In my opinion, this is an illegal land grab," said Isaacs.

Residents were also concerned that the stadium would detract from the common's original purpose as green open space to be used for recreation.

The record of decision, however, provides a framework for the provision of an urban park for sporting activities and leisure events. It recognises certain areas may be used for parking during the World Cup, but says the primary function of such spaces will be to accommodate sports.

"These areas must therefore not be hard-surfaced but must be grassed," the report says.

It calls for the 68 000-seat stadium to be sensitively designed so as not to damage the area's historical fabric.

It says "preference should be given to local firms to meet direct labour requirements, (and for) sub-contracting and provision of goods and services".

This article was originally published on page 4 of Cape Argus on November 08, 2006

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20061108140605195C972474

I really like the name of the durban one altho I have no idea how to pronounce it!!

Yeh the name has grown on me too...but its prenunciation is going to be a problem for most people. hence i think senz will become its name to many

hmmm....those articles are interesting. it is true, when last was there a major SA soccer game in CT? They are always either at Soccer City or Kings Park. If this new stadium is soccer only, how much will it be used? i thought the point of building a new stadium was so that it was multi-purpose. so that it cld help with an olympic or commonwealth bid? all seems a bit of a muddle now. And if the locals pursue their legal action...then newlands may be the ground used after all. its a pity.

in part while there are some real issues regarding the construction of the stadium...i think there is a whole lot of how could i put it? sensationalism taking place with regards to the stadium...esp in the media...yes the issues are real...what on earth are we going to do with another 50,000 stadium...? one that doesnt have multiple uses...its also just taking up space in the newspaper every single day...its one of those infamous stadia before the design is even released, they had to get this stadium to be talk of the town somehow...its doing more harm than good...or is it? what if the stadium gets built the common is transformed and the link to the waterfront is succesful?

yes i think the stadium will be built...i suppose we wil get to see the stregnth of the coalition in raising the R1m they need...if just a small part of cape town is moaning( and rightfully so) is that enough...i dont think so...

This ongoing "will it be built in Greenpoint, or not" is becoming tyring. I'm becoming fed up with it frankly. Maybe they should just forget about the WC afterall, instead of giving everybody hope and that just dash it the next day.

http://www.greenpointcommon.co.za/_imgs/gpca_stadium_4.jpg
http://www.greenpointcommon.co.za/_imgs/gpca_stadium_5.jpg

Thanks for posting. Looks very nice!! I like it! Nice curvy design. Easy on the eyes. Simple design but classy.

Looks strictly like a football stadium though, and not multipurpose.

Actually, I just checked and it seems to have a substantially bigger pitch size than the Wembley Stadium, which IS a multipurpose stadium (CT: 70m x 125m vs. Wembley 68m x 105m). Thus, it's probably adaptable to a multipurpose stadium.

Wembley stats:

http://www.sportsvenue-technology.com/projects/wembley/

if that is the design i do like the exterior

The pitch will probably be reduced in size, the design is just preliminary and i dont think the final design will look anything like that or maybe it will..stade de france does very well with retractable seating...im not sure how they will justify another stadium...the chamber of commerce(myburgh) and the provincial gvt(laurien platzky) seem want to go ahead with a 2020 olympic bid when the time comes around. at a price tag of 8 billion suuuure

Beutiful design, but I'm sure I have seen that kind of a stadium somewhere. Mo, doesn't the design look like one of the European stadiums?

I just remembered that Mo fooled us once before with a supposed design of the CT stadium. This may not be the design at all but another existing / proposed stadium elsewhere (i.e. Mo might be pulling the wool over everyone's eyes). Thus, I think we should just wait until one is *officially* released. IF this *is* the design I will be happy with it.

I just remembered that Mo fooled us once before with a supposed design of the CT stadium. This may not be the design at all but another existing / proposed stadium elsewhere (i.e. Mo might be pulling the wool over everyone's eyes). Thus, I think we should just wait until one is *officially* released. IF this *is* the design I will be happy with it.

as the top of my post says...preliminary design.please post the previous design "i "fooled" you with thanks.
these images can be found on www.greenpointcommon.com and they are the same preliminary design i posted before. Those can also be found on www.greenpointcommon.com

That's a beautiful design. Very elegant.

mo u have just posted stadiums in the past with no text getting people to wonder what the F they are. Only later did u say u were giving in to the needs of us to see a design.

Dont worry we not on a mo attack campaign. lets just hope that a design gets released at some point before xmas

if im not mistaken the only time i did post a design that was irrelevant was as a joke just before the senz stadium design was released...apart from that feel free to point out any others.

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_6.jpg

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_7.jpg

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_10.jpg

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_9.jpg
http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_8.jpg

if im not mistaken the only time i did post a design that was irrelevant was as a joke just before the senz stadium design was released...apart from that feel free to point out any others.

chill chill boy...

if im not mistaken the only time i did post a design that was irrelevant was as a joke just before the senz stadium design was released...apart from that feel free to point out any others.

Hence my use of the words "ONCE before". However, as Dysan pointed out, you have in the past posted pics of stadiums without text when discussion turned to the CT stadium. The impression created, especially for those unaware of your previous "joke" was that it could be the CT stadium. Anyway, no offence intended. Thanks for providing us with a link the official stadium site; this way we can verify info posted on this thread.

CT gets R1.9bn for 2010 stadium
15/11/2006 21:02 - (SA)

Johannesburg - The government will give Cape Town R1.9bn to build a 68 000-seater stadium in Green Point for the 2010 World Cup, the city said on Wednesday.

The funds from the National Treasury stem from R8.4bn earmarked for 2010 stadiums, said Ian Neilson, Cape Town mayoral committee member for finance.

"National Treasury committed this amount after the city and provincial government submitted a joint business plan."

The stadium would enable Cape Town to host a World Cup semi-final match.

The city will provide R400m and the province R100m, with a total of R2.43bn available. An additional R60m may need to be raised, Neilson said.

The city has provisionally reduced the projected cost to R2.49bn from R3.2bn.

Neilson said the lower figure would be possible if the Treasury accepted a proposal to underwrite the construction's financial risks.

Costs were also lowered by the redesigned roof which would be non-retractable.

Construction is due to start in January 2007.

I think each stadium (GP, Senz, P.E, Soccer City, etc) should have their own website, & each site should have at least up to 3 webcams to track progress, as did many of the world cup stadiums in Germany as well as wembley stadium & Emirates. It will give the stadiums much more publicity & internationals can track the progress being made so they dont think we sleeping.

^^ good thinking! lets see what happens.

The thing is no progress is being made, and we are indeed sleeping. Are any stadiums even under construction?

so cape town gets 2 billion..and durbs 2 billion...of the budget for specifically new stadia of 5.5bn of the total 8.4 bn...so 1.5 billion is shared between PE and nelspruit and ? surely they arent just getting 500 million?

^^ even reading your post was confusing. Will CT have enough money now? does the R2,49bn include the soundproofing halabaloo?

The thing is no progress is being made, and we are indeed sleeping. Are any stadiums even under construction?

As we have said tirelessly in the King Senz thread....they have been at the piling for over a month now on the stadium

yeah my post was confusing

STadium budget allocated: R8.4bn
R5.5bn of this will go to new stadia...

new stadia being
cape town
durban
PE
peter mokaba
mbombela

if cape town and durban are allocated 2 billion each how will PE, peter mokaba and mbombela manage on R500 000 each?

The stadium in CT will not have soundproofing:

R1.9bn - gvt
R0.4bn - city
R0.1bn - provincial gvt
R0.1bn - needs to be raised

^^Oh thanx for clearing that up Mo,

As for the website, I sent my idea for a website to that angamuthu chick who's incharge of the Durbs Metro, hopefully she can forward it to Mike Sutt, so they can do it.

yeah my post was confusing

STadium budget allocated: R8.4bn
R5.5bn of this will go to new stadia...

new stadia being
cape town
durban
PE
peter mokaba
mbombela

if cape town and durban are allocated 2 billion each how will PE, peter mokaba and mbombela manage on R500 000 each?

The stadium in CT will not have soundproofing:

R1.9bn - gvt
R0.4bn - city
R0.1bn - provincial gvt
R0.1bn - needs to be raised


I think you mean R500 million each, not R500, 000. What is the budget of each of those stadiums?

Land rezoning for 2010 stadium to be appealed

By Aziz Hartley

The Green Point Common Association, an interest group representing residents concerned about Cape Town's 2010 World Cup stadium planned for the Green Point Common, is to appeal against the rezoning of the land.

At a meeting attended by 300 people on Tuesday night, the association also decided to take legal action should its appeal be turned down by Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop.

Its chairperson, David Polovin, said, however, that a compromise could also be reached - and this would include a firm guarantee from the authorities that, if the stadium was built on the golf course site, the rest of the common would remain well-managed, public space for ever.

"If the minister decides in our favour - ruling out a stadium on the common generally - then that will be it. But if she rules us out and we believe she is wrong, we can then take this decision to the high court for review," he said.

'I can't encourage you not to fight'
Polovin said experts believed there were ample legal grounds to fight the matter and about R1-million would be needed for this.

Asked when the process would begin, he said there were about 25 days left in which to lodge an appeal and it depended on funding.

Sea Point councillor J P Smith warned residents that should they succeed with legal action, they might have a "Pyrrhic victory" and that the interests of Cape Town as a whole should be considered.

"I can't encourage you not to fight," he said.

"It is your right to do what you have to do, but ... we need to look beyond 2010, which is a three-week flash in the pan."

* This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on November 08, 2006

Cape Times

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-11-08 11:43:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

and so the circus continues...what's new?

Since the world cup thread has been closed in the Shabeen, thot I'd post here.

Yesterday a huge media briefing was to be held at Joburgs posh Westcliff hotel regarding the 2010 world cup, all most all the journalist covering events leadng up to 2010 were there from all over the country. The briefing was to begin at 1pm sharp, BUT the main men didnt show up, Danny, Irvin & that other german dude, arrived 70 minutes later! by then most of the journalists had walked out.

Imbarrising for SA as many oversea's people were attending that briefing too.

^^ and some top official from mew south wales in oz said today that his state can hold the wc as a back up and are "bidding" to be back up venue for " the whole world can see SA will not be ready"

the stories go on and on...and they always from oz....

australians are being idiots, they have fewer venues currently that are able to host world cup matches, based on our existing venue we are more prepared, anyone who is stupid enough to believe their blabber..well ignorance and stupidity is their problem not mine.

'Cape Town will have a new look for 2010'

By Anel Powell, A'Eeysha Kassiem and Dominique Herman

Faced with legal action and the risk of losing the 2010 World Cup semifinal event because of a possible delayed start in construction of the stadium, the city of Cape Town on Tuesday agreed to a negotiated settlement with leaseholders of the Green Point Common that will safeguard the area from future commercial or residential development.

The city released its urban design proposal for the stadium site that will reconfigure the Green Point Common into a "high quality recreational precinct" and retain the Metropolitan Golf Course as a nine-hole course.

There have been vehement objections to the proposed construction of the 68 000-seat stadium on the Metropolitan Golf Course site.

'We are definitely continuing with our appeal'
The Green Point Common Association threatened to take legal action against the city unless a compromise agreement on the management and control of the Common was reached.

Affected leaseholders, cognisant of the city's need to finalise stadium plans so that construction could start in January, have been making "unreasonable demands for exorbitant compensation" from council.

Mike Marsden, city director of service delivery integration and 2010 project leader, said council would negotiate reasonable termination agreements with individual leaseholders to minimise the risk of delays.

The most significantly affected by the reconfigured common are the Metropolitan Golf Course, the Hellenic Community Club and the Swiss Sports Club, which have three years remaining on their leases.

Marsden said it had always been council's intention to negotiate with affected leaseholders and stakeholders.

'What we are asking for now is a leap of faith'
While Tuesday's decision by the city's mayoral committee to agree in principle to conditions set out by the association was the first step towards resolving the impasse between the city and objectors, Green Point Association chair David Polovin said there was still "a long distance to go" before the threat of legal action against the city would be dropped.

"We are definitely continuing with our appeal."

Polovin said the association would only withdraw its objection once there was an "irrevocable" and "legally binding" agreement with the city about the management and future use of the Common.

The deadline for objections to the record of decision issued by the MEC for Environmental Affairs, Tasneem Essop, is Tuesday next week. The department hoped for a final stadium decision between December 15-22, but that depended on the "quantity and complexity" of the appeals.

The city's urban design proposal includes the integration of the stadium with the reconfigured Common.

The golf course, which will retain its nine holes, will straddle Fritz Sonnenburg Road. The existing sports facilities will be consolidated with the new stadium to create a sporting precinct.

Marsden said the financial implications of the urban design proposal would be submitted to the mayoral committee after further consultation with stakeholders.

Zille welcomed the negotiated settlement, but said that the City should be wary of being forced to accept the terms of leaseholders and objectors because of time pressures.

Polovin said the association would not renege on its threat of legal action because of the City's schedule. "This is a self-imposed urgency by the city and we are not going to march to that drum."

Polovin said the association was "pleased" with the city's urban design plan, which would preserve the common as a "green lung".

Brent Walters, chief director for policy implementation and support with the department of the premier, said on Tuesday at a Cape Town Routes Unlimited Business Partners' Forum meeting that one of the complaints about the proposed Green Point stadium was its bulk.

But when the plan of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront's new owners to develop the remaining 45% of the land's footprint came to fruition, the stadium would "blend in".

"What we are asking for now is a leap of faith.

"This is an unprecedented opportunity for us. We need to support (World Cup 2010) in a lot more fundamental way than we have up to now," he said..

As part of the preparation for the 2010 World Cup, an additional R271-million in conditional grant funds will be spent on provincial infrastructure over the 2007 Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

This was part of Finance and Tourism MEC Lynne Brown's Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in the provincial legislature on Tuesday.



* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Times on November 22, 2006

Cape Times

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-11-22 03:19:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

The golf course layout would be reconfigured as follows:

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_3.jpg

Hi All
Herewith the front page of the Cape Times... City new look for 2010 plan. The image is attached if you want to use it or send it on. The caption that was below the picture is shown below.

http://mail.google.com/mail/?attid=0.1&disp=emb&view=att&th=10f0f859c4abb3b8


"Blueprint: A graphic of the city’s urban design proposal showing how Green Point Common will be reconfigured so that the 2010 stadium can be built on the existing Metropolitan Golf Course site. While the stadium will take up a portion of the golf course land, the course will be extended across Fritz Sonnenberg Road to ensure that he nine-hole course is retained. This development will affect the Weizmann Primary School, Swiss Sports Club and Hellenic Community Club, who would have to relocate. Existing sports fields will be shifted and consolidated into a central sports precinct in the middle of the common. The future of the existing stadium, labeled on the graphic as the sports precinct, has not yet been confirmed. A possible option is the demolition of the stadium, which is not structurally upgradeable. The race track, however, will be retained for the use as part of the proposed sports precinct. Tennis, health and fitness precincts, seen on the left hand side of the common will be built within the next four years.”

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_12.jpg
http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/stadium_visual.gif

Western Cape injects R112m for 2010

By Philda Essop

The Western Cape government has committed a once-off payment of R112-million for the construction of the 2010 soccer World Cup stadium in Green Point.

Delivering her adjustments budget in the provincial legislature on Tuesday, finance and tourism MEC Lynne Brown said the province and the City of Cape Town had also done some substantial planning in preparing the transport network for the event.

"The extension of lanes for buses and taxis along the N2 to the airport is a good example," said Brown.

She said that more improvements to Cape Town's transport network for the World Cup would be announced once funding from the national government was clarified.

The national treasury has committed R1,9-billion to the stadium. The city has committed R400-million.

Brown also announced on Tuesday that R90,5-million would be added over the 2007 medium-term expenditure framework for Emergency Medical Services to be rolled out in preparation for the World Cup.

"Already response times are improving," she said. "The additional funds will be used to hire more emergency personnel."

Brown said the funds would also be used to boost capital spending for new equipment, as well as the upgrading of ambulance stations and communications systems, ambulance colleges and new ambulances.



* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on November 22, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-11-22 13:55:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Cape Town R1,930bn [NEW]
Durban R1.8bn [NEW]
Soccer City R1.530bn [MAJOR UPGRADE]
Nelson Mandela R0.895bn [NEW]
Mbombela R0.855bn [NEW]
Peter Mokaba R0.696bn [NEW]
Ellis Park R229m [MINOR UPGRADE]
Free State R219m [MINOR UPGRADE]
Royal Bafokeng R147m [MINOR UPGRADE]
Loftus R97m [MINOR UPGRADE]

Cape Town R1,930bn [NEW]
Durban R1.8bn [NEW]
Soccer City R1.530bn [MAJOR UPGRADE]
Nelson Mandela R0.895bn [NEW]
Mbombela R0.855bn [NEW]
Peter Mokaba R0.696bn [NEW]
Ellis Park R229m [MINOR UPGRADE]
Free State R219m [MINOR UPGRADE]
Royal Bafokeng R147m [MINOR UPGRADE]
Loftus R97m [MINOR UPGRADE]

Hmm... So, Polokwane needs another R100 million... :|

http://static.flickr.com/116/305050261_235ab1b800_b.jpg

Maybe but this is gonna be a long and drawn out issue the whole CT stadium thing

Maybe but this is gonna be a long and drawn out issue the whole CT stadium thing

Ive spoken to the architects and some engineers and they are in full swing with tenders and contracts and final planning...so while the GPCA(greenpoint grannies association) are going to appeal etc...everything will continue to move along...

^^ How can they give out tenders if there are still legal challenges and other technical agreements that need to take place? I would seriously be worried about the local residents concerns and possible actions

Local residents concerns only pertain to an agreement that the remainder of the common will be maintained as green space for sport and the urban park, they require that this be a legally binding agreement, they are not opposed to the construction of the stadium.

27 Nov 2006 : 2010 - here we come!
The Mother City wants to be the Party Capital of the 2010 Fifa World Cup Soccer tournament, and is pro-actively preparing for this great event.

Speaking at a business breakfast organised by the Blaauwberg & West Coast Chamber of Trade & Industry recently, the liaison officer of the City for 2010, Pieter Cronjé, said: "This will be a uniquewindow of opportunity for Cape Town, South Africa and the continent, and it is a fait accompli with mutual commitment from FIFA and the South African Government."
Cronjé said the main goal for Cape Town is to establish sustainable upgraded infrastructure and facilities, create economic opportunities, and promote the city as a desirable destination for travellors and investors. "The scope is enormous and can create a provisional income of more than US$ 3 billion plus investment in soccer development. The ten venues and 9 host cities can expect at least 500 000 visitors, and run-up events and opportunities wil l be vast: from base camps for the teams to training venues, and facilities for the influx of supporters from all over the world."

Cronjé presented the plans and amazing graphic impressions of the 2010 Green Point stadium. He gave the assurance that the stadium will be world-class, FIFA compliant, sustainable and not excessive . "The total cost will be R2,49 billion, of which the City of Cape Town will contribute R400 million, and Provincial Government just over R100 million. National Treasury has been requested to contribute R2 billion . He emphasised that this was stadium specific, and not discretionary funding which could be utilised for other purposes.

The joint City/Province business plan has three strategic pillars:
· compliance with FIFA requirements for hosting the games
· optimizing the developme ntal impact and leaving a legacy
· maximising promotional, positioning opportunities: leverage
· The three key work streams are Transport, Safety and Security and Public

Viewing Areas where large groupings can assemble to watch the tournament on big screen television. The whole Western Cape will be included in the plans and public viewing areas, supported by substantial amounts from City/Province operational budgets

Transport

The FIFA World Cup event has succeeded in speeding up much-needed transport improvements for the Mother City, including:
· R1.9 billion jointly provided by all three spheres of government to improve Cape Town's transport infrastructure
· Major investment in the rail system - rail transport also planned from Airport to Cape Town CBD
· Development, enhancement of strategic transport corridors and major routes
· Restructuring road-based public transport services into unified, integrated public transport services
· Investment in long distance public transport facilities
· Investment in Non-motorised transport facilities (NMT)
· Intelligent Trans port Systems and Travel Demand Management
· Stadium Precinct Infrastructure and inner city distribution system
· Comprehensive overall operational management of the support systems including safety and security
· Airport to City Link.

Investment in the metropolitan area will be enormous:

· R1.2 Billion to ACSA for Cape Town International Airport upgrades
· R1.2 Billion to SARCC for new and refurbished rail rolling stock
· R420 Million to SARCC for station and signalling upgrades
· R7 Billion investment in the V&A waterfront, plus 2010 related investment
· Six new approved new hotels to be constructed
· Release of developable land to raise finance
· Upgraded IT&T infrastructure if Cape Town hosts the International Broadcast Centre

The Process is progressing well, according to Cronjé: "The des ign has been completed, the construction pre-qualification done, and we are hoping to appoint the contractor by mid December, so that construction can start during January 2007, in order to achieve completion by July 1909."

He pointed out that this year's tournament in Germany resulted in 194 nations participating, 64 sold-out games, 32 teams, 3,36 million spectators in 12 stadiums, 18,4 million spectators at Fan Fests in 12 host cities, an average of 2 240 hotel rooms per team per night, 25 000 hospitality workers, an estimated 25-30 billion cumulative TV audience in 240 countries, and 18 000 plus media representatives. A similar scope could be awaiting South Africa.

Cape Town Tourism has also established a strategic plan with the focus on 2010, according to Arno Vorster, chairman of Cape Town Tourism, and Executive Council member of the Blaauwberg & West Coast Chamber. "We are planning a Travel Centre in collaboration with the airport authorities - for local and international visitors," said Vorster. "The future of tourism lies in partnerships between the private sector and public sector to ensure that every day of the year will have lots to offer."

The Cape Summer Show was also highlighted by the Managing Director Danie Roos. "It will take place from 14 to 23 December this year at the Killarney Race Track, and will provide exposure and entertainment for visitors and exhibitors. We intend to make this an annual event, and we are also planning a "Cape Winter Show" on 22 and 23 June 2007 together with the Blaauwberg & West Coast Chamber.

CAPE TOWN
Cape Town needs support on World Cup 'risks'

Thu, 30 Nov 2006

The City of Cape Town says it is still waiting for a decision from the national Treasury on whether it will underwrite "risk factors" attached to the construction of the Green Point stadium, proposed venue for a 2010 Soccer World Cup semi-final.

Mayor Helen Zille told a public report back session on Wednesday that provision for these risks was not included in the city's revised costing of R2.49-billion for the project.

This was one of the reasons the amount had been reduced from an earlier estimate of R3.2-billion.

The city had asked the Treasury to undertake to underwrite these risk factors, which included excessive construction cost inflation and foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

The city's executive director for service delivery integration Mike Marsden said the revised estimate did include some escalation costs, but there was a risk that costs in the construction industry could start to rise.

Thirty percent of the country's cement was already being imported, he said.

The city was in discussion with the Treasury to see if it could assist host cities "in capping excessive escalation".

"So far we have not received a definitive answer, but the indications are positive," he said.

Central government has already committed to providing R1.93-billion of the total cost. R112-million will come from the Western Cape provincial government, and R400-million from the city.

Marsden said three companies had been shortlisted for the construction, and the principal contracts would be awarded on 21 December.

Sapa

Green Point upgrade set to score in 2010

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/6489/slide27xs5.jpg

By Lee-shay Collison

The massive upgrading of Green Point for the 2010 World Cup will benefit the "run-down area", the city says.

This was the message at the second World Cup report-back session on Wednesday hosted by Helen Zille and Mike Marsden, City of Cape Town director of service delivery integration and 2010 project leader.

The meeting was held at the Civic Centre on Wednesday night.

'It is the very people who will reap the most benefit out of it that are fighting it'
Since the first report-back session in July, the 2010 project team has made progress in its statutory process and has completed the impact assessment phase of erecting the World Cup stadium in Green Point, drawn up a detailed business plan, acquired funding commitment by the government and advertised tenders for the construction of the stadium.

Marsden said the team was in close co-operation with national and provincial government, the South African Football Association and Fifa to ensure the success of hosting part of the World Cup in the city.

Open and transparent communication with interested parties was a key factor.

Marsden outlined components of the statutory process which included the cost and sustainability of the stadium, the upgrading of the Green Point precinct, safety and security and transport.

"Nothing like this amount of money to upgrade would take place in Green Point without the World Cup, so it is puzzling that these people are opposing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which includes state-of-the-art facilities. We are committing billions to that.

"It is the very people who will reap the most benefit out of it that are fighting it."

A man in the audience opposed the upgrading, saying sporting facilities in disadvantaged areas in the city were in need of reconstruction.

Zille said they had inherited the decision to host a semi-final at Green Point from Fifa.

"There is no justification for not putting this investment in Green Point. The stadium will be born in Green Point and we will go through the labour pains to make it work," said Zille. She said Athlone Stadium would be upgraded and a stadium built in Philippi.

The objectives of the city included the successful hosting of semi-finals and events at Green Point and the maximum public benefit of infrastructure and economic opportunities.

In terms of sustainability, the city hoped to work with the Western Province Rugby Football Union to host games at the stadium after the World Cup.

The city will host Fifa events such as the preliminary draw and a broadcasters meeting in 2007.

The total preliminary cost of the city's World Cup preparations stands at R10,39-billion.



* This article was originally published on page 5 of The Cape Argus on November 30, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-11-30 13:34:00
? Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Just posted this on the CT thread. Sorry for the double post but I could access the Projects section for some reason earlier. Cross-post:

---------------------

I think this is a terrible development and I hope those who are objecting to the stadium realise the damage their action could have on CT and SA. The negative publicity could hurt the whole country and give ammo to all the doomsayers. Holding thumbs for you CT....

----------------------------------------

Cape Town may lose World Cup semifinal

December 01 2006 at 12:58AM

By Ben Maclennan

Cabinet should take the 2010 Soccer World Cup semifinal away from Cape Town if residents go to court to block the proposed Green Point stadium development, politicians overseeing sport have
recommended.

Western Cape sport MEC Whitey Jacobs said the recommendation was adopted at a Minmec meeting of Eastern Cape sport minister Makhenkesi Stofile and his provincial counterparts in Durban on
Thursday.

Earlier this week mayor Helen Zille warned that objections to the project could result in the city losing the semifinal to Johannesburg.

Jacobs said all the stadiums being prepared for the tournament had to be ready by the end of 2009 and for this to happen construction had to start in January next year.

This had led to discussion in the Minmec on whether Green Point would meet the January deadline, in the light of a threat by the Green Point Common Association to go to court.

"The feeling in the Minmec was that if the matter goes to court, it goes out of our hands," he said.

The Minmec had resolved to recommend that cabinet should take a formal decision that all stadiums had to be finished by the end of 2009 "and that if residents of Green Point take the matter to court, another venue be found outside the province of the Western Cape".

One implication of this was that practice venues being planned for elsewhere in Cape Town would not be built either.

"I'm hoping that it doesn't reach that stage, because it's going to affect lots of things," he said.

"We hope it doesn't come to the point that the cabinet takes a decision that another stadium be used." - Sapa


http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&...4927002436B212

While that would be a terrible development if the stadium didnt go ahead, you cant blame the residents. they have their rights too and if all cities had done proper planning months even years ago then we would not be facing the current situation.

I dont feel that the stadium will be blocked, but if the citizens have legitimate claims then you cannot say they are bad for the country.

Wow...the gvt(ANC) is threatening the lives of the folks of the GPCA...basically if they take this to court, CT gets no world cup matches, which means the entire cape flats will go crazy and move to the greenpoint common to thank the GPCA

________________________________________________________________________________________


Bombshell threat on 2010 stadium

By Sivuyile Mangxamba, Lee-Shay Collison and Sapa

The government has threatened to take away Cape Town's World Cup semifinal if residents go to court to block the proposed new stadium at Green Point.

Western Cape sport MEC Whitey Jacobs said the recommendation was adopted on Thursday at a Minmec meeting of national sports minister Makhenkesi Stofile and his provincial counterparts in Durban.

Jacobs said all the stadiums being prepared for the tournament had to be ready by the end of 2009. And for this to happen construction had to start next month.

This had led to discussion between the sports leaders on whether Green Point would meet the January deadline, in the light of a threat by the Green Point Common Coalition to go to court.

Nineteen appeals against the construction of the 2010 Green Point stadium had been submitted by Thursday afternoon.

"The feeling in the Minmec was that if the matter goes to court, it goes out of our hands," said Jacobs.

The Minmec had resolved to recommend that cabinet should take a formal decision that all stadiums had to be finished by the end of 2009 "and that if residents of Green Point take the matter to court, another venue be found outside the province of the Western Cape".

One implication of this was that practice venues being planned for elsewhere in Cape Town would not be built either.

"I'm hoping that it doesn't reach that stage, because it's going to affect lots of things," said Jacobs.

The spokesperson for Western Cape Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop's office, Lynnette Johns, said: "(The MEC) will go through the appeals, apply her mind and make a decision on whether to uphold or dismiss the appeals."

Asked how long she would take before making her decision, Johns said: "It's 19 appeals and (Essop) will consider each and every one."

If legal action halts the building of the 2010 stadium in Green Point, the 2010 semifinal and all its benefits will probably move to Johannesburg and the opportunity for a major investment in a derelict Green Point Common will be lost, Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille told a report-back meeting.

"That would be a tragic pity," she told business, industry, civic and sports leaders. "The (City's) multi-party government will be blamed, but it will be a great shame for Green Point."

She was responding to a question from David Polovin, chairperson of the Green Point Common Association, who wanted to know if the city had a "plan B" if legal action stopped the construction of the Green Point stadium.

Zille said the council had meticulously followed due process and statutory requirements in order not to prejudice or jeopardise the planning and preparation for the stadium.

"We respect people's legal rights in terms of the Constitution and we don't want to infringe on people's democratic rights," she told the Cape Argus on Friday. "But we have warned them of the consequences."

If the semifinal were taken from Cape Town, then there would no longer be money to spend on the derelict Common to improve its patchwork of sports users and problems of vagrancy, prostitution and litter.

"It is puzzling to me that the residents who object will decline this huge investment to have state-of-the-art sports facilities and a magnificent urban park. There can be no moral justification for this level of investment in such an area, given the great development needs in other parts of the city, such as Khayelitsha, Mitchell's Plain, Gugulethu and Athlone (and many others)."

* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on December 01, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-01 13:21:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Well, CT will get matches up to quarter-final stage, just no opening ceremony (if JHB and DBN are not earmarked for it) and semi-final. The original Plan A (Newlands), as set out in the bid document, will probably kick in.

I personally don't think the govt will actually go as far as they threaten. This is a ruse to pressure and intimidate residents into backing off from their court action. It's a clever strategy to get everyone in CT to see the residents as selfish and alienate them; typical "us vs. them" scenario. Methinks it will work. The residents won't want to be seen as holding back the whole city's future and will tamely end up settling. The stadium will go ahead.

Apologies. The previous post was titled "Training costs"

AThlone stadium R297.4 million
New Phillipi stadium R80 million (perhaps an upgrade)
Bellville STadium /Velodrome R3.2 million

i disagree jerome. if i lived in that area i would follow through with my plans. Who wants to be dictacted to, not consulted and possibly damage your quality of life for a stadium that not everyone (even the city council at one point) wants.

As even mo said Greenpoint has never been seen as the ideal site, but a rushed decision due to poor planning on the behalf of the previous ANC lead city council. Why must a rushed decision due to politicians failures be the burden of the community?

I seriously dont see riots or chaos in the streets if CT only lost out on a semi final. disappointment by some yes, but not violent reaction.

Having said that, i do think that an amicable solution will be found and that the stadium will go ahead.

There is a lot of sabre-rattling on both sides but bottom line, and I think we both agree on this, the stadium will go ahead. If it doesn't, Newlands will be used. However, if the residents there start to object to any changes to their neighbourhood as a result of necessary changes to the environment (security, roads etc) in preparation for 2010 then CT has MAJOR problems.

i disagree jerome. if i lived in that area i would follow through with my plans. Who wants to be dictacted to, not consulted and possibly damage your quality of life for a stadium that not everyone (even the city council at one point) wants.

As even mo said Greenpoint has never been seen as the ideal site, but a rushed decision due to poor planning on the behalf of the previous ANC lead city council. Why must a rushed decision due to politicians failures be the burden of the community?

I seriously dont see riots or chaos in the streets if CT only lost out on a semi final. disappointment by some yes, but not violent reaction.

Having said that, i do think that an amicable solution will be found and that the stadium will go ahead.

The decision was inherited by FIFA, not a decision by the previous ANC led city. There i was moaning about athlone and how small it would be for the world cup two months before the announcement when my dad told me FIFA have decided on greenpoint, only two months later the announcement was made.

The warning to CT is that if the stadium does not go ahead then the western cape will miss out completely which we all know is ludicrous but its a threat they are willing to make. The merits of the greenpoint stadium could be argued all day, at the end of the day, they have done a ton of work to minimize the impact of the stadium. The stadium will result in a new urban park, improve access to the area, a link to the waterfront, and investment in the stadium ties in with the R20 billion plus investment in the CBD, greenpoint and waterfront over the next 3.5 years.

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_4.jpg

Capacity 2010:68,000 seats
Permanent Seats: 55,000
Temporary: 15,000 modular seats, removed post 2010

The design team has used its best resources to balance the project’s internal demands of delivery with the justified requirements brought to the site by current and potential future users. The vision of Green Point Common as a high value and high quality urban park and recreation area available for safe and flexible use by its citizens, has been one of the key drivers of the design thinking. Against the backdrop of Table Mountain and in the presence of the Atlantic Ocean, the stadium has been consciously designed as an element extending and contributing to the urban fabric and texture of Cape Town.

The roof

• The roof

Is located above the highest level of seats, and contains an accessible roof including
the ‘Ring of Fire’ lighting and media zone, with catwalk access into and through the
roof structure.

The roof is a critical component of the interior architecture. As a suspended roof plane, it focuses attention downwards onto the playing field. At the same time, the underside of the roof surface, hovering above the spectators, operates in a way similar to the façade. The translucent mesh skin under the
steel cable and truss structure will act as a luminous disc during days of sunlight and will transmit the colour and atmosphere of the day into the stadium interior. The double skin design of the roof further makes it possible to accommodate (unsightly) services therein and, for example, avoid the use of pylons for the floodlighting. It fulfils an important function as far as noise attenuation is concerned. The roof structure is designed as an acoustic "body” with its own internal volume. The principle of utilising the air space inside the body of the roof as a noise buffer is one of the compelling simple and active design principles applied to the stadium. The key to this principle is the requirement that the “inner” (lower) and “outer” (upper) surface of the roof structure must have different densities and therefore display different acoustic performance characteristics.

Use of ETFE (used in the Beijing Olympic Stadium and the skin of the Water Cube(Olympic Aquatic Centre), Allianz Arena - stadium roof and walls

http://www.sportsvenue-technology.com/projects/swimming_centre/images/Watercube04.jpg
http://www.lt.arch.tu-muenchen.de/images/images_aktuell/050629_arena.jpg

The current design foresees and ETFE (fibreglass-like) cloth membrane, which is partly permeable. This “breathing” softer inner skin disperses sound waves and, since it is not a hard surface, absorbs sound into the body of the roof. The outer (top) skin is currently designed and budgeted as a fixed glass skin, which provides a hard resonant surface which reflects sound waves back into the body of the roof. Through the sloping surface of the roof, sound waves are diffracted back against the soft inner skin membrane, where they are further dispersed.

The Green Point stadium has one primary façade system, which is a cable-suspended ETFE membrane similar, if not identical, to the lower skin of the roof structure. The exact type of ETFE membrane will depend on the results of the acoustic model. ETFE membranes are available in many types of grades and textures, which have been independently tested for their acoustic performance. The starting point of the façade design, therefore, is a scientific
certainty as to the basic acoustical properties of the primary façade material.

The ETFE membrane forms a continuous, taut but flexible skin, clipped into a lightweight aluminium frame. The frame is stiffened against the massive concrete structure of the stadium by means of round hollow steel sections. Vibrations occurring in the façade itself, either from emitted noise or from wind vibrations imposed on the structure, are absorbed through the stiffening rods into the building’s massive structure.

Less than 15% of the bowl’s inside surface lets through sound waves directly to the outer walls of the building. In addition, only about 70% of the stadium
façade is covered only by the vertical mesh membrane.

This results in about 10.5% of the outer façade being exposed to direct noise emitted from inside the stadium. As mentioned previously, some of the areas that are directly under the roof edge will have a more carefully detailed double façade skin application, which will perform better than the average outer façade.

The continuous outer skin has to deal with about 8% of the direct noise from inside the stadium, after these areas have been accounted for. Preliminary tests indicate that the ETFE membrane selected for the façade, has a porosity of 60%, meaning that it further breaks down sound waves directed at it.

http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_5.jpg

Noise control and ventilation

Concerns have been voiced about the noise emission from the plaza level (level 2) exits from the stadium, which occur under the outer façade. This is being tested in detail in the acoustic model. The intention is to apply sound-absorbing or sound-reducing materials to the ceilings of these public entrances, to break up reflecting sound waves between floor and ceiling at this level of the stadium. The vertical gab between the inside bowl and the corridor is only 2.2m and the middle tier is cantilevering over the lower tier. 38 of 72 grids are open to the outside, all others contain restrooms toward the outside and concessions towards the inner concourse. The inner corridor has a depth of 17m towards the concession stands. The distance from the concourse towards the outer edge of the façade column varies between 11 and 30 m. The substantial floor plate depth (i.e. distance between bowl edge and outer structural edge of stadium) on this level assists in dispersing sound waves escaping from the stadium bowl into the space under the raked stadium seats. Further, as in all modern soccer arenas, the pitch is subject to huge ventilation problems. A blanket of cold air will accommodate itself on the pitch and the opening in the roof alone is too small to circulate the
air down to and on the pitch. Good ventilation can only be achieved with cross ventilation above the lower concourse together with four diagonal openings in the corners. Thus 53% of the concourse area is open to the outside and cannot be closed to achieve a ventilation effect. The design is aimed at finding an optimal solution for both sound and ventilation aspects.

I seriously doubt that if the stadium didnt go ahead that CT would lose out completely. Newlands would just be used instead.

Things are not looking good....

------------------------------------

Green Point stands ground on 2010 plan
04 Dec 2006 - Business Day - Chris van Gass

CAPE TOWN — Residents of Green Point, the site of a new stadium for the Soccer World Cup in 2010, are to press ahead with their objections to rezoning the area, in spite of a threat by government to take the semifinal match away from the city if the issue goes to court.

David Polovin, chairman of the Green Point Common Association, said at the weekend that his organisation had lodged a “substantive” appeal against the development and if a decision went against them and they did not agree with the reasons, they would take it on review to the high court. Polovin said he believed the association’s objection was based on “solid ground” and that the public participation process around the Green Point development had been flawed.

The application could mean that Cape Town and Western Cape would lose out on the R2,5bn development.

Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile and his provincial counterparts decided last week to recommend that the cabinet should take a formal decision that all stadiums had to be finished by the end of 2009 “and that if residents of Green Point take the matter to court, another venue be found outside the province of the Western Cape”.

One implication of this was that practice venues being planned elsewhere in Cape Town would not be built either. “I’m hoping that it doesn’t reach that stage, because it’s going to affect lots of things,” said Whitey Jacobs, Western Cape MEC for sport.

So far, Tasneem Essop, the Western Cape MEC for tourism and development, had received 19 objections to the rezoning of the Green Point development, which will see the relocation of the nine-hole Metropolitan golf course on the common, with the new stadium being built on part of the existing golf course.

Mayor Helen Zille warned during a report-back meeting on the stadium last week that if the matter went to court, the semi-final match and all its benefits would probably move to Johannesburg and a major investment opportunity would be lost.

Simon Grindrod, the Independent Democrats’ leader in the city council, has blamed Zille for the “imminent loss” of the stadium, saying the stadium might now be in serious jeopardy.

Polovin said while the association was in favour of 2010, the future of Cape Town should also lie in embracing public open spaces and Green Point was the only sizeable remaining public open space in the city.

http://www.eprop.co.za/news/article.aspx?idArticle=8211

Legal threat fails to stop 2010 timetable

By Sivuyile Mangxamba

Despite the threat of a looming legal battle, the City of Cape Town is pushing ahead with its timetable to build the 2010 World Cup stadium at Green Point.

A meeting will go ahead on Wednesday to consider re-zoning Green Point stadium, a move that will pave the way for the construction of the semi-final venue with 68 000 seats.

"We are not concerned about the due process. We expect a decision (about the outcome of the appeals process) sometime in December," Mike Marsden, the city's executive director of service delivery integration, said today.

This rezoning process is happening at a crucial time for the city and the province. Tasneem Essop, the MEC for environmental affairs and economic development and planning, is already applying her mind to the 19 appeals her office has received against the construction of the stadium.

It includes one from the Green Point Common Association, which says it will consider legal action if its appeal falls on deaf ears.

Marsden said a recommendation on the rezoning would be forwarded to the council and its decision would be made known on Thursday.

Minister of Sports and Recreation Makhenkesi Stofile has threatened to take the semi-final away from Cape Town if there is a court action.

Today the provincial department of sports and culture is meeting all the Western Cape municipalities in George to explain the way forward for 2010.

* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on December 04, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-04 13:23:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Typical ID and Simon Grinrod...always sticking their nose in for the sake of it....quess he needs a shag too

Stadium deal on the cards Sivuyile Mangxamba 05 December, 2006 Cape Argus
A deal to avoid a High Court battle that could delay construction of the 2010 Green Point Stadium was on the cards, the Green Point Common Association said today. [ Full Story... ]

Possible court action by citizens citing environmental concerns could cost South Africa's tourist hub of Cape Town its status as a host city for the 2010 football World Cup.

Residents say the proposed 68 000-seater stadium in Green Point will rob the city of much-needed public amenities, but Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile will ask cabinet to take away Cape Town's host status if they do not back down.

"If the process in Cape Town is delayed, and this in turn delays our overall preparations, we will have to move it to another place," Stofile's spokesman Bonginkosi Sishi said.

Stofile's stance even has the backing of the Western Cape provincial government, which fears a court battle will severely delay construction work.

"It will be sad for Cape Town to lose this great development in terms of infrastructure," provincial sports minister Whitey Jacobs told AFP.

"No one could guarantee the time frames within a court process. The issue here is that we must deliver a stadium."

David Polovin, chairman of the Green Point Common Association, said court action depended on the outcome of an appeal against planning permission to build the stadium at an 80-hectare site, which currently houses a golf course and other public amenities.

"The common is there for a purpose, it is not a wasteland. It is a breathing space," said Polovin.

"If we want to be a world class city we must have world-class facilities, which must include green open spaces."

The association has suggested the existing Newlands or Athlone stadia as alternatives.

But Tumi Makgabo, spokeswoman for the FIFA local organising committee, ruled other venues out.

"If the Green Point stadium does not become a reality, we will have to start looking at other venues in other cities."

Ten stadia in nine cities have been identified as match hosts.

Pieter Cronje, spokesman for the Cape Town city council's 2010 project team, said construction must start at Green Point soon to meet FIFA deadlines.

"If we are not on site towards the end of February we will be running into problems. We won't have enough room to manoeuvre."

No way they'll take all the games away from CT if the stadium isn't built. It would be utterly absurd for such a major destination not to play a big part.

They won't take the games away from CT, especially entirely. It's almost umimaginable. The residents will reach agreement with the city on the green spaces and the stadium will go ahead.

Stadium deal on the cards

By Sivuyile Mangxamba

A deal to avoid a High Court battle that could delay construction of the 2010 Green Point Stadium was on the cards, the Green Point Common Association said on Tuesday.

"We are trying to find middle ground," said association chairman David Polovin.

"Our interest is not the stadium but the Common, and it's possible to talk on this issue," .

This follows an intense, last-minute scramble for a compromise to avoid court action should Environment Affairs, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop rule against stadium appeals, including one from the association.

Essop is expected to announce her decision later this month.

Speaking to the Cape Argus early on Tuesday, Polovin said: "If we keep some of the spaces green and open at the Common, then it's better than nothing."

The City of Cape Town and the association held "frank and constructive talks" on Monday in a bid to work out a deal, following mayor Helen Zille's intervention on Saturday.

"The talks will be ongoing in order to try to save the rest of the Common from commercial exploitation in return for accepting the new stadium.

"The association's object is to preserve as much as possible of the open green space on the Common for sports and recreation, and to prevent it from being covered over in buildings and concrete," said Polovin.

Meanwhile, Western Cape 2010 provincial co-ordinator Laurine Platzky said she was confident the Green Point Stadium could be built on time and fulfil Fifa obligations.

"I'm confident we will fulfil our obligations to the international community," she said.

"In our planning we considered the possibility of appeals and it's built into the time frames."

Platzky also said she was confident that the majority of Capetonians wanted to embrace the World Cup.

2010: It's Green Point or bust for Cape Town

December 07 2006 at 04:30AM

By Anél Powell

It's Green Point Common for the stadium, or Cape Town will lose 2010, the city council has warned.

"Cape Town has only one option as far as 2010 is concerned. Build a 68 000-seat stadium on Green Point or we won't get 2010," said Ian Neilson, mayoral committee member for finance.

The decision by the mayoral committee to recommend that council vote on Thursday in favour of the rezoning application that will allow for the construction of the stadium on a public open space, has re-ignited fears that court battles could delay or jeopardise the construction of the stadium.


'We have moved beyond those issues'

Despite recent reports of an out-of-court compromise agreement between objectors and the city, chairperson of the Common Association, David Polovin, said on Thursday that court action would definitely go ahead if plans to build the stadium on the common were approved by the provincial government.

"It is a deliberate misconception that our actions threaten Cape Town's prospects to have 2010. We will still enjoy 2010, but with no stadium on Green Point Common."

He said Newlands had been the venue originally chosen by Fifa as the preferred option, albeit for a quarter-final event.

But executive mayor Helen Zille said: "Whether a threat or not, the provincial and national governments have said that we must host a semi-final or we lose 2010. This is the choice that we face as a council."

Zille said she had asked for an independent risk analysis of the city's business plan for the Green Point Common stadium to test the concerns that have been raised in the objections.

'We trust that residents will see it in that light'
As the city can only recommend an application for the rezoning of a public space, the final decision rests with the provincial government.

But objectors, including the Green Point Common Association, said the decision by the mayoral committee on Thursday came as no surprise.

Polovin said it was clear from the decision that the volumes of objections submitted to council were not taken into account. "And I think that the reason is, and always has been, a political one."

Neilson acknowledged the objections raised to the rezoning, but said: "We have moved beyond those issues."

Larry Aberman, representing the Mouille Point Ratepayers Association, said in his presentation that the holding of a quarterfinal event, rather than a semi-final, would not represent a significant lost opportunity for the city.

He said it was unnecessary for the city to spend R400 million on a stadium so that it could host a semi-final event, when far less could be spent on the upgrade of Newlands or Athlone for a smaller event.

But Neilson said: "There is no question of whether it is a necessity. It is a necessity if we are going to have 2010 in Cape Town."

Polovin said the city had paid lip service to due process and law by pushing ahead with the rezoning application.

"The public should not be under the misconception that there is a deal (with the city). A deal is a long way away."

Polovin said he would take the matter to the Cape High Court if Tasneem Essop, MEC for Environmental Affairs, rejected the appeal on the rezoning.

Aberman charged the city with not listening to the objections, especially about the parking specifications. "We will see what happens, otherwise the matter will end up in court."

Neilson said the publics objections had been listened to and that the stadium plans took into account noise and aesthetic concerns.

"The opportunity that 2010 provides for Cape Town is enormous. We must not underestimate what will happen if 2010 does not come to Cape Town," said Neilson.

He said losses would include the R10-billion national government investment.

Zille said the rezoning of the common had long-term implications not only for the precinct, but for the city, province and country.

"Under normal circumstances we would not be able to justify putting money into one of the wealthiest precincts," she said. "But we are doing it to make 2010 a success and we trust that residents will see it in that light."

The rezoning application goes to full council for approval on Thursday.


This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on December 07, 2006

http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20061207021831850C148662

i say screw cape town, move the stadium elsewhere. i can't stand these things, sounds to me like the usual bulls**t that soccer has to stand in this province, especially when there is supposed to be a match in Newlands. They just bitch all the time.

i agree, i say f@ck them then if they dont want it. make another plan...
give me a break, they dont want to get rid of that golf course coz its a "green space".... hallo, the whole f@cking Western Cape is one giant green space.....

stupid tree-huggers!

Will be interesting to see how the matches are moved around if the stadium isn't built. I seem to remember a semi originally being earmarked for PE which would be a huge boost for them but I don't know if they could handle or if their stadium could be made suitable. Maybe they should just have 2 quarter final games at Newlands and move the semi (but please not to Joburg, they've already got most of the world cup!). Heck just move it all to Durbs, it'll be fun :D

Realistically, I think JHB will gain if CT loses the semi. Durbs will probably get the opening and one semi. While it would be great to have both the semis in Durbs, I doubt they would do that.

i say screw cape town, move the stadium elsewhere. i can't stand these things, sounds to me like the usual bulls**t that soccer has to stand in this province, especially when there is supposed to be a match in Newlands. They just bitch all the time.

when 150 people out of millions in the WC hold power over WC ambitions for staging matches in cape town, then we def have problems.

Who are these fucking idiots in Green Point? What is their problem? Selfish bastards, I hate them all.

They have their right to complain!!!

The WC wont lose out on the WC, its politicians talking to force their way of thinking

The rezoning application has been approved.

Rezoning of Green Point site gets nod

By Sivuyile Mangxamba

The Cape Town City council has unanimously approved the rezoning of the Green Point Common to allow the building of the planned 68 000-seater 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium.

The city will now forward this recommendation to the MEC for Environmental Affairs, Planning and Economic Development, Tasneem Essop, who must make the final decision.

The rezoning of the Green Point Common is a significant step in paving the way for the construction of the 2010 stadium, which is planned to host a semifinal match for the tournament which will run from June 11 to July 11.

The city's rezoning recommendation comes in the same week that Fifa president Sepp Blatter called on South Africa to start construction work for 2010.

Five new stadiums are planned for Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Nelspruit.

Local organising committee chief executive Danny Jordaan said all these stadiums would be ready by 2010 and that renovations on other stadiums would be done in time to host the Confederations Cup in 2009.

Appeals against the approvals for the planned Green Point stadium are the only instance of a threat to delay construction of a 2010 venue, with other host cities ready to start work.

The city is still negotiating with the main body opposing the construction of the stadium - the Green Point Common Association - in a bid to find a compromise which could avoid lengthy litigations that could delay the start of work on site.

Essop is expected to rule later this month on the 19 appeals received by her office.

The parties at the council meeting agreed that the Common should be rezoned. There was a strong feeling that the debate on rezoning should come to an end.

* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on December 08, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-08 12:56:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

things are gonna get nasty

looks like we missed the shortlisting of the bidders for Green Point stadium as we hold our breath for the rezoning battle.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/eng/sector/construction/?show=98492

Green point high point

Three bidders have been shortlisted to build the new Green Point stadium, to be constructed for the 2010 soccer World Cup, says Cape Town city council spokesperson Pieter Cronje.

They are Group Five; Murray & Roberts and WBHO; and Steffanutti & Bressan Civils, in joint venture with Portuguese grouping Constructora do Tamega SA.

It is expected that the winning bidder will be announced later this month, in order for construction to start early next year.

National government will contribute R1,93-billion towards the 68 000-seat stadium, with the City of Cape Town adding R400-million, and the provincial government R100-million. This will largely cover construction costs, and any remaining funds will have to be sourced, says Cronje.

It is estimated the stadium will cost in the region of R2,49-billion.

Golf club gives nod to 2010 stadium deal CANDICE BAILEY and |LINDSAY DENTLINGER 13 December, 2006 Cape Argus
Board members of the Metropolitan Golf Club say they have verbally agreed to plans to relocate part of their golf course to another prime property in Mouille Point, but are still waiting to sign a written agreement with the city.

Golf course agrees to Cape's 2010 deal

By Candice Bailey and Lindsay Dentlinger

Board members of the Metropolitan Golf Club say they have verbally agreed to plans to relocate part of their golf course to another prime property in Mouille Point, but are still waiting to sign a written agreement.

The relocation of the golf course is critical to free the land earmarked for the controversial 68 000-seater stadium in Green Point that will be built for the 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium.

It is planned to start construction in January.

About 60 percent of the popular golf course will be moved to the new site, on the westward side of Fritz Sonnenberg Road, adjacent to Bay Road.

The captain of the Metropolitan Golf Club, Demetri Zitianellis, said on Tuesday that negotiations were in the final stages.

He confirmed that verbal negotiations had been completed 10 days ago when the club was shown the footprint of the proposed new site.

He said their course architect and course committee were happy with negotiations and that they were awaiting the City of Cape Town's final response.

Zitianellis confirmed that the club would withdraw its objection to the construction of the stadium on part of the existing golf course only if the deal was signed. "If we reach a final agreement and we sign the agreements and it is acceptable, sealed and watertight, we will withdraw all objections."

However, another condition of the relocation is that the city compensates or employs the golf club's 30 permanent members while the club is closed, so that it can retain the employees' services later.

Currently, the club spends about R100 000 a month on salaries.

But Zitianellis explained that they were not expecting the city to pay R100 000. "We are asking them to look after our staff."


http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_3.jpg
* This article was originally published on page 1 of The Cape Argus on December 13, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-13 14:11:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

can some one explain this to me, New stadium is on golf course and then what happens to old stadium? shouldent it be a direct swap and be converted back to greenland or at least a golf course, I mean there are farking acres of blacktop around that hidious thing

can some one explain this to me, New stadium is on golf course and then what happens to old stadium? shouldent it be a direct swap and be converted back to greenland or at least a golf course, I mean there are farking acres of blacktop around that hidious thing
double post

can some one explain this to me, New stadium is on golf course and then what happens to old stadium? shouldent it be a direct swap and be converted back to greenland or at least a golf course, I mean there are farking acres of blacktop around that hidious thing

the old "stadium" was always going to be demolished.

and what takes it place?

and what takes it place?

2010- FIFA vip tents/area
post 2010, either inegrated into urban park or retain athletics track to integrate into sports precinct.
http://www.greenpointcommon.com/_imgs/gpca_stadium_3.jpg
the stadium is currently in the area marked possible etxn

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/450/slide35km0.jpg

why on earth is the greenpoint stadium looking decent? its supposed to be falling apart, this is weird, doesnt look amazing but its clean i suppose,anyway pics from the final training session for some athletes and triathletes before it gets demolished

http://static.flickr.com/128/322357555_f5e526f29b_o.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/143/322358335_8840c178f0_o.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://static.flickr.com/130/322360367_79561b39e0.jpg?v=0

Cape Talk 567 Eyewitness News

A potential stalemate may have been averted between the City of Cape Town and the Green Point Common Association over the city's plans for the construction of the Green Point 2010 World Cup Stadium.

Role players met with Mayor Helen Zille this morning.

The association's chairman, David Polovin, says they have put forward a proposal that will allow for the construction of the Green Point stadium.

The association until now has been threatening with legal action against the building of the stadium, but Polovin says a compromise is now on the table.

Soccer authorities slam Cape on stadium delay

By Myolisi Gophe

Cape Town soccer authorities have lambasted the city council for "wasting time" over the stadium for a 2010 World Cup semi-final and denying the city the opportunity to host part of the Confederation Cup in 2009.

The Confederation Cup is a World Cup rehearsal tournament staged by the host nation a year before the mega event.

It features the host nation, the world champions and the six continental champions and draws a large number of fans from around the world.

Two weeks ago, Fifa's Local Organising Committee (LOC) announced the cities that could host it, and Cape Town was not among them.

LOC communications manager Tumi Makgabo said this was because the proposed African Renaissance Stadium in Green Point was set to be completed only by October 2009, while the event was in June.

Vernon Seymour, provincial chairperson of the SA Football Association, said they had proposed two years ago that Cape Town should build a bigger stadium and vie for a semi-final.

But the city continued to push for the Athlone Stadium as a match venue, which would have meant the Mother City got only a quarter-final match.

He said Gert Bam, the city's social development director, had wasted two years trying to settle for Grade C matches.

But Bam said the city was on track with preparing Athlone Stadium as a venue. It had been decided relatively late that Cape Town should host a semi-final. All proposals were taken into account in deciding on Athlone as a match venue.

Mayor Helen Zille said the municipality was making progress in resolving the confusion around the building of a new stadium in Green Point.



* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Argus on December 18, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-18 11:35:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

City set to march in support of 2010 stadium

'Own goal' as city disallows 2010 march

By Craig McKune

A weekend march supporting Cape Town as a host city for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, was postponed after the organiser was declined permission to march - by the city itself.

The march, planned for lunchtime on Sunday, was initiated on air by Heart 104.9 sports journalist Nick Feinberg on Thursday.

His call generated huge support from listeners, said station manager Gavin Meiring. They were to have marched - dressed in soccer kit - from Somerset Road to the Green Point Common, where organised soccer games were planned for the afternoon.

Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity
"We would like to give Capetonians a voice to show support for the 2010 Soccer World Cup," said Meiring.

He said that while "a few individuals in Green Point" are working against the city's plans to build a new stadium in the area, "the majority" see the World Cup as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But Cape Town was warned last week by Irvin Khoza, chairman of the local organising committee, that the World Cup would go on, with or without the city. He was commenting on a succession of obstacles delaying the construction of the stadium, including opposition from Green Point residents.

"It would be a great tragedy if Cape Town loses the World Cup," said Meiring.

The radio station said the city had turned the application down because the station did not apply for a permit seven days in advance of the event, as required. Another application has been made for the march to go ahead on Sunday.

* This article was originally published on page 5 of The Cape Times on December 18, 2006

Cape Times

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-18 01:35:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Rasool enraged after 2010 stadium 'blunder'

December 20 2006 at 06:00PM

By Ben Maclennan

An angry Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool has called on the Cape Town city council to meet urgently to rectify what he says is a major procedural blunder threatening the proposed 2010 Green Point stadium.

He told journalists on Wednesday that instead of itself giving formal consent for the building of the stadium, the council had incorrectly referred the decision to provincial planning MEC Tasneem Essop when it submitted its rezoning application.

He said the matter would now have to go back to the council for consent, followed by a 21-day period for objections, and only then go back to Essop to consider the zoning decision.

Click here!

"I am... dismayed that the City of Cape Town has either misread the law or that they have allowed incompetence into the process, so much so, that we now have this delay," Rasool said.

"This mistake should never have happened in the first place."

Chairperson of the 20101 Local Organising Committee Irvin Khoza warned last week that if construction did not start in January, Cape Town could kiss its World Cup semifinal goodbye.

"We are not going to be remembered as people who procrastinate, who cannot deliver and who waste time," Khoza said.

Rasool said he was "particularly angry" given that as recently as November 29 the city rejected a proposal to partner with the province and business community through a special purpose vehicle.

"In rejecting this they asserted that they were a competent authority, they were capacitated to manage the process, and that they will manage of their own," he said.

He appealed to mayor Helen Zille to convene the council either before the end of the year, or "very early" in January.

Doing so would reassure Fifa that the city was committed to the World Cup and to completing the stadium within the given time frames.

The council has already held its last scheduled meeting of the year, and the next one is only at the end of January.

Rasool said he had spoken to Local Organising Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan, who was in Zurich, to brief him on what was happening, and Jordaan had asked for a formal "letter of comfort" explaining what was being done to remedy the situation.

Jordaan had in turn promised to brief Fifa boss Sepp Blatter.

Rasool said had Essop's legal team not picked up this "critical error", the "entire decision" would have been open to severe legal challenge in what was already a "very litigious situation".

The Green Point Common Association, a grouping of residents, has threatened legal action to block construction. - Sapa

Rasool, Essop have egg on their faces - Zille

http://www.sabcnews.com/article/images/0,1059,41802,00.gif
Helen Zille, Cape Town Mayor

December 20 2006 at 07:14PM

By Ben Maclennan

Cape Town mayor Helen Zille on Wednesday evening rejected a claim by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool that the city has committed a major procedural blunder over the proposed Green Point
2010 stadium.

An angry Rasool earlier in the day called on Zille to summon an urgent council meeting to rectify what he said was an error threatening the already-fragile construction timetable for the R2,5-billion project.

He told journalists that instead of itself giving formal consent for the building of the stadium, the council had incorrectly referred the decision to provincial planning MEC Tasneem Essop.

This had accompanied its application for rezoning from "public open space" to "community facilities".


He said the matter would now have to go to the council for consent, followed by a 21-day period for objections, and only then could Essop to consider the zoning.

"I am... dismayed that the City of Cape Town has either misread the law or that they have allowed incompetence into the process, so much so, that we now have this delay," Rasool said.

"This mistake should never have happened in the first place."

However Zille told Sapa that the council had in fact approved the construction, but made it conditional on Essop's granting of the rezoning.

It was done this way because of legal opinion that granting permission for the construction before the rezoning and its appeals had been dealt with could be seen as pre-empting the outcome of that process, and an act of bad faith.

"I suggest that the premier and minister Essop be a bit more careful and read all the decisions taken in council pertaining to the stadium," she said.

"I think when they do they may realise that
they have egg on their faces."

She said that for "absolute certainty", she had re-submitted the wording of the resolution to senior counsel.

According to the council minutes of December 7, council conditionally approved a "closure of public place", and a deviation from the Green Point development framework "in order to establish
the multi-purpose stadium and ancillary/incidental uses".

Chairperson of the 2010 Local Organising Committee Irvin Khoza warned last week that if construction did not start in January, Cape Town could kiss its World Cup semi-final goodbye.

"We are not going to be remembered as people who procrastinate, who cannot deliver and who waste time," Khoza said.

Rasool said he was "particularly angry" given that as recently as November 29 the city rejected a proposal to partner with the province and business community through a special purpose vehicle.

"In rejecting this they asserted that they were a competent authority, they were capacitated to manage the process, and that they will manage on their own," he said.

"Maybe there will be greater humility now to accept assistance from the province."

Convening the council either before the end of the year, or very early in January would reassure Fifa that the city was committed to the World Cup and to completing the stadium in time.

The council has already held its last scheduled meeting of the year, and the next one is only at the end of January.

Rasool said he had spoken to Local Organising Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan, who was in Zurich, to brief him on what was happening, and Jordaan had asked for a formal "letter of comfort" explaining what was being done to remedy the situation.

Jordaan had in turn promised to brief Fifa boss Sepp Blatter.

Rasool said had Essop's legal team not picked up this "critical error", the process would have been open to challenge in what was already a "very litigious situation".

The Green Point Common Association, a grouping of residents, has threatened legal action to block construction. - Sapa

Stadium protest may spell end to Common

December 20, 2006 Edition 1

The Green Point Common Association (GPCA) seems to fail to understand that if it succeeds in stopping the construction of the Green Point stadium, that will not be the end of the story.

The future of the Green Point Common would remain uncertain. The ANC is mad as hell and if it returns to power, which it undoubtedly will if the DA messes up the World Cup, it might well rezone the entire Common and turn it into low-income housing, just to get even.

The only way of securing the Green Point Common's long-term future is by allowing the new stadium to be built, with guarantees that the rest of the Common will stay green.

There is already a stadium in Green Point - a really ugly one. How can anyone object to the ugly one being demolished and replaced by a really nice one?

Also, the GPCA would be well advised to stop pretending to represent the people of Cape Town and Green Point. About 86% of South Africans are in favour of the World Cup, and that includes Cape Town and the Western Cape.

The GPCA seems to have 250 members, according to its website - that's 0.008% of Cape Town's population.

Peter Karaszi

Sea Point

I suspect that the Green Point Common Association (GPCA) might be a front of the ANC in it's multi-faceted approach by finding another way to topple Helen Zille's fragile DA-led coalition that now governs with a two-seat majority in the Cape Town city council. Don't grill me if I'm being too suspicious about this matter.

Cross-post from 2010 thread.

-----------------------

This is getting very confusing and messy

---------------------------------------

Statement by Tasneem Essop, Western Cape Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development

20 December 2006
SOURCE: Ministry of Environment, Planning and Economic Development (Provincial Government of the Western Cape)

Today I wrote a letter to Ms Helen Zille, the Executive Mayor of the City of Cape Town ('the Executive Mayor' and 'the City'), about the applications made by the Municipal Council of the City ('the Council') to the competent authorities in the Western Cape Provincial Government for certain approvals relating to the proposed new stadium and urban park on the Green Point Common ('the Stadium', 'the Urban Park' and 'the Common').
The applications made by the Council are the following:

(a) An application in terms of section 137 of the Municipal Ordinance 20 of 1974 (Cape) for authority to close a public place of 18 ha, being the part of the Common which will become the Stadium precinct.
(b) An application in terms of section 9(2) of the Land Use Planning Ordinance 15 of 1985 ('LUPO') for the amendment of Schedule 2 to the Municipality of the City of Cape Town: Zoning Scheme: Scheme Regulations ('the Zoning Scheme') by excluding the Stadium precinct from the area of the Green Point Common designated for playing fields.
(c) An application in terms of section 17 of LUPO for the rezoning of the Stadium precinct from Public Open Space to Community Facilities Use Zone in terms of the Zoning Scheme.
(d) An application in terms of section 15(2) and (3)(b) of the Zoning Scheme for consent to build the Stadium in the Stadium precinct pursuant to the rezoning of the Stadium precinct from Public Open Space to Community Facilities Use Zone.
(e) An application in terms of section 16 of the Zoning Scheme for consent to build an electrical substation in the Stadium precinct.
(f) An application for a departure from the number of on-site parking bays for the stadium required by section 77(1) of the Zoning Scheme.
(g) An application for a temporary departure from the Zoning Scheme to allow Federation International Football Association ('FIFA') to use land adjacent to the Stadium precinct for temporary parking, a hospitality area and associated uses during the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament.
The competent authority in relation to the application referred to in paragraph (a) above is Minister Richard Dyantyi, the Western Cape Minister of Local Government and Housing. I am the competent authority in relation to the applications referred to in paragraphs (b), (c), (f) and (g) above.

In addition to those applications I am currently considering appeals in terms of section 35(3) of the Environment Conservation Act 73 of 1989 ('ECA') against the granting of authorisation for the Stadium and Urban Park and associated infrastructure in terms of section 22 of the ECA on 31 October 2006. That decision was taken by the Director: Integrated Environmental Management (Region B) in the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning on 31 October 2006, pursuant to an application by the City.

In my letter today to the Executive Mayor I informed her that I cannot take the first-instance decision about the applications for consents in terms of the Zoning Scheme referred to in paragraphs (d) and (e) above ('the consents') because the Zoning Scheme expressly vests the power to do so in the Council. There is nothing in the Zoning Scheme or in the LUPO, in terms of which the Zoning Scheme was made, which allows me to take the first-instance decisions about the consents.

I also informed the Executive Mayor that the Council's decision on the applications for the consents is appealable to me in terms of section 44 of LUPO and that it is desirable that I determine at the same time all of the current applications and all appeals relating to the proposed Stadium and Urban Park, including any appeals against the Council's decision on the applications for the consents.

It is accordingly necessary that the Council reconsider and take a decision on the consents.

I infer from the Council's decision taken on 7 December 2006 recommending to me that I grant the consents, that when the Council itself reconsiders them it will approve the consents. If the Council does so, the City must send registered letters to the objectors notifying them of the Council's decision and of their right to appeal in writing within 21 days of the registration of those letters.

If appeals are served within that period, upon receipt of the Council's comments and recommendations on the appeals or its notification that it has no comments or recommendations I will consider and determine together the applications referred to in paragraphs (b), (c), (f) and (g) above, the appeals in terms of section 35(3) of the ECA and the appeals against the Council's approval of the consents.

If no appeals are served within that 21 day period, I will consider and determine together the applications referred to in paragraphs (b), (c), (f) and (g) above and the appeals in terms of section 35(3) of the ECA.

I shall make and announce my decision on all these matters once I receive the Council's comments and recommendations on the appeals against its approval of the consents or its notification that it has no comments or recommendations.

As matters stand I will not be issuing any further media statements on this matter until I take my final decision.

---------------
Enquiries:
Lynnette Johns
Media Liaison Officer to Ms Tasneem Essop
Provincial Minister: Environment, Planning and Economic Development
Tel: 021 483 3915
Fax: 021 483 6081

http://www.capegateway.gov.za/eng/yo...006/dec/150864

I suspect that the Green Point Common Association (GPCA) might be a front of the ANC in it's multi-faceted approach by finding another way to topple Helen Zille's fragile DA-led coalition that now governs with a two-seat majority in the Cape Town city council. Don't grill me if I'm being too suspicious about this matter.

I doubt David Polovin has anything to do with the ANC or wants anything to do with the ANC. I do understand your suspicion though. Would the ANC risk 2010? they are in full support of the stadium.

I doubt David Polovin has anything to do with the ANC or wants anything to do with the ANC. I do understand your suspicion though. Would the ANC risk 2010? they are in full support of the stadium.

That's true the ANC is fully behind the stadium but they are also intent on bringing down the DA in the only city governed by the opposition and won't stop at anything to accomplish this given their many previous efforts.

That's true the ANC is fully behind the stadium but they are also intent on bringing down the DA in the only city governed by the opposition and won't stop at anything to accomplish this given their many previous efforts.

I think the ANC will ensure that the stadium goes ahead but not before highlighting,"the DA's inability to deal with the 2010 preparations." I wonder how the ANC would have handled with the GPCA?..mmm...would have made for some interesting headlines with references to racism i assume.

I think the ANC will ensure that the stadium goes ahead but not before highlighting,"the DA's inability to deal with the 2010 preparations." I wonder how the ANC would have handled with the GPCA?..mmm...would have made for some interesting headlines with references to racism i assume.

If Nomaindia Mfeketo were still mayor of Cape Town, I doubt we would have gotten to an advanced stage regarding the Green Point stadium development. At least Helen Zille has the diplomacy and finesse in dealing with the GPCA demands and the complexities involved in working with the provincial and national governments.

Cape stalls decision on stadium builder

By Sivuyile Mangxamba

The city has asked for more time to decide on recommendations amid a fierce fight for the principal contract to build the 2010 World Cup stadium on Green Point Common.

The tender winner was supposed to have been announced on Thursday but the choice will now be made after Christmas.

"The bid evaluation committee met today (Thursday) and has asked for more information on the three tenders, especially in light of the fact that the bids are very close," said Pieter Cronjé, city spokesperson for 2010 projects.

The bidders are Group Five, joint venture partners Murray & Roberts and WBHO, and Steffanutti & Bressan Civils with Constructora do Tamega SA, also a joint venture.

"The BEC's job is to analyse and assess the tenders before making a recommendation to the bid adjudication committee, which then awards tenders," Cronjé said.

"The BEC will reconvene next week to consider the additional information.

"After that, the BAC will be convened to consider the BEC's recommendation."

The postponement was not expected to affect the delivery schedule of the stadium, he said.

"In fact, one of the bidders has submitted a proposal to accelerate the construction."

But 24 appellants have made submissions opposing the building of the 68 000-seater stadium on Green Point Common after the environmental impact assessment Record of Decision approved the site.

The proposed new stadium and associated infrastructure would be built on the southern portion of the Metropolitan Golf Course on Green Point Common.

The remainder of the existing Common would be adapted to serve as a sporting precinct and urban park.

The appeals have angered politicians and the 2010 local organising committee, which warned Cape Town could lose its status as a host city if litigation delayed construction.

* This article was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Argus on December 21, 2006

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-21 13:00:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Posted to the web on: 21 December 2006
Rasool, Zille in bitter stadium clash
Chris van Gass

http://www.sabcnews.com/article/images/0,1059,41812,00.gif
Helen Zille, Executive Mayor, Cape Town

http://www.sabcnews.com/article/images/0,1059,41500,00.gif
Ebrahim Rasool, Premier, Western Cape


Cape Correspondent
CAPE TOWN — A new controversy has hit Cape Town’s Green Point World Cup stadium efforts, heightening fears that the city will miss out on the world’s premier sporting event.

Cape Town mayor Helen Zille yesterday rejected a claim by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool that the city had committed a major procedural blunder over the proposed stadium.

An angry Rasool earlier in the day called on Zille to summon an urgent council meeting to rectify what he said was an error threatening the already-fragile construction timetable for the R2,5bn project.

He told journalists that instead of itself giving formal consent for the building of the stadium, as it should have done, the council had incorrectly referred the decision to provincial planning MEC Tasneem Essop.

This had accompanied its application for rezoning from “public open space” to “community facilities”.

He said the matter would now have to go to the council for consent, followed by a 21-day period for objections, and only then could Essop consider the zoning.

“I am... dismayed that the City of Cape Town has either misread the law or that they have allowed incompetence into the process, so much so, that we now have this delay,” Rasool said.

“This mistake should never have happened in the first place.”

The latest development calls into question whether the city will meet Fifa’s requirement to start building next month.



In a bid to allay Fifa’s fears, Rasool has sent a “letter of comfort” to Fifa’s local organising committee CEO, Danny Jordaan, listing the steps the province was taking to rectify the matter and to prevent Fifa’s “guillotine” from coming down if building does not start before the end of January.

Rasool said an emergency meeting was vital if the province was “to avoid legal challenges”.

Zille countered, however, saying Rasool was wrong, as the council had passed the necessary motion required to proceed.

She said the wording of the council resolution — after “exhaustive” legal opinion had been sought — had been framed in such a way that the council would not be seen to be pre-empting a decision by Essop.

Zille said the council resolution clearly stated that it would approve the use of the area for building a stadium and electricity infrastructure if the province approved its rezoning request.


“I think the premier is wrong and that he will have egg on his face,” said Zille, saying that as a precaution she had asked her officials to revisit the wording of the resolution.

Rasool said he was “dismayed” that the council had either misread the law or had allowed incompetence into the process that had now caused Essop to delay her decision.

Rasool said the law was clear that Essop was responsible for the zoning issues, but that the full council had to give consent for the stadium.

Had Essop made a decision to go ahead on the basis of what was presented to her by the council, the glitch would become “manna from heaven” for objectors to the stadium, the premier said.

Essop is already considering a number of objections, including one from the Green Point Common Association, which has vowed to take the matter to court if they feel any decision is based on unsound legal principles.

Yesterday Essop sent a letter to Zille explaining that she could not take the “first-instance” decision about the applications for the zoning scheme, because the scheme “expressly vests the power to do so in the council”.

Essop said that once the council made this decision, it had to send registered letters to objectors notifying them of their right to appeal within 21 days.

Rasool said he was “particularly angry” that the city had allowed this to happen, given that as recently as November 29 it rejected any partnership with the province and business through a special purpose vehicle.

He said the stadium was critical for 2010 and the investment it would create, including government’s investment in public transport, the R5bn upgrade of Cape Town airport and the R7bn investment in developing the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

If Zille convened her council early to ensure that the consent for the stadium was given legally, Rasool said, it would show the Western Cape’s commitment to the World Cup and also indicate to football’s governing body serious intent to complete the stadium in time. With Sapa

Experts meet on Cape Town stadium process

December 21, 2006, 19:00
Legal and technical experts from the Western Cape provincial government and the City of Cape Town met today to discuss a way forward on the city's proposed 2010 world cup stadium. The meeting came as verbal sniping continued over the province's claim that a bungle by the city in the approvals process has threatened the already tight timetable for construction of the R2.9 billion project.

Helen Zille, the Cape Town mayor said the experts were seeking a way to "resolve the development approvals" required for the construction and would continue their work tomorrow. "Procedural difficulties around the rezoning for the Green Point stadium can be overcome and I am confident a way forward will be found between the City of Cape Town and the provincial government," Zille said.

Political storm in a teacup
Zille also said the controversy was a "political storm in a teacup. "Several months ago, I met with Ebrahim Rasool, the premier and we agreed on a step by step process on the statutory approvals required for Green Point Common and the construction of the new stadium. The City has met every one of its obligations by the required deadline, " said Zille.

She said there was nothing stopping Tasneem Essop, the provincial planning MEC from making a decision on the city's rezoning application. It appeared that the province's motive was to try to force the city to agree to the establishment of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in which it could have joint control of the 2010 project.

Zille said the city had no problem with working jointly with the province, but could not agree to a separate SPV because National Treasury, Fifa and the Local Organising Committee had entered into contracts with cities, not provinces, for 2010.

"We are therefore accountable and responsible and cannot delegate this responsibility to a special purpose vehicle," Zille said. "The premier and the province should stop trying to take over 2010. They should put their pride in their pocket and continue working productively in partnership with the city as we have up till no, " Zille said.

"I am holding Helen Zille personally responsible": Grindrod
Earlier today Simon Grindrod, the Independent Democrats leader in the city council said Zille would be to blame if Cape Town lost the cup semi-final planned for the stadium. "I am holding Helen Zille personally responsible if we lose the world cup event, because her first act as mayor was to halt the planning process," Grindrod said. "She was trying to appease her support base, and it has all backfired, " said Grindrod.

Grindrod called on Zille to summon an urgent council meeting to resolve the matter.

Nils Heckscher, the chairman of the Federated Hospitality Association of SA, said in a statement that the province, city and "all decision-making bodies" should get their act together, and put an end to the delays threatening the stadium. "Decision makers and all role-players need to see the bigger context," Heckscher said. "This is about economic growth opportunities and an injection of billions of rands into the city coffers that will not easily be rivalled by any other event, " Heckscher said - Sapa

2010 World Cup is the province's ticket for growth

By Ian Neilson

Peter Frost (Letters, December 8) accuses me and my colleagues of "bullying" and "blackmailing" the Green Point residents into accepting the proposed new stadium in Green Point. It is unfortunate that our comments have been reported in some press articles as ultimatums.

The reality is that what we have said is simply an honest appraisal of the real options before council and the citizens of Cape Town, and especially the citizens of Green Point.

When the multi-party government took power in Cape Town in March, it inherited contracts with Fifa to host the 2010 World Cup and provide a 68 000-seat stadium at Green Point. We did not simply leave it at that, but took the concerns of the citizens of Green Point very seriously, and actively pursued all available avenues to address these.

We conducted a thorough investigation of alternative sites. Our major constraints are time, money and Fifa's requirements. It quickly became apparent that, given these constraints, the only viable potential remaining options were Culemborg and Green Point.

Because of size constraints, Newlands and Athlone could only be considered if Fifa was prepared to accept a stadium much smaller than their standard requirements. In the event, this was not achievable. We actively pursued the Culemborg option. Public Enterprise Minister Alec Erwin firmly rejected providing the Culemborg land for a stadium, as it is required for expansion of the harbour, where freight traffic is growing rapidly. We were then left with Green Point as the only viable option within the time constraints.

The city (and the province) did not at that point simply reject the Green Point residents as a bunch of "NIMBYs" (a title which in my view denies people's rights), but actively examined how the issues they raised could be positively addressed.

Significant design features, such as an outer skin to the stadium and a double-layer roof, have significantly addressed issues such as aesthetics, noise and light pollution.

The location of the new stadium on the golf course site rather than the existing stadium site has optimised the distance of the stadium from residential zones. The national government has agreed to significant additional funding, amounting to R650 million, to enable the site-specific requirements to be met.

It has also agreed that there is justification for additional spending to ensure the stadium can be configured for multi-purpose use and be sustainable into the future.

We have also sought to address the needs of the 24 leaseholders on the Green Point Common in good faith and in a way that will ensure their continued operation and the retention of Green Point Common as a green sport-oriented area, which will now also provide an urban park accessible to all.

A budget of R65m has been provided to meet this outcome, which will result in the current tatty mess being upgraded. We could never have found funding for this upgrade if the World Cup were not at stake.

Cape Town is proudly South African, and we want to be a part of this great occasion where we will host the world. It is not simply about playing one game of soccer, or even about nine games.

The whole process towards the World Cup provides the city with the opportunity to lift itself to a new level of operation.

Our public transport system will get a great boost from upgrades to our train network and coach sets, bus route upgrades and key road improvements.

Athlone and Philippi will have upgraded stadiums that will act as training venues during the World Cup. The economic confidence created will boost the city far into |the future. We cannot miss this opportunity.

Our message to the residents |of Green Point is that we remain open to further suggestions on |how we can improve our current plans. It is not a threat from the multi-party government, but a statement of knowledge, that the economic and social trends which face this city make an open space so close to the city centre ripe for plucking for residential and commercial development.

We will not permit such development of the common, but we cannot give you assurances on the decisions of future governments.

The existing sport leaseholders on the common have very few years left on their leases. This is the opportunity to reorganise the common and to lock it into new leases for another generation.

Frost's allusion to and rejection of George Bush's dictum can be turned around and placed at his feet, as he effectively says: "If you are for a stadium, you are against us."

It is, of course, much more complicated, as even the US president himself has found.

 Neilson is Mayoral Committee member for finance in the City of Cape Town.

Published on the web by Cape Times on December 19, 2006.

Greenpoint Stadium R2.9bn revised upwards from R2.5bn
Breakdown: Treasury R1.98bn City R392 million Province R111.8 million
Remaining costs: Other


Urban Park R65million
Electrical Infrastructure R200million
Transport: R7,038 billion

Funding Secured: R3.023 billion
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5652/ctcostsgg6.jpg
Funding Required: R 4.015billion

Training Venues

Athlone : R322 million
Phillipi : R80 million

FIFA Fan Parks: R65million
City Tourism: R56.7 million
Environmental Focus: R25million
Cape Town International Convention Centre :R 850 million
Sports Development : R34million
Arts and Culture: R16million

http://www.capetownmagazine.com/files/article/656_1016_2010-FIFA-Cape-Town-a-2.jpg
http://www.capetownmagazine.com/files/article/656_1017_2010-FIFA-Cape-Town-a-1.jpg

Minister of Sport:


In 1998, when South Africa had been preparing for 2006, the venues had already been negotiated. There were three venues proposed for Cape Town: Newlands, Athlone, and Greenpoint Track. Athlone had been disqualified by FIFA because of its logistics: it faced the wrong direction and it did not have enough space for expansion, for the kind of stadium that Cape Town deserved to host a semi-final, in other words, the capacity to seat 60 000 people. The Newlands organisational team wished to keep that stadium predominantly for rugby, and did not want football to be played there. The Newlands’ team viewed it as a ‘sacred cow’ for rugby. This then left Greenpoint Track.


After members of FIFA had flown over Cape Town with a helicopter, it had been made clear that Greenpoint was the only area big enough for a stadium in terms of international standards. According to FIFA, a stadium in Cape Town was also crucial for the marketing of the 2010 World Cup. The committee wanted to leave behind a facility, which could be used for 50 years for other things aside from football. Cape Town does not currently have international class facilities. The Minister added that he had sent all that information to Ms Zille after she had requested it, and he did not understand how she could say that she did not know. He explained that the government had signed a guarantee to FIFA to provide the facilities that were required. The issue now up for negotiation was on how much the city was able to contribute. If it could not, the committee would have to find the money at a national level, to remain loyal to the document signed with FIFA. Rev Stofile felt it was ‘absolute nonsense’ that Zille claimed that there was not enough funds, because it was in their development plans.

^^ if this is so, then why was it not in the bid book if they had predecided??? dont buy it

^^ if this is so, then why was it not in the bid book if they had predecided??? dont buy it

I understand what you are saying, but the bid book is and will never be what the world cup/olympic games will actually be like. bid books are there to win bids...

8 existing stadia sounds better than 4 existing stadia with many new venues to be built...the greenpoint decision only fell into place during the FIFA visit "helicopter" thing.and i know someone who can verify this. but this was to my understanding only a decision made after the bid was won certainly not before.

South Africa: Zille Wins Rasool Over

Business Day

Business Day (Johannesburg)

December 23, 2006
Posted to the web December 23, 2006

Chris Van Gass
Cape Town

Mayor Helen Zille has come out on top in a row with the Western Cape provincial government over procedural moves for planning permission for the Fifa World Cup 2010 soccer stadium at Green Point.

In an apparent about-turn, Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool said yesterday that provincial planning MEC Tasneem Essop "will take and publicise her decision on these matters" by the end of the first week in January.

Rasool reaffirmed the province's commitment to ensuring that the city's "complex and interrelated applications for land use planning and environmental permission" relating to the proposed stadium and urban park on Green Point Common "are dealt with lawfully and as expeditiously as possible".

He said that, following a two-day meeting between the legal teams of the city and the province, and "on advice" from Essop's legal team, "this course of action agreed to constitutes the most legally responsible way forward".

In a week that saw the African National Congress-controlled provincial government square up against the Democratic Alliance-led multiparty city government, creating a new controversy over the stadium, an angry Rasool accused the city of a "major blunder" for failing to decide on the consent use for the development, incorrectly passing it on to the province for a decision. He also accused the city of incompetence.

Zille said the city had followed the correct procedures. She said the city could not pre-empt giving consent use for the stadium project before Essop had made her ruling on the rezoning.

Zille confirmed yesterday that both sides had agreed, "with advice from their legal teams", on the process ahead to finalise the last phase of development approvals for the area so that building could start on the R2,5bn stadium.

Essop will now take the decision on the rezoning application for the stadium on Green Point Common, before the city can decide on the consent-use application, a position that existed before the row became public this week.

The row led to counterallegations from Zille, who said the province wanted to "take over" the 2010 process from the city, but that this was not possible as Fifa had signed stadium agreements with host cities, not provinces.

Zille said yesterday it was wrong, however, to present the issue as one in which the city is pitted against the province.

The city would speed up the necessary consent-use decisions, to be taken by her in her capacity as executive mayor, or by full council, as soon as the province had decided on the rezoning.

Zille blamed the province for failing to meet the December 20 deadline for the rezoning decision. "Up until now the city and the province have enjoyed a good working relationship in the preparations for 2010.

"In an agreed work schedule dated October 11, the deadline for the provincial rezoning decision was December 20.

"This date was confirmed in writing between the city and the province, as well as verbally on repeated occasions," said Zille.

She said Rasool had assured her Essop would work throughout December to take the rezoning decision by the required deadline.

"It is regrettable that this deadline has not been met.

"The failure to take the decision on the rezoning is the cause of the delay. This decision is now extremely urgent, if we are to avoid undue delays in the preparations for 2010," said Zille.

Copyright © 2006 Business Day. All rights reserved.

Letters
Stadium is a white elephant for all

December 25, 2006 Edition 1

This whole subject of the Green Point stadium is so insane that I find myself checking whether it is April Fool's day or whether we are living in a nut house.

We find SMSes to the Cape Argus from apparently ANC-aligned people denigrating the residents of Green Point as being selfish and against the poor. Can they not realise that the blacks and the poor are the very people being discriminated against here?

The stadium should be built in a black area, where it can provide opportunities and employment to locals and be convenient to soccer fans.

It should be the whites who have to travel long distances to see events at the stadium and not the poor.

The truth seems to be that Fifa does not want it in a poor area as these areas are dangerous and ugly and the all-important foreign tourists will not go there. The city council and the province obviously concur with this.

So who is being racist and who is impeding black progress here?

We are told the stadium will cost R4.3 billion and then somehow, magically, by sleight of hand, the cost gets reduced to some R2.3 billion due to a few minor changes.

At the same time, we get assurances from the council that the place will be adequately sound-proofed so the local residents do not have to endure the kind of racket emanating from the existing stadium whenever there is a concert.

We are living in a city where the infrastructure in all areas is inadequate and crumbling around us. We urgently need roads repaired and extended, new sewerage plants, rivers and vleis rehabilitated, proper public transport, and hospitals revamped and supplied with new equipment.

The list goes on and on, yet there is never any money for these essential everyday facilities but always enough for a once-off white elephant. The maintenance costs of this stadium alone would provide finance for essential sewerage upgrades.

The Atlantic suburbs are the bulwark of the DA. Why then is the new city council so keen to alienate the voters that they ride roughshod over them and their concerns?

Not only are they saddled with the stadium that they do not want and that will make their lives a misery, but they know that due to the inevitable doubling of costs, they will have to pay huge increases in their already exorbitant rates to fund it.

That the city goes along with all this madness can only make one wonder just what hidden agenda it has. Is the DA administration just as corrupt and inept as the ANC was? Why, why are they behaving this way?

Eric Taylor

Three Anchor Bay

Khoza pleased with Green Point Stadium resolution

December 23, 2006, 07:45
Irvin Khoza, the 2010 World Cup organising committee chair, says his happy with progress made to resolve problems surrounding the building of the new Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. This follows a meeting between lawyers of the City Council and the Western Cape government.

Council and the province have been at loggerheads over who should be in charge of administrative duties. Khoza says host cities should comply with a promise made to FIFA that construction work should start by the first quarter of 2007.

Khoza says although most work is expected to start soon, there are still minor hiccups.

Letters
Stadium is a white elephant for all

December 25, 2006 Edition 1

This whole subject of the Green Point stadium is so insane that I find myself checking whether it is April Fool's day or whether we are living in a nut house.

We find SMSes to the Cape Argus from apparently ANC-aligned people denigrating the residents of Green Point as being selfish and against the poor. Can they not realise that the blacks and the poor are the very people being discriminated against here?

The stadium should be built in a black area, where it can provide opportunities and employment to locals and be convenient to soccer fans.

It should be the whites who have to travel long distances to see events at the stadium and not the poor.

The truth seems to be that Fifa does not want it in a poor area as these areas are dangerous and ugly and the all-important foreign tourists will not go there. The city council and the province obviously concur with this.

So who is being racist and who is impeding black progress here?

We are told the stadium will cost R4.3 billion and then somehow, magically, by sleight of hand, the cost gets reduced to some R2.3 billion due to a few minor changes.

At the same time, we get assurances from the council that the place will be adequately sound-proofed so the local residents do not have to endure the kind of racket emanating from the existing stadium whenever there is a concert.

We are living in a city where the infrastructure in all areas is inadequate and crumbling around us. We urgently need roads repaired and extended, new sewerage plants, rivers and vleis rehabilitated, proper public transport, and hospitals revamped and supplied with new equipment.

The list goes on and on, yet there is never any money for these essential everyday facilities but always enough for a once-off white elephant. The maintenance costs of this stadium alone would provide finance for essential sewerage upgrades.

The Atlantic suburbs are the bulwark of the DA. Why then is the new city council so keen to alienate the voters that they ride roughshod over them and their concerns?

Not only are they saddled with the stadium that they do not want and that will make their lives a misery, but they know that due to the inevitable doubling of costs, they will have to pay huge increases in their already exorbitant rates to fund it.

That the city goes along with all this madness can only make one wonder just what hidden agenda it has. Is the DA administration just as corrupt and inept as the ANC was? Why, why are they behaving this way?

Eric Taylor

Three Anchor Bay

I read "the stadium should be builit in a black area" and I stopped reading.

Accord may put stadium back on track

By A’eysha Kassiem

Western Cape Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop has little more than a week in which to finalise the rezoning application for the construction of the 2010 Green Point Stadium - a decision that city mayor Helen Zille has warned is "extremely urgent".

Following independent statements by Zille and Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool on Friday after the latest upset over the building of the stadium occurred between the city and province, both sides have agreed on the way forward.

The agreement sees Essop taking a decision on the rezoning application before the city can decide on the consent use application to construct a stadium and build an electrical substation on the land.

Essop is expected to make public her decision in the first week in January.

Zille said that, based on an agreed work-schedule dated October 5 this year, the deadline for the provincial rezoning decision had been December 20.

"This date was confirmed in writing between the city and the province, as well as verbally on repeated occasions. The premier assured me that MEC Essop would work throughout December in order to take the rezoning decision by the required deadline," Zille said.

She said the failure to take the decision on the rezoning was the cause for delay.

"This decision is now extremely urgent if we are to avoid undue delays in the preparations for 2010," Zille said.

Essop will have to determine the city's application for the rezoning of the stadium precinct from public open space to community facilities use zone and the city's application for a departure from the number of on-site parking bays for the stadium in terms of the zoning scheme, among other things.

In his statement, Rasool said that if Essop granted the rezoning, it would then be up to the municipal council to determine the city's application for consent for construction to take place in the stadium precinct.

He said should the municipal council give its consent for the stadium and the electrical substation to be built, objectors would be able to appeal to Essop.

"The city must send objectors registered letters notifying them of the council's decision and of their right to appeal in writing within 21 days of the registration of those letters.

"If appeals are served within that period, the city must consider them and send the provincial departments its comments and recommendations on the appeals, or notification that it has no comments or recommendations.

"Following the meeting of the legal teams and on advice from the MEC's legal team, the agreed course of action constitutes the most legally responsible way forward," Rasool said.

* This article was originally published on page 5 of The Cape Times on December 27, 2006

Cape Times

Published on the Web by IOL on 2006-12-27 07:02:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Posted to the web on: 27 December 2006

Zille plots quickest action for 2010 site

Chris van Gass

Cape Correspondent

CAPE TOWN — Mayor Helen Zille said yesterday she would have to consider what would be the quickest way to make a decision on the proposed stadium in Green Point without pre-empting the province’s decision on rezoning the site.

Zille said she would now have to decide whether it would save time to take the consent-use decision by herself in her capacity as executive mayor, or to call a full council meeting.

The heat has been taken off Cape Town’s city council following an about-turn by Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool last week in which he announced that planning MEC Tasneem Essop would now take a decision on the rezoning of the stadium site on January 7.

The province accused the council of following the wrong procedures by not taking the consent-use decision before the province finalised its decision on the rezoning of the stadium site.

Rasool had also urged Zille to call an emergency council meeting to make a decision on the consent-use issue.

His new stance follows a meeting where it was decided that the soundest legal route forward was that the rezoning decision should precede the council’s consent-use decision. The move vindicates Zille’s position, in which she predicted the province would have egg on its face after the province missed the December 20 deadline by which it was supposed to have taken the rezoning decision.

Zille said yesterday she now had to consider the quickest way to solve the chaos created by Essop failing to meet the deadline.

“If she had taken the decision then, whichever way it went, I would have been able to apply my mind the following day on the decision over the consent-use question,” said Zille.

The consent-use decision is subject to a 21-day objection period, following which the council will then provide Western Cape with its final decision.

Zille said she had contacted 2010 World Cup local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan, who she said was “completely relaxed” about what steps council had taken, and that progress on the stadium was still within the right timeframe.

Zille said the province had wanted to take control of the situation by creating a special purpose vehicle with the city driving the process forward.

However, she said the province had no legal competence as Fifa had signed stadium agreements with the host cities, and not with provinces.

Letters
Stadium is a white elephant for all

December 25, 2006 Edition 1

EXCERPT: The Atlantic suburbs are the bulwark of the DA. Why then is the new city council so keen to alienate the voters that they ride roughshod over them and their concerns?

Not only are they saddled with the stadium that they do not want and that will make their lives a misery, but they know that due to the inevitable doubling of costs, they will have to pay huge increases in their already exorbitant rates to fund it.

That the city goes along with all this madness can only make one wonder just what hidden agenda it has. Is the DA administration just as corrupt and inept as the ANC was? Why, why are they behaving this way?

Eric Taylor

Three Anchor Bay

Well I guess this bloke won't be happy until the Boerestaat Party is in power in Cape Town. He'll just have to wait until they're registered as a political party by the IEC next year. Or he might be happy if the Independent Democrats were in power with Simon Grinrod as the next mayor of Cape Town.

GreenPoint Stadium as is now

http://www.afripics.com/images/stockart/WBO/Z2_844.jpg

Cape's 2010 parties 'moving closer to deal'

December 28 2006 at 03:18PM
By Lindsay Dentlinger

Cape Town is fighting hard to reach agreements with the two major objectors to the building of the 2010 World Cup stadium in Green Point - the Metropolitan Golf Club and the Green Point Common Association (GPCA).

The GPCA was locked in all-day discussions with mayor Helen Zille, senior counsel and city officials on Wednesday to find a solution that would stave off any further delays in the start of construction.

"We are hammering at it 24/7 to try and devise a solution that works for everybody. But it is too soon to say whether we are there or not," said GPCA chairperson David Polovin.



'We don't want to drag our feet indefinitely'
It is understood that the city would like to conclude the negotiations before the end of next week when Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop is expected to take a decision on the rezoning of the common and objections to the building of the 68 000-seat stadium.

City 2010 spokesperson Pieter Cronje said: "We don't want to drag our feet indefinitely. We have to land a decision soon. Either we are parting ways or there's an agreement. But we can't say yet that we are on the brink of a breakthrough."

The GPCA is pushing the city to agree to a deal that would prevent 67 hectares of the common's green area from being developed.

The stadium and related sporting facilities will take up 18 hectares, according to a urban design plan adopted by the city council three weeks ago.

The GPCA also wants to have a say in the management of the reconfigured common.

The city is also considering a business plan outlining expenses the golf club will incur during the 18 months of the construction of the new stadium.

The two parties will meet next week to discuss the compensation of about 50 permanent and contract staff, maintenance of the club house and staff quarters.

The club spends about R100 000 a month on salaries.

The captain of the Metropolitan Golf Club, Demetri Zitianellis, said on Wednesday that once these issues were ironed out, the club would be ready to seal the deal with the city in writing.

Neither party would disclose the amounts being considered and Zitianellis said these were subject to change if the golf course staff could be used in the construction of the new course.

Cronje said the compensation might not all be in monetary terms.

The city and the golf club will jointly oversee the building of the new golf course - the club would lend its expertise and the city would foot the bill and oversee the contractors for the new course, which will move from its existing location on Fritz Sonnenberg Road westwards, adjacent to Bay Road.

Cronje said that by Friday the city also hoped to have a better grip on the actual costs of building the stadium.

The city was waiting for a report from a professional team that would include contingency costs, exclusions and professional fees.

Cronje said the three tenders for construction were very close and the bid evaluation committee required more detailed figures before awarding the contract.

Last week the city and the province were disputing where the responsibility lay for rezoning the common from a public space to a community-use area.

Premier Ebrahim Rasool had to concede that it was the responsibility of the province to take the rezoning decision before the city could give the go-ahead for the building of a stadium.

This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on December 28, 2006

Well I guess this bloke won't be happy until the Boerestaat Party is in power in Cape Town. He'll just have to wait until they're registered as a political party by the IEC next year. Or he might be happy if the Independent Democrats were in power with Simon Grinrod as the next mayor of Cape Town.

My word! its u folks that are more racist

My word! its u folks that are more racist

Well, you have your own problems in Durban to worry about.

^^ not cape town, u and to a latter degree mo. I bet if the letter writer complaining was black or coloured u would not say that they are racial extremists bent on stopping the government.

I'm sick that any white person that doesnt agree with something is labled so easily as a racist. These people can have their concerns. u dont have to agree with it but dont suddenly start a racially motivated attack.

As for bringing in durban....how typical buddy, and silly dude.

^^ not cape town, u and to a latter degree mo. I bet if the letter writer complaining was black or coloured u would not say that they are racial extremists bent on stopping the government.

I'm sick that any white person that doesnt agree with something is labled so easily as a racist. These people can have their concerns. u dont have to agree with it but dont suddenly start a racially motivated attack.

As for bringing in durban....how typical buddy, and silly dude.

im racist to a latter degree? im gonna ignore that one lil mikey.

^^ i was meaning how u mentioned that u stopped reading at "black" as if the person writing had to be racist.

Hope u had a great new year! :)

would you people stop yapping about shit already? fvcking hell, i thought this thread was about a stadium or something...??

@waltjie - i fully agree

MEC prepares to make crucial stadium ruling
Decision expected by end of week

January 03, 2007 Edition 2

Linsday Dentlinger

Environment and Planning MEC Tasneem Essop says she is "on track" to make two crucial decisions by the end of this week which will affect the building of a new stadium at Green Point for the 2010 World Cup.

These include assessing 24 appeals against the building of the stadium on the Metropoli-tan Golf Club and a decision to permit the rezoning of the common from public use space to to a community facility use zone.

Two weeks ago the province and the city were caught up in a spat over the rezoning of the common, with Premier Ebra-him Rasool contending that the decision had wrongly landed in the lap of Essop and that the city was responsible.

It has now been clarified that the city will still have to give final consent for the change of use of the common, once Essop has agreed to the rezoning.

Essop's spokeswoman, Lyn-ette Johns, said the outcomes were expected by the end of the week.

She said Essop was working from home to meet the deadline.

What is certain, however, is that the giant demolition ball is expected to come crashing through the walls of the existing stadium at the end of the month.

Next week the city's sport and recreation department will start stripping the stadium of valuable items, including the public address system, fencing, and seating.

The Minstrel Carnival at the weekend will be the last event to be staged there.

This weekend will also see the second-last Sunday that the main flea market of over 400 traders operates from the main parking area. From January 21 they will operate from a new location behind the stadium, adjacent to Main Road.

Other groups of traders, who operate on the periphery of the main parking area, will move to a city field adjoining the new main trading site.

Rasheeda Petersen, chairperson of the Green Point Traders' Association, said yesterday that her organisation had no objections to moving to the new site.

No shortage of cement, say producers

With building expected to start on Cape Town's 2010 World Cup stadium by the end of the month, cement suppliers are confident there will be enough material to meet increased construction demands.

"Demand has gone up faster than anticipated, and there has been a scramble by companies to install extra plants," said a representative of the Cement and Concrete Institute (C&CI).

"The extent of the cement demand growth over the past four years has been phenomenal," said John Gomersall, CEO of Pretoria Portland Cement Company (PPC).

According to the 2006 Budget speech, cement sales increased from 7.9 million tons in 2000 to 10.7 million tons in 2004. This is expected to reach 17 million tons by 2010.

Cement producers invested an estimated R4.4 billion in expanded capacity last year. The chances of cement supplies running out ahead of 2010 were slim, said the C&CI. Companies were importing cement to keep up with the short and medium-term demands, while plants were being expanded.

Most companies were keeping all their kilns at full production to keep up with demand.

PPC's Colin Jones said the company had increased imports of cement temporarily to meet demand and that PPC, which supplies cement to the Western Cape, had "ample stocks". - Anél Powell

* This article was originally published on page 2 of The Pretoria News on January 03, 2007

Pretoria News

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-01-03 08:21:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Green Point construction on track
Posted on: 1/3/2007 1:59:14 PM
Green Point stadium remains the centre of the 2010 World Cup debacle and construction of the reportedly R2.9 billion rand facility has been marked by controversy. In light of the Independent Democrats calling for an emergency meeting of the Cape Town City Council to clarify the construction situation and the ongoing confusion thereof, VOC spoke to Pieter Cronje, spokesperson for the 2010 City planning project.

“The demolition has been on the cards for a while as the stadium is not structurally upgradeable to FIFA requirements and was brought forward by the construction of a new stadium. The demolition does not pre-empt any of the statutory processes we still have to follow but with a project of this nature, things cannot always be done in sequence because time frames are tight.”

Recently, progress has been marred by many problems with the city and the provincial government blaming each other for delays in construction as well as the Metropolitan Golf Club and Green Point Common Association opposing the development of 67 hectares of the green area.

“The disagreement was resolved in media releases by both the Mayor and Premier of the City of Cape Town before Christmas where it was agreed that the sequence of decision would be that the provincial MEC takes the decision for application of the rezoning of the land first. The city council subsequently decides on the consent use,” he stated.

Cronje clarified that the land is currently zoned as ‘open space’ and needs to be zoned as ‘community facilities use zone’, where after, on approval, the City will give the go ahead for the use of land for the construction of the stadium and electrical substation. According to the provincial media release, that decision is due by the MEC by the end of the first week in January.

Residents of Green Point have raised their opinions and have opposed the development although they are still in discussion in trying to reach a consensus. “The Green Point Common Association, an alliance of rate payers in the immediate area, formally wrote to the council asking that no part of the Green Point common, regarded as a precious green lung, be sold for housing or commercial development.”

He continued by saying that the GPCA want an active involvement in the future Green Point Common to ensure that it is well maintained and well used although discussions are still continuing. Cronje pointed out that an environmental impact assessment was done where two possible sites were examined; the existing stadium and the other being the Metropolitan Golf Course site.

“There was a recorded decision by the provincial MEC deciding on the Metropolitan Golf course after which there was 30 day appeal period. The MEC is currently considering all objections and appeals and the final ruling is expected together with the decision of the rezoning of the land.”

Following assertions made by the ID party that they were not informed with any decisions, Cronje stated that all major debates and decisions around the proposed stadium and Green Point Common were made in an open public forum where all parties could participate.

Cronje concluded that they were confident that they would meet all 2010 timeframes imposed by FIFA. He quoted chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Dr Irwin Khoza, who said that they “were not concerned as Cape Town is on track and that as long as the construction starts in the first quarter of this year, things would still be on schedule for the stadium to be finished towards 2009.” He also stressed that the 2010 World Cup team worked right through December to ensure that all key processes and planning were continued. VOC (Tasneem Mohamed)

Green Point stadium tender process 'awarded soon'
January 03, 2007, 14:15

The tendering process for the Green Point stadium is expected to be finalised within the next few days.

Pieter Cronje, the Cape Town 2010 spokesperson, says the cost analysis of the three shortlisted contractors are currently being evaluated. Once that is completed, the city's bid evaluation committee will make a recommendation to the bid adjudication committee, who will award the tender.

Cronje says construction is expected to begin by the end of January. The city will continue preparing the stadium for demolition on Monday, by removing valuable equipment like sound systems. He says the process was delayed while the Cape Minstrels used it for their Carnival this week.

Essop 'on track' for crucial stadium ruling

January 03 2007 at 07:55PM
By Lindsay Detlinger
Metro Writer

Environment and Planning MEC Tasneem Essop says she is "on track" to make two crucial decisions by the end of this week which will affect the building of a new stadium at Green Point for the 2010 World Cup.

These include assessing 24 appeals against the building of the stadium on the Metropoli-tan Golf Club and a decision to permit the rezoning of the common from public use space to to a community facility use zone.

Two weeks ago the province and the city were caught up in a spat over the rezoning of the common, with Premier Ebra-him Rasool contending that the decision had wrongly landed in the lap of Essop and that the city was responsible.




It has now been clarified that the city will still have to give final consent for the change of use of the common, once Essop has agreed to the rezoning.

Essop's spokesperson, Lynette Johns, said the outcomes were expected by the end of the week.

She said Essop was working from home to meet the deadline.

What is certain, however, is that the giant demolition ball is expected to come crashing through the walls of the existing stadium at the end of the month.

Next week the city's sport and recreation department will start stripping the stadium of valuable items, including the public address system, fencing, and seating.

The Minstrel Carnival at the weekend will be the last event to be staged there.

This weekend will also see the second-last Sunday that the main flea market of over 400 traders operates from the main parking area. From January 21 they will operate from a new location behind the stadium, adjacent to Main Road.

Other groups of traders, who operate on the periphery of the main parking area, will move to a city field adjoining the new main trading site.

Rasheeda Petersen, chairperson of the Green Point Traders' Association, said yesterday that her organisation had no objections to moving to the new site.

The demolition and construction companies will operate from the parking area currently accommodating the Sunday traders.

The city's 2010 spokesman, Pieter Cronje, said that the demolition company was expected to be on site by the end of the month.

It will take about six weeks to completely demolish the | stadium.

Cronje said the decision to start demolishing would not affect any other pending decisions by Essop over the site.

"We can't do everything sequentially in this process. We are not pre-empting anything in this process. But the decision (to demolish) has been brought forward as the stadium was due for demolition anyway. It is not structurally feasible to upgrade it," said Cronje.

In the next two days the city is expected to thrash out proposals with the main objectors to the building of a new stadium - the Green Point Common Association (GPCA) - for the future management of the area.

GPCA chairperson David Polovin said yesterday that the association was still "deeply engrossed" with the city on proposals that would ensure the long-term sustainability of the new stadium.

The association wants a say in the future management and resourcing of the common, saying it has been poorly run over the years.

Polovin said progress on the negotiations would be up for discussion and vote at a public meeting on January 18.

He said the association was putting "viable alternatives" to the city for discussion but that these had "raised some eyebrows". The city is seeking legal advice on some of these proposals.

The Independent Democrats said they would call for an urgent sitting of the council when it resumes business on January 15, to be briefed by Mayor Helen Zille on developments to date.



This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on January 03, 2007

Zille cuts short her holiday for 2010 meeting

By Anél Powell

Cape Town mayor Helen Zille has flown back from her family holiday in Keurboomstrand, near Plettenberg Bay, to attend crucial meetings on 2010 ahead of the provincial government's decision on the rezoning of Green Point Common.

Mayoral spokesperson Robert MacDonald confirmed that Zille had cut short her holiday to meet city officials on Thursday and attend a 2010 workshop.

A special meeting has been scheduled for January 17, just two days after the council resumes business.

'Unacceptable that councillors were learning about the stadium's progress from the media'
Independent Democrats caucus leader Simon Grindrod, who called for an emergency council meeting to discuss the stadium, said: "This is probably the most important item on the city's agenda. It talks about the hopes and dreams of thousands of people. We need a full explanation and to be able to ask questions."

His urgent request comes after confirmation that the existing stadium is to be demolished despite uncertainty about whether the rezoning of the Common has been given the green light by the province.

Grindrod said it was unacceptable that councillors were learning about the stadium's progress from the media.

But Zille said in a letter to the Cape Times on Wednesday that the January 17 meeting date "was set some time ago" and there was no need for the council to convene an emergency session.

The council resumes on January 15 - the same day that demolition of the existing stadium is scheduled to start.

Zille said: "I would like to reassure councillor Grindrod that while he has been away, a lot of work has been done by the city and province, and between the city and other stakeholders, to address all potential obstacles to our 2010 preparations. Key meetings have taken place…"

She said the demolition date would remain provisional pending the rezoning decision by Western Cape Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop.

Essop is expected to announce her rezoning decision by the end of the week. She is also expected to release her findings on objections to the rezoning.

Zille said last year's clash between the city and province on a rezoning decision had been resolved.

The threat of legal action continues to cast a shadow over 2010 preparations, with the Green Point Common Association threatening to take the matter to court if no substantive deal is made with the city.

Meanwhile, the city's sports and recreation department will this weekend resume removing speakers, seats and other items from the stadium before the demolition team moves in.

* This article was originally published on page 2 of The Star on January 04, 2007

Star

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-01-03 23:08:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Zille cuts short her holiday for 2010 meeting

By Anél Powell

Cape Town mayor Helen Zille has flown back from her family holiday in Keurboomstrand, near Plettenberg Bay, to attend crucial meetings on 2010 ahead of the provincial government's decision on the rezoning of Green Point Common.

Mayoral spokesperson Robert MacDonald confirmed that Zille had cut short her holiday to meet city officials on Thursday and attend a 2010 workshop.

A special meeting has been scheduled for January 17, just two days after the council resumes business.

'Unacceptable that councillors were learning about the stadium's progress from the media'
Independent Democrats caucus leader Simon Grindrod, who called for an emergency council meeting to discuss the stadium, said: "This is probably the most important item on the city's agenda. It talks about the hopes and dreams of thousands of people. We need a full explanation and to be able to ask questions."

His urgent request comes after confirmation that the existing stadium is to be demolished despite uncertainty about whether the rezoning of the Common has been given the green light by the province.

Grindrod said it was unacceptable that councillors were learning about the stadium's progress from the media.

But Zille said in a letter to the Cape Times on Wednesday that the January 17 meeting date "was set some time ago" and there was no need for the council to convene an emergency session.

The council resumes on January 15 - the same day that demolition of the existing stadium is scheduled to start.

Zille said: "I would like to reassure councillor Grindrod that while he has been away, a lot of work has been done by the city and province, and between the city and other stakeholders, to address all potential obstacles to our 2010 preparations. Key meetings have taken place…"

She said the demolition date would remain provisional pending the rezoning decision by Western Cape Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop.

Essop is expected to announce her rezoning decision by the end of the week. She is also expected to release her findings on objections to the rezoning.

Zille said last year's clash between the city and province on a rezoning decision had been resolved.

The threat of legal action continues to cast a shadow over 2010 preparations, with the Green Point Common Association threatening to take the matter to court if no substantive deal is made with the city.

Meanwhile, the city's sports and recreation department will this weekend resume removing speakers, seats and other items from the stadium before the demolition team moves in.

All systems go for Cape Town 2010 World Cup Stadium - http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3614569

Mayor welcomes stadium decision - http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3614584

Stadium demolition to be fast-tracked - http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3614530

Green Point stadium construction plans on track

http://www.sabcnews.com/article/images/0,1059,41997,00.gif

Plans to build the stadium are on track

January 05, 2007, 18:15
Plans for the construction of the new Green Point stadium in time for 2010 are on track. Tasneem Essop, the MEC for environmental and development planning in the Western Cape, announced her decision today.

The ball was in her court for re-zoning the area in line with the proposed plans for the site. After much deliberation, Green Point has been re-zoned from a public space to a Community Facilities Use Zone. "This means that the proposed 68 000-seater stadium, golf course, multi-purpose sports facilities and an Urban Park can now be built there, we will be convening council on the 17th of January to take a decision on the consent use," Essop said.

But even if this big project is given the green light by the council - the public has to give its stamp of approval. The Green Point Common Association has threatened to take legal action if they are not happy with the decision taken by the city and the province.

Despite all the red tape, the city as well as the province insists they will not run out of time. The coming months will be crucial if Cape Town has any intention of hosting a 2010 World Cup semifinal.

what i hate is when professional journalists without shame write in their articles "greenpoint stadium will be renovated"...gosh how thick are they? a new stadium will be built.!! is that so difficult to understand?

World-class urban park planned for Cape Town

By Willem Steenkamp

A huge world-class urban park and dedicated sports and recreational precinct is on the cards for Cape Town as part of the 2010 Soccer World Cup Stadium development at Green Point.

The 70-hectare park and the surrounding sport facilities are expected to be on a par with similar great public parks in other world cities, like Central Park in New York, and will include green public spaces, landscaped garden sections and tree-lined walkways.

And the recreational node that forms part of Cape Town's new green lung will consist of a multi-purpose sports precinct, with at least seven full-sized playing fields for sports like rugby, soccer, hockey and cricket, as well as club facilities.

City Mayor Helen Zille and other senior city officials gave Weekend Argus a sneak preview of far-reaching proposals that could change the face of the Common.

'A significant green lung for Cape Town'
The rezoning approval on Friday by Environmental and Planning Tasneem Essop of the Green Point Common from a public open space to community facility has been welcomed by planners as the catalyst that will finally get the building of Cape Town's new 68 000 seat stadium moving ahead at pace.

The new stadium will be built on part of the current Metropolitan Golf Course site. New land will be designated for a nine hole golf course that will run along the edge of the Common closest to the sea, with an L-shape sweep back towards the stadium site.

Announcing her agreement for the rezoning of the Common from public open space community facilities, Essop said: "My decision addresses the triple bottom line of sustainable development, which ensures environmental integrity, economic development and social justice."

She said she believed that negative environmental impacts put to her in 23 appeals against her department's environmental Record of Decisions would be adequately mitigated.

Zille stressed that the proposed plans for the Common would still need the approval and backing of all role players and the necessary statutory approval.

This approval included Friday's rezoning by provincial government and a "consent of use", which must still be given by the city council.

"On a project of this magnitude there are various work streams, each with their own objectives, management teams and timelines.

"The overarching strategy must be to keep everything happening at the right time, in the right sequence," the mayor said.

"But we cannot pre-empt the primary decisions, which must be taken on a basis of factual and objective evaluations, on the rezoning and consent usage, for example."

Referring to facilities around the proposed new stadium, Zille said the current proposal was for the realignment and upgrading of the entire Common into a dedicated sport, recreational precinct and huge park on par with the best parks in top world cities.

Zille said the new park would be landscaped and trees planted to include attractive public open spaces. It would become a significant "green lung" for Cape Town.

Including the sports fields and other recreational facilities, the park would consist of 70 hectares of land. This did not include the 16 hectares that would be occupied by the new 2010 stadium that would also include recreational facilities.

Referring to the old stadium that is to be demolished, Zille said the medium term plan was to construct a dedicated athletics track on the site of the old stadium - but this plan depended on a range of other approvals being granted.

"One of the reasons so much work is going into planning a stadium is precisely to ensure that it does not end up a white elephant after the World Cup. We have brought in top independent consultants to undertake a risk analysis at every step of the way - and one of the key risk factors we have to avoid is the white elephant outcome.

"We are going out soon on a call for proposals for the operator of a stadium and the key will be finding a long term operator with a viable plan."

Zille said it should not be a foregone conclusion that the construction of a new stadium did not make financial sense for the city.

"We will be spending around R400-million on the stadium in return for a massive investment from central government in both the stadium and infrastructure. If the interest of potential operators is anything to go by, this development could have long-lasting impact on the city."

She said there was already significant interest from entrepreneurs with ideas for post 2010 use of the stadium.

"We will be evaluating all the proposals within the broader context of retaining the rest of the Common as a viable sport precinct and urban park."

The city's 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje, said demolition of the old stadium would probably start towards the end of the month and should take about six weeks to complete. Dismantling and removing doors, chairs and other equipment would start this weekend.

But, despite the progress and the rezoning approval on Friday Environmental and Planning MEC Tasneem Essop of the Common from public open space to one for community facilities, the Green Point Common Association remains strongly opposed to the stadium being built anywhere on the Common.

Zille, city officials, planners and legal experts were locked in extended talks with the Association yesterday to find a solution.

David Polovin, chairman of the Association said while residents were strongly opposed to the construction of the new stadium, a compromise could be reached if the role of the private sector in managing and maintaining both the stadium and sport precinct could be clarified and entrenched.

"We believe great care should be taken that the new stadium does not become a white elephant. We believe city officials simply cannot successfully run such a facility. We want private sector involvement, we want a management team to manage and maintain the urban park and sport precinct to the benefit of all."

Referring to the talks with the mayor and top city officials and legal experts, Polovin said he believed the involvement of the private sector would offer a reasonable alternative.

"We hope to reach a compromise that will meet these requirements. But we will ultimately still have to report back to the public, and specifically our constituency, to get a fresh mandate - either to continue opposing or to agree to allow the stadium to be built subject to our compromise proposals being accepted."

Green Point Stadium Objectors Give Essop's Plan a Provisional Thumbs Up

Cape Argus

January 6, 2007
Posted to the web January 6, 2007

Willem Steenkamp
Cape Town

The main objectors to the city's 2010 stadium plans yesterday gave provincial Planning and Environmental MEC Tasneem Essop's pronouncements on the Green Point site a provisional thumbs up, raising hopes that the building of the facility will now be able to go ahead.

Chairman of the Green Point Ratepayers' Association, David Polovin, said Essop's insistence that the city draw up plans for a huge urban park and launch a public participation process to inform residents of proposed developments, had gone a long way to addressing the concerns of the association.

Polovin was speaking shortly after the City of Cape Town moved a step closer to start building the controversial stadium following the rezoning approval granted yesterday by Essop.

The city council still has to give its "consent of use" approval to the stadium as well as consent for the construction of an electricity substation, but this is being seen as a mere formality and will likely be given on January 17.

"We have also had very positive discussions with city mayor Helen Zille and other roleplayers and the authorities took note and dealt with of many of our concerns," said Polovin.

"However, as a democratic organisation we still have to go back to our members to get a fresh mandate on the process forward."

The ratepayers' association was planning to hold a public meeting on January 18 to discuss options, he said.

In approving the rezoning of the common from a public open space to one for community facilities, Essop said she was convinced that, far from having a detrimental effect on the environment, the new urban park and stadium would be to the benefit of the broader Cape community. She said her department was ready to defend her decision in court.

City 2010 spokesman Pieter Cronje said it was now "all or nothing". If the stadium plan for Green Point was blocked by objections or delays, there was no alternative and Cape Town would lose both a World Cup semi-final and the millions of rands that would have been spent on infrastructure improvements, he said.

thought id share this...eventhough the stadium is set for the golf course site

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/4746/40ar7.jpg

Looks great Mo, its that how the stadium will look now? or is it just 1 of the many proposed designs?

Good to see that this stadium is back on track, cos before I left everything was in a shambles.

End of the road for a proud arena

By Anél Powell

Work has started on the dismantling of the Green Point Stadium, which has over the past 50 years hosted numerous local and international sporting heroes and celebrities.

A team of the City of Cape Town's sport and recreation department this week started removing seats, fencing, roof sheets, roller doors and the irrigation system from the venue.

The previous city administration spent R2-million on resurfacing the tartan track in 2003. A further R2-million was also spent then on "general upgrading" of the stadium which has now been deemed as "unviable" for redevelopment.

The loudspeakers that once reverberated with the sounds of musical legends such as Michael Jackson, Paul Simon and, in 2004, with U2 and others who took part in the first 46664 concert for Nelson Mandela, will also be removed.

Pieter Cronje, of the city's 2010 project team, said on Tuesday that the items removed this week would be stored and re-used at other city facilities.

He said at this stage, no steel was being removed from the stadium structure.

Cronje could not provide an estimate of the value of the items being removed this week, but he said they were "of sufficient value so as not to lose them in the demolition".

Dave Hugo, city project manager for the construction of the 2010 stadium, said the athletic track would be relocated to another facility on the Green Point Common.

Cronje said that, as the demolition of the stadium had been on the cards irrespective of 2010, the city would be paying for the dismantling from its own budget and not from the 2010 allocation.

The city has said it will contribute R400-million to the construction of a new 68 000-seat stadium to be located on part of the Metropolitan Golf Course and Green Point Common.

Cronje said the demolition contractors were expected to be on site by the end of January. The demolition, which would be by mechanical means and not by implosion or explosion, would take about six weeks.

Concrete from the demolition would either be crushed on site to produce land fill material or be used as raw material to build roads.

The informal traders who use the parking lot outside the stadium as a weekend flea market will be moved to an area behind the stadium, said Cronje. He said the city had "reached an agreement" with the traders about the new site for the market.

Traders would also be allowed to set up stalls on a nearby city-owned field.

On January 17 the council will vote on giving final statutory consent for construction of the stadium to begin.



* This article was originally published on page 4 of The Cape Times on January 10, 2007

Cape Times

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-01-10 00:40:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/289627133_3933b42627.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/334369846_fc3ad03019.jpg?v=0
http://www.shiltsmusic.com/photos/46664.jpg

This is very good news. CT and SA needed this, after the embarassing mess of the last few months, which was widely covered by the international media.

Now Durbs and Ct need to work on the cost factor...

Damn, just as I finished typing out that, I come across this. Eish! This needs to end soonest!!!

------------------------------------------

2010 stadium may face yet another obstacle

January 11 2007 at 10:23AM

By Anél Powell

The city of Cape Town faces yet another threat of legal action, this time against the demolition of the existing Green Point Stadium.

Following the lead of the Green Point Common Association, which has threatened to take the city to court if a representative management team is not set up for the common, Western Province Athletics (WPA) says it will challenge the demolition of the old stadium in the Cape High Court if necessary.

James Evans of WPA said the city had failed to consult with athletics organisations before starting to dismantle the stadium.

'We have tried our best to ask them to stop the demolition'

"We knew they were talking about demolishing the stadium but we were not included in the talks."

Evans said he was told by city officials last year that if he was unhappy, he should go to court.

"We don't want to because it is a waste of time and money, but we have tried our best to ask them to stop the demolition."

He said the loss of the stadium's athletic track would affect several clubs and numerous schools which did not have facilities on their grounds.

Pieter Cronje, spokesperson for the city's 2010 World Cup project team, said city officials would meet this week with Evans and Sean Snyman of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology's athletics club about a compromise agreement which included alternative training and competition venues.

The city has said the athletics track will be relocated to the Green Point Common, but it is unlikely this site would be available before 2010.

"All our technical advice is that athletics and soccer or rugby do not go together. (Including the track) would make the stadium bigger and push up the costs."

But Evans said the cost of building a track in a stadium already costing billions of rands was "negligible".

Meanwhile, with less than a week to go until the council meets to ratify the consent of use application needed to build the 2010 stadium on the Green Point Common, city officials are working flat out with private sector experts to push through the contract for its construction.

But rising cost estimates by the top three bidders have again put pressure on the city as it prepares for the construction of the semi-final venue.

The tenders by Group Five Building (Pty) Ltd, Murray & Roberts (Pty) Ltd and WBHO (Pty) Ltd, and Steffanutti & Bressan Civils (Pty) Ltd and Constructora do Tamega SA in a joint venture have reportedly come in at up to 30 percent more than the budget price.

The city trimmed costs last year to amend its stadium construction budget from R3,3-billion to R2,49-billion. Province has agreed to allocate R100-million towards the city's coffers for 2010. A further R2-billion is expected to come from the national Treasury.

The city has committed R400-million towards the project.

Ian Neilson, mayoral committee member for finance, was reluctant to comment on the tenders as negotiations with the three-shortlisted companies were still under way.

"This is the biggest and most complex tender the city has dealt with in a long time."

He refused to respond to speculation that the companies, knowing of the tight time frame the city has in which to start building, had joined together to push up their bid prices.

Neilson said it would also be detrimental to talk of deadlines while negotiations were continuing.

"But we have brought in expert consultants to see how we can get the best deal for the city. We are trying to proceed as rapidly as possible to get construction under way in time.

Irvin Khoza, chairperson of the Local Organising Committee for 2010, has given Cape Town until the end of March to start building the 68 000-seat stadium needed to host a semi-final match.

Neilson said Cape Town was not the only city experiencing delays in the awarding of its construction tenders. Durban and Port Elizabeth were also battling with offers that had come in 20 to 30 percent above budget.

"This is not just a Cape Town issue," he added.

This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on January 10, 2007

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070110233413181C304353

The city has said the athletics track will be relocated to the Green Point Common, but it is unlikely this site would be available before 2010.

"All our technical advice is that athletics and soccer or rugby do not go together. (Including the track) would make the stadium bigger and push up the costs."http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070110233413181C304353

Okay, now I'm confused. So the new stadium is NOT multi-purpose?? What about CT's dreams about hosting a future Olympic Games?? Surely the govt is not going to spend a few billion for a new athletics stadium in a few years time for the purposes of launching a bid they may not win? This is really shortsighted on the part of the stadium officials. They should spend the money now. It will be a good investment for the future. If CT is SA's best shot at getting the Olympic Games then we're shooting ourself in the foot by not making the new stadium multi-purpose. :ohno:

^^ what i've been saying all along.

This track threat now is one that never even came across my mind. where else is CT are there full scale athletics tracks? if the greenpoint track is the primary athletic venue in ct and no consultation or plans were made for the runners and sport then that is a serious oversight on the commitees behalf. Seems like this project rolls from one problem to the next and seems that little thought for all those affected has been given.

surely they could keep the stadium standing for as long as possible as the new one is on a different site???

Damn, just as I finished typing out that, I come across this. Eish! This needs to end soonest!!!

------------------------------------------

2010 stadium may face yet another obstacle

January 11 2007 at 10:23AM

By Anél Powell

The city of Cape Town faces yet another threat of legal action, this time against the demolition of the existing Green Point Stadium.

Following the lead of the Green Point Common Association, which has threatened to take the city to court if a representative management team is not set up for the common, Western Province Athletics (WPA) says it will challenge the demolition of the old stadium in the Cape High Court if necessary.

James Evans of WPA said the city had failed to consult with athletics organisations before starting to dismantle the stadium.

'We have tried our best to ask them to stop the demolition'

"We knew they were talking about demolishing the stadium but we were not included in the talks."

Evans said he was told by city officials last year that if he was unhappy, he should go to court.

"We don't want to because it is a waste of time and money, but we have tried our best to ask them to stop the demolition."

He said the loss of the stadium's athletic track would affect several clubs and numerous schools which did not have facilities on their grounds.

Pieter Cronje, spokesperson for the city's 2010 World Cup project team, said city officials would meet this week with Evans and Sean Snyman of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology's athletics club about a compromise agreement which included alternative training and competition venues.

The city has said the athletics track will be relocated to the Green Point Common, but it is unlikely this site would be available before 2010.

"All our technical advice is that athletics and soccer or rugby do not go together. (Including the track) would make the stadium bigger and push up the costs."

But Evans said the cost of building a track in a stadium already costing billions of rands was "negligible".

Meanwhile, with less than a week to go until the council meets to ratify the consent of use application needed to build the 2010 stadium on the Green Point Common, city officials are working flat out with private sector experts to push through the contract for its construction.

But rising cost estimates by the top three bidders have again put pressure on the city as it prepares for the construction of the semi-final venue.

The tenders by Group Five Building (Pty) Ltd, Murray & Roberts (Pty) Ltd and WBHO (Pty) Ltd, and Steffanutti & Bressan Civils (Pty) Ltd and Constructora do Tamega SA in a joint venture have reportedly come in at up to 30 percent more than the budget price.

The city trimmed costs last year to amend its stadium construction budget from R3,3-billion to R2,49-billion. Province has agreed to allocate R100-million towards the city's coffers for 2010. A further R2-billion is expected to come from the national Treasury.

The city has committed R400-million towards the project.

Ian Neilson, mayoral committee member for finance, was reluctant to comment on the tenders as negotiations with the three-shortlisted companies were still under way.

"This is the biggest and most complex tender the city has dealt with in a long time."

He refused to respond to speculation that the companies, knowing of the tight time frame the city has in which to start building, had joined together to push up their bid prices.

Neilson said it would also be detrimental to talk of deadlines while negotiations were continuing.

"But we have brought in expert consultants to see how we can get the best deal for the city. We are trying to proceed as rapidly as possible to get construction under way in time.

Irvin Khoza, chairperson of the Local Organising Committee for 2010, has given Cape Town until the end of March to start building the 68 000-seat stadium needed to host a semi-final match.

Neilson said Cape Town was not the only city experiencing delays in the awarding of its construction tenders. Durban and Port Elizabeth were also battling with offers that had come in 20 to 30 percent above budget.

"This is not just a Cape Town issue," he added.

This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Times on January 10, 2007

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070110233413181C304353

A track was always meant to be included, but costs are just too high for that and the gvt was not willing to come to the table with more funding when CT released the cost of R3.3 billion including the athletics track...A 10,000 seat athletics facility should be built at wingfield and be increased to a 75,000 seat olympic stadium if need be ala london 2012 .

If we look simply at cost, if the gvt had the initiative to go ahead with the wingfield development, the stadium would have cost around R500-700 million rand between 1997 and 2000. An 80,000 seater capable of hosting athletics, cricket,football etc. Instead today we sit with the situation of a R3 billion plus stadium because of a lack of foresight,...

So today we havent learnt from our mistakes...We think spending an additional R500 million to include a retractable seating system to include an athletics track is not worth the cost, instead in 5- 10years time when a facility is needed who wants to predict the cost??

Laurien Platzky's response to my email a few months ago

We have indeed seriously considered an athletics track in the stadium
but the very thorough business plan shows that it is not financially
viable - the stadium would have to be a lot bigger to accommodate the
required sightlines for football and rugby and we cannot justify a
bigger stadium for the cost. In general athletics attracts a far smaller
group of spectators and a dedicated facility (possibly on the Common as
well) would make much more financial, economic and environmental sense
at this point.

I can assure you we have done the arithmetic and yes indeed we do want
to bid for the Olympics and look forward to your support.

A track was always meant to be included, but costs are just too high for that and the gvt was not willing to come to the table with more funding when CT released the cost of R3.3 billion including the athletics track...A 10,000 seat athletics facility should be built at wingfield and be increased to a 75,000 seat olympic stadium if need be ala london 2012 .

If we look simply at cost, if the gvt had the initiative to go ahead with the wingfield development, the stadium would have cost around R500-700 million rand between 1997 and 2000. An 80,000 seater capable of hosting athletics, cricket,football etc. Instead today we sit with the situation of a R3 billion plus stadium because of a lack of foresight,...

So today we havent learnt from our mistakes...We think spending an additional R500 million to include a retractable seating system to include an athletics track is not worth the cost, instead in 5- 10years time when a facility is needed who wants to predict the cost??

Laurien Platzky's response to my email a few months ago

We have indeed seriously considered an athletics track in the stadium
but the very thorough business plan shows that it is not financially
viable - the stadium would have to be a lot bigger to accommodate the
required sightlines for football and rugby and we cannot justify a
bigger stadium for the cost. In general athletics attracts a far smaller
group of spectators and a dedicated facility (possibly on the Common as
well) would make much more financial, economic and environmental sense
at this point.

I can assure you we have done the arithmetic and yes indeed we do want
to bid for the Olympics and look forward to your support.

Thanks for sharing, Mo.

I am still baffled. The proposed surface area (length and breadth) of the stadium (which I obtained from the official website and posted a few weeks back) was larger than Wembley's (which IS a multi-purpose stadium) when I did the comparison. I thus don't see how the stadium needs to be bigger to handle a track. I think the Wingfield development would have been a good investment, had the govt possessed the foresight then. However, I doubt that the govt will fund another stadium in CT to the tune of billions of rands for a future Olympic bid. One or both of the stadiums would end up as white elephants, especially if the city loses the bid. This is very bad planning on the part of the officials. I would have skipped the lofty (and expensive) sound-proofing and roof ideas for a slightly bigger stadium to accomodate athletics. Of course, then the residents would have had more reasons to object (re: noise etc). That, perhaps, speaks to the location not being the best place for this stadium. But that's another debate altogether...

As CT doesn't pack in the crowds for soccer, and SAFA and local sponsors have openly said they don't want any major matches played there anymore, I'm not sure how viable the new stadium is going to be. Durbs will have a similar problem (Kings Park is not usually packed unless Chiefs or Pirates plays). However, Durban at least regularly host major PSL, cup finals, and international matches (in fact it's SAFA's preferred venue of choice), even if no Durban teams are involved (Post-Manning Rangers 1997, we could only dream for a Durban team to be in any final!!). Also, if the city has its way, rugby will be moved next door to the new stadium, thereby guaranteeing the stadium's viablity (provided, of course, the city can reach agreement with the Sharks re: income etc). I can't see this happenning at CT. Newlands is too entrenched and far removed from the new stadium so the new stadium will only be used for soccer. I doubt that CT will be hosting enough MAJOR concerts and conferences (would have to be on a monthly basis) to sustain the stadium's financial viability.

^^ what i've been saying all along.

This track threat now is one that never even came across my mind. where else is CT are there full scale athletics tracks? if the greenpoint track is the primary athletic venue in ct and no consultation or plans were made for the runners and sport then that is a serious oversight on the commitees behalf. Seems like this project rolls from one problem to the next and seems that little thought for all those affected has been given.

surely they could keep the stadium standing for as long as possible as the new one is on a different site???

Full scale athletics tracks
1. Off Eisleben Drive
2. Bellville velodrome track
3. Vygieskraal
4. Goodwoood
5. Off the M45(Distributor East)
6. UWC 1
7. UWC 2
8. Eerste Rivier

Other: Stellenbosch

little thought given to parties afffected? - i dont think so.
www.enviropartnership.co.za
An entire year was dedicated to impact studies and assessments...numerous meetings were held with the public, everbody had the opportunity to attend at least one meeting, documents were made available at libraries across cape town, and now WPA want to cry foul because they were not consulted? if they did not know that the stadium would be demolished or about the stadium cost being too high to include an athletics track well then where were they???? the track is at the heart of the common...and a year later its an issue? I fully support the need for a track of international standards...

the stadium was to be demolished regardless of the stadium, this was known early 2006, why wait a year if you really care about athletics?

Thanks for sharing, Mo.

I am still baffled. The proposed surface area (length and breadth) of the stadium (which I obtained from the official website and posted a few weeks back) was larger than Wembley's (which IS a multi-purpose stadium) when I did the comparison. I thus don't see how the stadium needs to be bigger to handle a track. I think the Wingfield development would have been a good investment, had the govt possessed the foresight then. However, I doubt that the govt will fund another stadium in CT to the tune of billions of rands for a future Olympic bid. One or both of the stadiums would end up as white elephants, especially if the city loses the bid. This is very bad planning on the part of the officials. I would have skipped the lofty (and expensive) sound-proofing and roof ideas for a slightly bigger stadium to accomodate athletics. Of course, then the residents would have had more reasons to object (re: noise etc). That, perhaps, speaks to the location not being the best place for this stadium. But that's another debate altogether...

As CT doesn't pack in the crowds for soccer, and SAFA and local sponsors have openly said they don't want any major matches played there anymore, I'm not sure how viable the new stadium is going to be. Durbs will have a similar problem (Kings Park is not usually packed unless Chiefs or Pirates plays). However, Durban at least regularly host major PSL, cup finals, and international matches (in fact it's SAFA's preferred venue of choice), even if no Durban teams are involved (Post-Manning Rangers 1997, we could only dream for a Durban team to be in any final!!). Also, if the city has its way, rugby will be moved next door to the new stadium, thereby guaranteeing the stadium's viablity (provided, of course, the city can reach agreement with the Sharks re: income etc). I can't see this happenning at CT. Newlands is too entrenched and far removed from the new stadium so the new stadium will only be used for soccer. I doubt that CT will be hosting enough MAJOR concerts and conferences (would have to be on a monthly basis) to sustain the stadium's financial viability.

im not sure i want to get into this but the stadium was never intended for soccer purposes only, i dont think that the durbs situation of two 60,000 +stadia adjacent to each other shouts sustainability either, some officials when asked about the future of king senz have just blurted "olympic and commonwealth games"(but lets leave that for the king senz thread)...anyway we'll see what happens..its too late now for last minute moans and groans when an entire year was open for that.

As for the best location...greenpoint is the best location based on the 2009 deadline. (time, space and money) wingfield is the best option for a new stadium in the long term.

wait ill share this with you.

Presented to parliament this year
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1850/sitestudykt7.jpg

^^ what i've been saying all along.

This track threat now is one that never even came across my mind. where else is CT are there full scale athletics tracks? if the greenpoint track is the primary athletic venue in ct and no consultation or plans were made for the runners and sport then that is a serious oversight on the commitees behalf. Seems like this project rolls from one problem to the next and seems that little thought for all those affected has been given.

surely they could keep the stadium standing for as long as possible as the new one is on a different site???

I agree! I'm not sure where athletes are supposed to train until 2010. I suspect officials may approach UCT and Tukkies but that is not a good solution. The old stadium need not be destroyed until as long as possible as it doesn't hamper the construction of the new stadium. Instead, it's being demolished as soon as possible! This will probably mean that CT will now lose national and international athletic events for the foreseeable future, thereby detracting from any future aspirations the city may have of hosting major international athletic events. You can't bid to host something of note if you don't even have the facilities to host domestic clubs for 4 years (new facilities will come on board after 2010).

1. Off Eisleben Drive
2. Bellville velodrome
3. Vygieskraal
4. Goodwoood
5. Off the M45(Distributor East)
6. UWC 1
7. UWC 2
8. Eerste Rivier

little thought given to parties afffected? - i dont think so.
www.enviropartnership.co.za
An entire year was dedicated to impact studies and assessments...numerous meetings were held with the public, everbody had the opportunity to attend at least one meeting, documents were made available at libraries across cape town, and now WPA want to cry foul because they were not consulted? if they did not know that the stadium would be demolished or about the stadium cost being too high to include an athletics track well then where were they???? the track is at the heart of the common...and a year later its an issue? I fully support the need for a track of international standards...

the stadium was to be demolished regardless of the stadium, this was known early 2006, why wait a year if you really care about athletics?

Those are good points, Mo. I wonder how WPA would react to these alternative venues (although I suspect money would have to be spent to upgrade these facilities to international standard)?

Those are good points, Mo. I wonder how WPA would react to these alternative venues (although I suspect money would have to be spent to upgrade these facilities to international standard)?
another thing: the tennis club was on board from day one with their proposals of a new tennis centre funded by Tennis WP,..where was WPA?

Greenpoint was never international quality...for WPA to claim that it was is a joke...A quality venue(s) within 20km of the city centre is the best option i think.

1. Stellenbosch is pretty good, that entire sports area is becoming a premier sports location, international mountain bike events, an olympic sized pool, last week an international hockey tournament, international cross country...really top notch facilities but 50km outside of CT, funding for expansion would not be tough...A 10,000 seat grand stand would be fine.
Track resurfaced late 2005--
Whats best for athletes? perhaps a dedicated and beautiful athletics training centre...even if it is in stellies.

Cost: R50 million but only if it needs a major capacity boost.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/4143/dsc01009qy3.jpg

2. Bellville velodrome...was actually a preferred venue for athetics meets in CT , if im not mistaken was used instead of greenpoint in the engen series..capacity 5,000(existing), with grass seating around the track...also a proposed additional world cup training venue, R40 million should be more than enough.

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/9981/veloseyh5.jpg

3. Blue downs...-- maybe..i don think so though...too far out..Cost: R250 million plus,

4. Vygieskraal...now here is potential -- can be combined with athlone stadium and the hockey club to form a new sports hub...thats if cape town is really interested in investing in this community..Probably does not count for much, but the ACT brumbies have used it as a training venue. Cost: R100 million http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/1255/panawo6.jpg

5. Tygerberg:
http://sportsclubs.uct.ac.za/wpa/gallery/albums/collison4/Men_s_60m_hurdles_false_start.sized.jpg
good community venue...in a residential area..may be a disadvantage

6. UWC - Could do with an upgrade to the main stadium..
http://spartanharriers.co.za/Images/Gallery/UWC/UWC-46.JPG

Thanx for the info on other venues mo, but they do seem rather far out of central CT, then again that should be expected.

i hope that a new can of worms has not been opened with this latest conflict, and hopefully not another court case

Thanx for the info on other venues mo, but they do seem rather far out of central CT, then again that should be expected.

i hope that a new can of worms has not been opened with this latest conflict, and hopefully not another court case

the only facilities within reasonable distance of the city is vygieskraal stadium adn tygerberg stadium...but the communities of cape town need these facilities and so the location of the other facilities are justified and well within reach of those who need them.

Blamo Brooks, the Green Point stadium manager, says the stadium will act as theconstruction base in the lead up to 2010 and an athletics track will be retained.

how can it be "the construction base" and perform its duty as an athletics track? doesnt seem to work...all the dust and debri

how can it be "the construction base" and perform its duty as an athletics track? doesnt seem to work...all the dust and debri

silly boi...construction base during the world cup and athletics track after the world cup once the entire building is removed so that it can be integrated into the urban park.... apologies if that was not clear.

during the 2010 world cup, the area will be greened and act as the FIFA hospitality zone.

Green Point gamble

Pearlie Joubert
12 January 2007 12:00

If Gold Reef Resorts helps Cape Town with its budget shortfall for the Green Point Stadiu0m, it might be given the stadium after the World Cup.

Casino operator Gold Reef Resorts has offered to make up the projected R600-million shortfall in the required budget for Cape Town’s 2010 World Cup stadium in Green Point -- in return for casino facilities in the stadium.

Cape Town council sources told the Mail & Guardian that the cost overrun on the 68 000-seat stadium at the Green Point Common was now projected at between R600-million and R650-million on the original R2,5-billion budget.

They confirmed that Gold Reef Resorts, which owns five casinos in four provinces, had offered to fork out the shortfall. The proposed trade-off was a casino and luxury accommodation on the top tier of the three-tier stadium once the World Cup is over.

If the deal goes through, Gold Reef would also manage the stadium and grounds surrounding it in the aftermath of the tournament.

Said a council official: “In effect, this means Gold Reef will be given the stadium after the World Cup.”

The council’s technical director for the 2010 World Cup Team, Dave Hugo, confirmed that the city was in discussions with facility operators including Gold Reef Resorts. “The purpose of the discussions was to obtain information on models, options, successes and failures in the operation of facilities and no details were discussed. A request for proposals will be issued soon, inviting operators to run the Green Point stadium post-2010.”

Neither Gold Reef Resorts CEO, Steven Joffe, nor Maxim Krok, chairperson of the Gold Reef board, could be contacted for comment. Both are on holiday.

The other two facility operators Cape Town has engaged with an eye to carrying the costs of the project, and managing the stadium after the World Cup, are understood to be the Western Province Rugby Union and Dubai World, which is part of the consortium which recently bought the V&A Waterfront for R7-billion.

Council documents show that R1.93-billion of the original projected cost was to be borne by national government, with R400-million put up by the city and R112-million by the Western Cape government. But the bidders -- Group Five Building, Murray & Roberts, WBHO, Steffanuti & Bressan Civils and the Portuguese construction firm Constructora do Tamega -- returned with costings 30% above budget. Two firms said the stadium would cost more than R3-billion.

Tenders in Port Elizabeth and Durban -- where stadiums are also being built to host World Cup matches -- have also come in at up to 30% above the budgeted amount. If the Treasury does not bail out these municipalities, they will have to raise loans -- repayable by ratepayers -- or clinch deals with large commercial enterprises.

Durban has postponed the award of contracts because of the overrun.

Last year Cape Town’s mayor, Helen Zille, said construction on the Green Point Stadium could only begin in January if the national government guaranteed the bulk of the projected expenditure, adding that the city could not afford more than R400-million. “We cannot end up with a situation like in Montreal when the grandchildren of the people who made the decisions for the 1976 Olympics are still paying the bill,” Zille said.

Mayoral committee member Ian Neilson confirmed that the city was still discussing finances with the Treasury. “We’re also talking to other tenderers, but I can’t talk about this. We’re not sure whether Treasury will bail us out given the massive overrun. Getting the best price is critical for us -- this is the biggest tender Cape Town has ever seen,” Neilson said.

Fifa’s choice
A Western Cape government document has shed light on Fifa’s role in driving the Green Point Stadium project, which has become a headache for the Cape Metropolitan Council.

The initial plan was for an upgraded Newlands Rugby Stadium to host World Cup games, but after political intervention, it was decided to propose Athlone Stadium as the city’s preferred venue.

The city spent R322-million on upgrading Athlone, in the hope that Fifa would approve it for a World Cup quarter-final.

A senior government source, who asked not to be named, said that during their inspection in October 2005, Fifa delegates objected that the low-cost council housing around the Athlone stadium would not form a suitable backdrop. “A billion television viewers don’t want to see shacks and poverty on this scale,” one delegate allegedly said.

In a confidential document titled Draft Strategic Plan for the Provincial Government of the Western Cape and the City of Cape Town, Laureen Platzky, deputy director general in the Western Cape premier’s department, confirmed the chain of events.

Platzky wrote: “During this [2005] visit, the Fifa delegation indicated that they were not willing to consider Athlone … but that they were surprised that Green Point … (was not) the site for the semi-final … as it was the prime location to profile South Africa and the African continent through the world’s biggest football event.

“In their view, neither the Athlone nor the Newlands stadia would be suitable for a semi-final.

“The local organising committee indicated to the provincial and city leadership that should they want the honour and benefit from the not inconsiderable benefits of hosting a semi-final, which would attract well over a billion TV spectators as well as thousands of international fans and their families, not to mention all the lead-up events, product launches, possibly a Fifa congress and high-profile other events, they should consider expanding the Green Point Stadium.”

2010 stadium: private companies to benefit

January 12 2007 at 02:51PM

By Lindsay Dentlinger

The billions of rands to be spent on the 2010 Green Point Stadium will be to the benefit of a private commercial enterprise and not the residents of Cape Town, says the Green Point Common Association.

Once the World Cup has been staged, the infrastructure will be handed on a silver platter to a private company to operate, leaving ordinary citizens out in the cold, says GPCA member Ralph Malan.

The mechanical engineer said on Thursday it was a "social injustice" that the government would be contributing R1,65-billion to a project that would only advance commercial enterprise in the long term.


'The city had already been approached with informal proposals to develop the area'
Ian Neilson, mayoral committee member for finance, confirmed that the City of Cape Town would soon call for proposals to run the facility after the World Cup, but it was not forced to accept any of them.

The environmental record of decision on the Green Point stadium requires that the chosen operator also manage the urban park.

By the GPCA's estimates, it could cost the city R20-million a year in upkeep if the area remained under its control.

After it is used for the 2010 semi-final, the top layer of the stadium will be removed, reducing capacity from 68 000 seats to 55 000 and freeing up a massive area for development.

Neilson said the city had already been approached with informal proposals to develop the area, including sports shops, a casino, restaurants and even a supermarket.

The GPCA says allowing the new stadium complex to be absorbed into the V&A Waterfront or handed to a multi-national hotel operator would be a waste of taxpayers' money and an injustice to city residents who needed services.

"Is this what they intend to do? Is this how public money will be spent?"

But Neilson said that even if the stadium became a commercial unit, the amenities would still benefit the community.

"We are looking for an income stream that will benefit the entire Green Point Common in opposition to it becoming a white elephant, and so that it is not a financial burden on the city."

This week, the Cape Argus revealed that the city's favoured three contractors to build the stadium had submitted bids at least 30 percent in excess of the R2,49-billion cost estimate.

But Malan predicts that even higher costs are in store once construction actually begins and the current conceptual designs are implemented as actual designs.

An economic analysis as part of the environmental impact assessment, conducted in 2006, indicated that the project could incur cost overruns of at least 32 percent - an international average for stadium projects of this nature.

In the case of Green Point stadium, it could mean incurring costs of another R1-billion.

If the city were to meet the demands of its preferred contractor, it could be forced to find at least another R747-million to build the stadium, bringing the cost closer to previous construction estimates of around R4-billion.

But Neilson remains confident that such scenarios can be averted through proper project management, and the city remains firm in its position that it will not spend more than R400-million on building.

"There are always risks involved because of uncertain information and we can only use what we have at the time," said Neilson.

He said that given ongoing negotiations with contractors, it was inopportune to comment on assertions that the city would overshoot its budget on the project.

Neilson said additional costs in building the stadium, as a result of inflation and exchange fluctuations, had been brought to the attention of the National Treasury and an answer was being awaited as to whether it would foot the bill for cost variations.

"There has been some provision for that, but we can't really know what it will be or whether the provision is adequate or not. It could be a potentially big number. But local government cannot afford to cope with a risk of that magnitude."

This article was originally published on page 6 of Cape Argus on January 12, 2007
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=124&art_id=vn20070112133714743C310225

I'm not sure if Gold Reef Casinos can open a second casino at Green Point in Cape Town as this would involve changing national gaming legislation that has been in place since 1996. Under the terms of the act the Western Cape is allocated five casino licenses, all of which are operating: Grand West in Cape Town, Club Mykonos on the West Coast, Caledon Casino in the Overberg, Pinnacle Point on the Garden Route and Golden Valley in Breede River Valley. We'll have to see.

while i would prefer dubai world and WPRU to run the stadium...we must be realistic...arent the best sports stadia/facilities priveately owned? in most cases the future of a venue depends so much on this private investment, since gvt has failed numerous times to maintain sports facilities across south africa..the stadium was set out from day one to have an operator post 2010,...i dont think we can be too picky when they are willing to fork out R600 million plus...the stadium will still need to play a role as a sports venue and lets just hope that it does.

^^ as mosi said and i posted in the 2010 thread, gold reef will not be able to be apart of the stadium due to gambling regulations. the discussions with the gambling board would take over a year and by then it will be too late...and even then i dont think they will be allowed to build a casino. this country has enough anyway

WPA wins demolition postponement

By Lindsay Dentlinger

The Green Point Stadium is to be only partially demolished for the time being, to allow for continued athletics usage.

The city and Western Province Athletics agreed on Friday that a section of the grandstand would be retained for at least another six months, while a grassed embankment would be built to encircle the rest of the track where seating has been removed.(what ive been saying all along ala sydney athletic centre

This follows complaints by the WPA that it had been sidelined from the decision to demolish the stadium without alternative provision being made for athletics.

'It had to be a public decision whether to demolish the rest of the existing stadium'
Demolition work is set to start at the end of January.

A decision to demolish the stadium completely will only be taken after a public participation process ordered by the provincial environment, planning and economic development department.

City 2010 director Dave Hugo said the city would, at the request of WPA, consider designing the new 2010 stadium in such a way that it would be able to temporarily host major athletics events should the need arise.WOW somebody had a brainwave

He said it had to be a public decision whether to demolish the rest of the existing stadium and accommodate athletics facilities elsewhere on Green Point Common instead.

Hugo said: "The stadium is in poor condition. We agreed on that. So we are only partially demolishing it for now."

The area demolished will be used as a builders' yard for construction workers.

WPA appealed to Environment MEC Tasneem Essop to retain an athletics facility on the common after it felt that the city had not consulted it on the demolition. WPA acting president James Evans said he was satisfied with the latest agreement with the city.

The athletics clubhouse of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology is also housed within the Green Point Stadium and negotiations are still under way to accommodate the club elsewhere.

Evans said the WPA disagreed with views that an athletics track could not be accommodated in an arena designed for ball sports, and said this had been achieved at other international stadia.

Evans said the WPA welcomed Essop's decision that an athletics facility be retained on the common.

The city still has three weeks to design a public participation process, which meets Essop's approval, to chart the future for the reorganisation of the common.

The environmental record of decision requires that all existing facilities on the common be accommodated in the design of the urban park.

Meanwhile, Hugo says negotiations with the more than 20 leaseholders on the common are progressing well.

Negotiations with a key leaseholder, the Metropolitan Golf Club, have reached the stage where a final agreement can be reached.

The Hellenic Club, another key leaseholder, has also agreed to move.

Hugo said the club would be compensated for the renovations and the property was likely to be sub-divided to accommodate other leaseholders whose club buildings needed to be demolished to make way for the new stadium.

Hugo expected to reach agreements with the majority of leaseholders within the next three months.

He said all the leaseholders were in support of the construction of the new stadium and accepted that they were expected to relocate.



* This article was originally published on page 5 of The Cape Argus on January 15, 2007

The Argus

Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-01-15 10:50:00
© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Good to see common sense is prevailing about the multi-use aspect of the stadium. This really was a no-brainer, though.

Good to see common sense is prevailing about the multi-use aspect of the stadium. This really was a no-brainer, though.

its really not rocket science...make the private operator pay for capacity increases after the world cup, but at least make the option available

M&R, WBHO to build Cape Town 2010 stadium
STADIUMSA joint venture between construction firms Murray & Roberts (M&R) and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) has been chosen as the preferred bidder for the construction of Green Point stadium, in Cape Town, a city spokesperson said on Monday.

The controversial Green Point stadium, which will be built on the Green Point Common, is one of five new stadiums that will be constructed for the 2010 soccer World Cup, while five other stadiums will be upgraded for the event.

City of Cape Town 2010 spokesperson Pieter Cronje confirmed that the city would start drawing up the contract on Tuesday.

“We want to negotiate on the tender and have the final contract awarded within a few weeks,” he said.

After several delays, the city is keen to get the process under way and wants construction work to start before the end of March.

The existing Green Point stadium is to be demolished this month.

National Treasury has indicated it will provide R1,93-billion for the new stadium's construction, the city council will provide R400-million and the Western Cape provincial government R112-million.

However, confirming earlier reports, Cronje said that all the tenders were over the R2,49-billion budget, but that the Murray & Roberts and WBHO tender offered the lowest costs.

He told Engineering News Online that, excluding contingency and VAT, the M&R and WBHO joint venture had tendered R2,745-billion on the construction of the Green Point stadium, while rival construction firm Group Five came in at R2,85-billion and a Steffanutti and Bressan Civils joint venture with Constructora do Tamega posted R2,75-billion on the tender.

He also announced that, apart from the tender price, criteria such as experience, resources, major stadium projects, internal skills development and training programmes and the availability of senior management for the project, was taken into account.

“All the bidders have fulfilled this to a greater or lesser extent and all were scored on the criteria.” Out of a score of 40, the M&R-WBHO joint venture scored 33,6 points, while Group Five scored 25,4, with the Steffanutti and Bressan Civils JV with Constructora do Tamega posting 22 points.

Cronje, who reiterated that the preferred bidder was chosen on criteria scoring and price, said that the most obvious project challenges were time and money.

“We have to ensure that the cost is fully catered for before the tender is finalised,” he said - the stadium is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.

“At this stage, we are confident that the project is doable.” With a capacity of 68 000 people, the Green Point stadium, will be used for first-and second-round matches during the 2010 soccer World Cup.

The construction of the stadium was delayed because some Cape Town residents objected to its building in the area on the grounds that it would have negative environmental effects and encroach on one of the city's last public green spaces.

However, earlier this month, Western Cape Environmental Affairs Minister Tasneem Essop approved the rezoning application that would allow the construction of the stadium.
M&R, WBHO to build Cape Town 2010 stadium
STADIUMSA joint venture between construction firms Murray & Roberts (M&R) and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) has been chosen as the preferred bidder for the construction of Green Point stadium, in Cape Town, a city spokesperson said on Monday.

The controversial Green Point stadium, which will be built on the Green Point Common, is one of five new stadiums that will be constructed for the 2010 soccer World Cup, while five other stadiums will be upgraded for the event.

City of Cape Town 2010 spokesperson Pieter Cronje confirmed that the city would start drawing up the contract on Tuesday.

“We want to negotiate on the tender and have the final contract awarded within a few weeks,” he said.

After several delays, the city is keen to get the process under way and wants construction work to start before the end of March.

The existing Green Point stadium is to be demolished this month.

National Treasury has indicated it will provide R1,93-billion for the new stadium's construction, the city council will provide R400-million and the Western Cape provincial government R112-million.

However, confirming earlier reports, Cronje said that all the tenders were over the R2,49-billion budget, but that the Murray & Roberts and WBHO tender offered the lowest costs.

He told Engineering News Online that, excluding contingency and VAT, the M&R and WBHO joint venture had tendered R2,745-billion on the construction of the Green Point stadium, while rival construction firm Group Five came in at R2,85-billion and a Steffanutti and Bressan Civils joint venture with Constructora do Tamega posted R2,75-billion on the tender.

He also announced that, apart from the tender price, criteria such as experience, resources, major stadium projects, internal skills development and training programmes and the availability of senior management for the project, was taken into account.

“All the bidders have fulfilled this to a greater or lesser extent and all were scored on the criteria.” Out of a score of 40, the M&R-WBHO joint venture scored 33,6 points, while Group Five scored 25,4, with the Steffanutti and Bressan Civils JV with Constructora do Tamega posting 22 points.

Cronje, who reiterated that the preferred bidder was chosen on criteria scoring and price, said that the most obvious project challenges were time and money.

“We have to ensure that the cost is fully catered for before the tender is finalised,” he said - the stadium is scheduled for completion by the end of 2009.

“At this stage, we are confident that the project is doable.” With a capacity of 68 000 people, the Green Point stadium, will be used for first-and second-round matches during the 2010 soccer World Cup.

The construction of the stadium was delayed because some Cape Town residents objected to its building in the area on the grounds that it would have negative environmental effects and encroach on one of the city's last public green spaces.

However, earlier this month, Western Cape Environmental Affairs Minister Tasneem Essop approved the rezoning application that would allow the construction of the stadium.

WBHO shares gained 0,69%, to R72,50 a share, by 16:37 on Monday, while Murray & Roberts shares were trading up 0,27%, at R41,35 a share.
WBHO shares gained 0,69%, to R72,50 a share, by 16:37 on Monday, while Murray & Roberts shares were trading up 0,27%, at R41,35 a share.

Bidder for construction of 2010 Cape stadium named
Authorities are aiming to construct a 68 000 seater multi-purpose stadium in Green Point

Authorities are aiming to construct a 68 000 seater multi-purpose stadium in Green Point
January 15, 2007, 16:15

A preferred bidder for the construction of the proposed 2010 Green Point stadium has been identified. Murray & Roberts, in conjunction with WBHO is the contractor chosen by the City of Cape Town's Bid Adjudication Committee.

Negotiations between the City, and the contractor to try and lower construction costs, will now kick in. After much deliberation and discussion the joint venture between Murray & Roberts, and WHBO have come out tops, as the preferred bidder for the construction of Cape Town's controversial 2010 stadium. Although the approval is only a recommendation at this stage officials say it is unlikely that the group will be reassessed.

However, as soon as the recommendation is authorised by Cape Town's City Manager the group will enter into discussions with the City's Executive Director of Service Delivery and Integration to actively pursue a revised lower tender sum. Dave Hugo, the City of Cape Town 2010 technical director, says they will begin negotiations tomorrow with the preferred bidder, and are hoping to conclude that within weeks.

The preferred bidder had the lowest projected tender costs
Hugo says the question as to when they will turn the first sod is dependent on whether they have a shortfall in funding, but are confident that they will be able to do that in the first quarter of this year.

Murray & Roberts/WBHO not only met the tender criteria but the group also had the lowest projected tender costs, with an amount of just over R4 billion. The City, which has a budget of R4.8 billion is hoping that these negotiations will bridge the financial gap. In the meanwhile, the Murray & Roberts/WBHO group heard of their recommendation via the media.

wld that not involve a redesign now? they need the damn track! if they design the stadium to hold a track, people will still sit far back from the field of play, so may as well put the thing in

wld that not involve a redesign now? they need the damn track! if they design the stadium to hold a track, people will still sit far back from the field of play, so may as well put the thing in

its really quite silly...
durbs is building a stadium at a lower price that will include the option of a temporary athletics track if needed in future...i dont think the city of cape town has heard of retractable seating ala stade de france either. if ure going to be spending R3.5 billion might as well make sure the stadium can be used for athletics...its a 50m high stadium, if they design the stadium the senz way,i.e. increase capacity in future then im sure they could...rasool is quite a silly man..mentioning things like golden triangle of the waterfront, city, and "olympic site"...uhm olympic sites need an olympic stadium which can host athletics.

2010 bid committee to meet viable Cape contractors
January 16, 2007, 08:00

The bid adjudication committee of the City of Cape Town says it intends entering into negotiations with the prospective contractors for the new Green Point Stadium, with the intention of reducing the cost.

The committee has recommended the company Murray and Roberts in a joint venture with WBHO as the preferred bidder for the construction of the stadium.

The city manager still has to authorise this decision before negotiations get under way

http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/7789/1plan2010wn4.png



1- Granger Bay Boulevard - Connects to $1billion Waterfront Waterfont Plans/Info (http://www.eprop.co.za/news/article.aspx?idArticle=8309)


2 - Existing Cricket Club - United Cricket Club

3- World Cup stadium with surrounding concourse, Capacity 68,000
Rugby, Football, perhaps athletics

4 - Golf Course [ expansion - stadium site will be built at existing golf course location, so golf course "shifted" outwards
http://www.sa-venues.com/golf/wc_metropolitan.htm

5- Current use: Cricket, Future Use: Cricket and Field Hockey

6- Site of old GreenPoint Stadium to be partially demolished, a "grand stand" will be retained and the remainder of seats will be a grass embankment similar to the Sydney Athletic Centre

7- New Urban Park, integrated into surrounding sports facilities
Full story : http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20070106092142988C213897

8- Existing Tennis Club, new stadium to be built as part of expansion, to form a Tennis Centre, 23 courts in total

9- Existing Bowls Club

10 - Hamilton's Rugby Club - Founded 1887 - http://www.hamiltonsrfc.co.za/history/index.php

11 - Urban Park Forecourt/Soccer Fields

12-Residential- Somerset Precinct, existing accommodation to be transformed
http://www.sabcnews.com/economy/business/0,2172,141801,00.html

Images of the site currently

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/130/334369846_fc3ad03019_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/139/358309461_422781395b_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/109/291702765_d13cd438e9.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/289627133_3933b42627_o.jpg

Stadium conceptual design
http://www.greenpointcommon.co.za/_imgs/gpca_stadium_4.jpg
http://www.greenpointcommon.co.za/_imgs/gpca_stadium_5.jpg
http://www.greenpointcommon.co.za/_imgs/gpca_stadium_6.jpg

Stadium seats have been removed

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/365085217_5aad8d568a_o.jpg

Final CT stadium design rests with appointed operator---I hope its dubaiworld

On Monday Cape Town announced that Murray & Roberts and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon had been chosen as the preferred bidders to build the 2010 World Cup stadium in that city.

Apart from money or budget problems, Cape Town has also been dealt a blow because of some of the residents that are opposed to construction of the new Green Point Stadium.

At present the current stadium is being dismantled and will be redesigned.
Requests for proposals on the operator of the stadium will go out this month, Laurie Platzky deputy director general of strategic projects in Cape Town said.

“It is important to get that done as soon as possible because the final design of the stadium depends on the operator,” Platzky said.

The city is currently negotiating with National Treasury about its request for a contribution of R2bn towards the cost of building the stadium.

Cape Town cut back the stadium’s estimated building costs from R3,3bn to R2,49bn.

The city and the province will provide R500m.

In total, government will provide R1,9bn to improve Cape Town’s infrastructure.

This figure excludes additional investment in transport infrastructure and facilities planned by agencies such as South African Rail Commuter Corporation and Airports Company of South Africa.

Platzky said that road infrastructure is currently being improved between the airport and the central business district.

“The upgrade of Cape Town Station plus the pedestrian improvement between the CBD and Somerset Road leading to the stadium site is already underway.

“Otherwise negotiations on funding for the upgrade of public transport are at an advanced stage and we are waiting for Budget Day to hea

Green Point Common Association to host public meeting 1/25/2007 4:37:56 PM
The Green Point Common Association will tonight host a public meeting, discussing the city's plans to develop the area.

The Association has threatened to take legal action to stop construction of the new Green Point stadium - if its concerns are not met.

Recently, however, it also welcomed the city's plans to establish a forum overseeing and managing the development on the Common.

The public meeting will take place at the Sea Point Civic Centre, at 6:00pm tonight.

2010: residents back down


By Candes Bailey and Sivuyile Mangxamba

Green Point residents, the arch opponents to the city's plans to build a World Cup sStadium on Green Point Common, have backed down from their position, allaying fears that they might take the government to court.

In a show of hands at a public meeting last night, the Green Point Common Association (GPCA) indicated they supported the construction of a semi-final 68 000-seater stadium, ending months of speculation that Cape Town might have to kiss the World Cup goodbye.

Their position will be taken to the caucus on Saturday morning, where a final decision will be made.

About 300 residents packed into the Sea Point hall, where a committee explained the pros and cons of the construction of the stadium.

At the end of the evening, a show of hands indicated that 103 people supported a compromise, which would see the stadium being built.

Another 73 thought it would be better to take the city to court. There were some abstentions.

GPCA spokesman David Pol-ovin said: "The decision now is that we will not oppose the process but become part of it.

"It's been a tough time for us. We had to deal with different opinions as we had people who were violently opposed to the idea of a stadium and others who favoured it. It was very difficult to reconcile these different interests."

He admitted that he and the association had faced immense pressure over the stand they took regarding the construction of the stadium.

"It was even difficult for the city to negotiate with people determined to go to court," said Pol-ovin, adding that this was all in the past as they prepared now to be the partners in the project.

Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Tasneem Essop said today: "We can now get on with it and deliver a world-class stadium."

Mayor Helen Zille, Cape Town's 2010 administrator, Mike Marsden, mayoral committee member of finance Ian Neilson and councillor JP Smith attended last night's meeting, where they fielded questions from residents.

In an appeal to the residents, Zille said the stadium would be a "win-win" situation for everyone.

Residents wanted to know why the stadium had to have 68 000 seats when other World Cup stadiums were not as large.

They also asked whether the city had asked the majority of soccer's black fans if they wanted a stadium of these proportions.

They were also concerned about the future of the golf course, traffic congestion and what cost they would have to bear after the stadium had been built.

After the meeting, resident Michael Wolfe said he had decided to compromise but that he was sceptical of the council's ability to deliver.

Another resident, Ralph Rosen, felt the show of hands in favour of the stadium would have a tremendous spin-off for Cape Town.

But Leslie McKenzie, a former Fine Music Radio personality, abstained because as a trustee of a block of flats, he felt he needed to consult residents before making a decision.

He said the show of hands could not be regarded as a fair reflection of what the community felt.

Published on the web by Cape Argus on January 26, 2007. © Cape Argus 2007. All rights reserved.

No Casino operator

City seeks post-2010 operator for Green Point venue


By Sivuyile Mangxamba

The City of Cape Town is going ahead with plans to identify an operator that will manage the Green Point stadium after the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

This move is part of ensuring that the stadium is financially sustainable and the operator will be expected to implement various recommendations contained in the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning's Record of Decision. These include preserving green spaces and ensuring the viability of the common.

The stadium is set to become a multi-purpose venue able to accommodate soccer and rugby matches and big events like concerts. The core issue is to make it financially viable.

However, the provincial government has squashed any possibilities of having a casino near the stadium precinct.

It had been widely speculated that Gold Reef City had offered R600 000 towards the Green Point Stadium city budget in return for being granted the rights to operate a casino near the stadium if it was granted the tender to be the stadium operator.

Yesterday, Western Cape Finance MEC Lynne Brown said it was unlikely that a new casino would be built near the stadium precinct.

"No, the province has issued five licences so far, the last in Worcester and as far as I am concerned, that is enough," said Brown.

The speculation was fuelled by the fact that the city consulted a variety of facility operators and experts, including Gold Reef City and Western Province Rugby Union during its planning.

"The purpose of the discussions was to obtain information on models, options, successes and failures in the operation of facilities," said Mayor Helen Zille.

But Brown said one licence for Cape Town, at Grandwest, was enough.

An open request for proposals was expected to be issued soon inviting potential operators who are interested in running the stadium after 2010.

"The request for proposals will go out any day now … the legal and project team are busy finalising the proposal documents," said city's 2010 project spokesman Pieter Cronje.

At a special 2010 council meeting held recently, Zille said: "It is in everyone's interest to give the job to an experienced and successful private sector operator.

"This is precisely to ensure that the stadium is not a white elephant which has to be subsidised with public money, but can provide an income stream for (its) proper development, operation and maintenance …."

Published on the web by Cape Argus on January 26, 2007. © Cape Argus 2007. All rights reserved.

I'll be very sad to see Green Point Stadium go.... it's the site of many many fond memories for me. And I knew it inside out, all the nooks and crannies and secret doors and rooms. And I'm not entirely sure that if the old GP stadium was good enough for Robbie Williams et al, why it's not good enough for FIFA...but that's all IMO>

Still, my memories won't bring in money for Cape Town and I'm sure this new stadium will! :D

its official..the gpca will NOT go to court...zzzz

Cape plan for stadium
By KENNEDY MUDZULI
JOHANNESBURG - Cape Town will be repositioned as the home of football in the buildup to the 2010 Fifa World Cup and beyond.
The city has been earmarked to host a semifinal clash in the yet-to-be built 68 000 seater Green Point Stadium.
The multi-purpose all weather facility is expected to spur city-wide growth and attract visitors and tourists while creating jobs.
This is the strategic plan for the World Cup drafted by the city of Cape Town and the Western Cape government.
At least four national team matches should be hosted in the city each year.
The city will also aim to attract major football tournaments such as the Vodacom Challenge.
Further, specific areas have already been identified for the creation of “fan parks” or public viewing places with giant screens necessitated by the shortage of tickets.

Stadium demolition to begin after talks are done
January 30, 2007, 11:00

The demolition of the Green Point Stadium will take place once negotiations between the City of Cape Town and the preferred bidder for the construction of the new 2010 World Cup soccer stadium are completed.

Murray and Roberts and WBHO were chosen as the preferred bidders for the construction of the 68 000-seater, multi-purpose stadium.

The negotiations are around the tender price. The city has budgeted R2.48 billion, while the quote from the bidder stands at R3.73 billion.

Hope for speedy agreement
Peter Cronje, the spokesperson for the 2010 World Cup in the city, says they hope to come to an agreement by the end of the week. "Only once there is an outcome of the talks aimed at reducing the tender price will there be finality of the actual start of the demolition. It is a process, we can't be sure, but we hope to have an initial revision of the tender price by end of the week."

"We have started preparing for the demolition though, by removing items of value that we can store and re-use at other city facilities," added Cronje.

Cape Town will be repositioned as the home of football in the buildup to the 2010 Fifa World Cup and beyond.

While that is noble and good. Cape Towns reputation with the national football bodies and tournament directors is very poor. Recently many officials stated they would never bring major tournament matches to CT due to low turn out at finals and semi's.

i think the local body will need to do major repair work on this front before it can hope of getting big matches back in the city. for the sake of cape football i hope they can find a way to mend the growing chasm

While that is noble and good. Cape Towns reputation with the national football bodies and tournament directors is very poor. Recently many officials stated they would never bring major tournament matches to CT due to low turn out at finals and semi's.

i think the local body will need to do major repair work on this front before it can hope of getting big matches back in the city. for the sake of cape football i hope they can find a way to mend the growing chasm

oh i laughed when i read that CT wants to be the home of football..its up to the commerical operators of the new stadium and the city to ensure big matches at the stadium as well as raise the profile of athlone stadium when its used for world cup warm up matches...you dont become the home of football with a new stadium, if they bring big international matches to CT ...then there'll be support

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/145/366792545_ad56aa2b19_b.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/119/366792541_5994cec1a9_b.jpg

Nice shots of the site

Mo rush is God

^^Are you smoking shit again?

^^Are you smoking shit again?
Hahahaha smoking shit lol.....Mo just provide all the pictures ...hey yo mo respond to my othere request homie thanks.

I know, was just joking my brutha ;)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/64/377191884_51cac99838_o.jpg

So have they started clearing the site at all? Im sure piling will have to start pretty soon, I got numbers from the QS from Durbs, he said round about 200 -250 piles have already gone in Durbs

What does "piling" mean? and why do it?

(for me and all the other permanently confused people out there...)

Piling is basicaly the main foundations of the project (its like the peg you knock into the ground so your tent doesnt blow away or fall down). They use massive drillers to drill a hole into the ground then put re-inforcing steel & pour conrete into them, they drilled quite deep into the ground, 10m some deeper.

essential to every building thats being errected.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_foundation

cool thanks

So have they started clearing the site at all? Im sure piling will have to start pretty soon, I got numbers from the QS from Durbs, he said round about 200 -250 piles have already gone in Durbs
nope..LOC in CT to sort out budget issues, construction only mid feb..so that means April.

City cuts timeline for stadium


By Sivuyile Mangxamba

The City of Cape Town has cut the construction timeline for the 2010 stadium by several weeks in a bid to meet its deadline for completing the venue in 2009, a senior official said today.

The Green Point stadium project has become mired in delays in recent months.

"Time is not a problem. We have shortened our construction weeks and the end date is November 2009," said the city's executive director of service delivery integration Mike Marsden, adding that the 2010 local organising committee (LOC) was happy with the progress made.

The LOC met the City of Cape Town for a progress report briefing on Friday.

"We are more than happy with what Cape Town has achieved. It has been a splendid job," said LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan.

Marsden said the city was due to start construction once all the statutory requirements like the appeals process had been concluded.

The appeals deadline for consent to build the stadium was expected to end in the middle of February.

Published on the web by Cape Argus on February 5, 2007. © Cape Argus 2007. All rights reserved.

thanks Durbsboi for the information which does help to enlighten those of us who are not literate with construction terminology.

No problemo, any time guys.

Publisher of Engineering News, Mining Weekly and Polity
Consultations to begin on Green Point Commons plans
The City of Cape Town will complete a public participation process on the much-contested Green Point Commons park reconfiguration process, by the end of June, a city official said on Wednesday.

The commons are located in the green space on which the new Green Point Stadium, for the 2010 soccer World Cup is going to be constructed.

The Green Point Commons Association last year threatened legal action against the City of Cape Town over the building of the stadium, citing reasons ranging from fear of congestion and the future of the golf course to an increase in their rates.

Speaking to Engineering News Online, City of Cape Town spokesperson Pieter Cronje said that a public participation programme to the proposed changes on the Green Point Commons with all stakeholders, was scheduled to “start shortly”.

The City of Cape Town would present the proposed plans by July 5, once consultation with stakeholders, including lease holders, users of the Commons and surrounding residents, had shown that the majority accepted the proposed changes.

“We already have a proposed plan drawn up showing all the changes and a commitment for the budget from the City, which has promised funding of R120-million,” Cronje said.

The reconfiguration process will involve giving the Commons a “facelift” by clustering the facilities, such as the scattered sports fields, golf course and stadium, at the centre of the grounds.

“We plan to demolish the old stadium and build a new stadium, which will extend onto the golf course,” he explained.

However, the City agreed to extend the golf course in a different direction on the 85ha Green Point Commons.

Cronje was confident that stakeholders would agree to the proposed plan, as the cash injection of R2,5-billion would be a catalyst to the revitalisation, facelift and maintenance of the Commons, particularly as some of the facilities were neglected and scattered.

“There is quite widespread support from the Green Point Commons Association, who are keen for the Common to be maintained.”

Cost conundrum
Meanwhile, it was announced this week that an agreement had been reached by the City of Cape Town and the preferred bidder – a joint venture between Murray & Roberts and WBHO, to slash the current stadium budget by a billion rand from the original R3,7-billion to R2,68-billion.

However, this still left a R180-million gap.

To bring it to affordable limits, the city negotiated with the preferred bidder “to understand the elements of risk (cost) built into the tender price and to either minimise or eliminate it,” Cronje explained.

“We looked at an alternative mandate and a structural revision on the columns and roof. We have made the stadium smaller and more compact and reduced the height and diameter of the roof and made it smaller.”

He explained that reducing the roof size was a key component, as it accounted for 30% of the cost or one-third of the tender price.

“Risk elimination, value engineering, simplifying the structure and shortening the time has lend to significant cost savings,” he pointed out.

Cronje, who believed that simplifying the structure would reduce construction time, was confident that the preferred bidder would be onsite before the end of March in time for completion by 2009.

E-mail the article: E-mail the article to somebody
Published: 2007/02/07 Printer friendly: View this article in a printer friendly format
Author: Nelendhre Moodley
Portfolio: Online Staff Writer
E-mail: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za

Province chips in on 2010 bill

By PHILDA ESSOP
Political Writer

Premier Ebrahim Rasool has announced that the provincial government will come up with R100m of the R180m shortfall for the construction of the Green Point stadium.

The City of Cape Town revealed earlier this week that although R1 billion has been pared off the cost, it is still short of the revised R2.68bn tender price.

In an interview on Cape Talk radio this morning, Rasool said everyone knew that Cape Town had R2.5bn to build the stadium.

"When you go out on tender and everyone knows that, how can someone come and say that I want to build it for R3.7bn? For a month, the decision makers all thought about where we are going to get the extra R1.2 bn.

"However, you must be able to say that we only have R2.5bn, don't come with your R3.7bn.

"You must remember that the big five companies have divided the big five stadiums among themselves.

"I think when we entered into those hard negotiations,we suddenly saw how first R800m disappeared, and we said this was not good enough, go back and discuss the professional fees and they came back and said that ah, we found another R200m saving.

"Now we have the matter of the R180m. I think we have put all those episodes of brink-manship behind us.

"Because World Cup 2010 is so important, the province has last week undertaken to assist, as we believe that the shortfall is actually closer to R200m.

"If the city puts in half, we will put in the other half," Rasool said.

"Today I can say that the provincial cabinet decided yesterday that we will put in R100m to make sure the stadium is built.

"As far as I am concerned the mayor has already confirmed to Fifa that the city would put in R80m."

Meanwhile Tasneem Essop, MEC for Environmental Af-fairs, Development Planning and Economic Development, is still considering objections to the stadium.

Rasool said the litigation period would end in March. "After that, if no one has raised their hands, we will start the building process.

"The timetables are very tight. We considered all the environmental and heritage issues and I think we have passed all those tests essentially, but MEC Essop will have the last word."

Published on the web by Cape Argus on February 8, 2007.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/389943771_c63da6c3da_b.jpg

Mo, the stadium price has been reduced because developers are reducing the stadium by 4m on each side. Will they still be able to fit an athletics track within the stadium now? Before the new specs were announced, the city said the stadium was too small to host a track. Then they said they would do it (although it would be a squeeze). Now with the smaller stadium, would this even be possible? They haven't clarified whether the stadium is now exclusively soccer or multi-purpose. Do you know what the story is on this issue?

Mo, the stadium price has been reduced because developers are reducing the stadium by 4m on each side. Will they still be able to fit an athletics track within the stadium now? Before the new specs were announced, the city said the stadium was too small to host a track. Then they said they would do it (although it would be a squeeze). Now with the smaller stadium, would this even be possible? They haven't clarified whether the stadium is now exclusively soccer or multi-purpose. Do you know what the story is on this issue?

I think I have answered this before. The stadium is exclusively a football/rugby stadium and will not be able to accommodate an athletics track at any stage. I know that there was an article the suggested that the design might include the option to include an athletics track, but common sense suggests that its not possible. Have contacted people here and there and if the olympic bid goes ahead, as suggested by the chamber of commerce president, a collapsible stadium setup would work best.

As for the price, roman, from what ive heard, its not been the structural changes alone that reduced the price. The previous field dimensions were larger than allianz and along with changes to the angle of the seating tiers, it should all be fine. The need for an expansive concourse was perhaps not necessary considering the large podium surrounding the stadium. But as before, from speaking to some people, the reduction in price was not due to structural changes alone. thats where im going to leave that.

The latest provincial business plan makes it clear that the stadium is purely for football/rugby. If any drastic changes are to be made, the funding will need to be made available by the private operator.

^^ surely that is the daftest decision then!!? That they are building a stadium that isnt multi purpose, wont be able to be used for any olympic or commonwealth bid and will have to drag rugby from newlands? I'm saddened to hear that. that now basically says goodbye to a CT olympic chance

^^ surely that is the daftest decision then!!? That they are building a stadium that isnt multi purpose, wont be able to be used for any olympic or commonwealth bid and will have to drag rugby from newlands? I'm saddened to hear that. that now basically says goodbye to aCT olympic chance

well not sure if u read my previous correspondence with laurien platzky, basically the same argument. She says CT is still going ahead, chamber of commerce president says we going ahead.

I don't think its goodbye to a CT olympic chance. Olympic park proposals and new stadia do impress the IOC, that said not constructing an athletics stadium when funds are available is just plain stupid. Its out of my hands though, I have e-mailed this to the premier, mayor etc. and well theres nothing more i can do about it.

1-Thank you very much for your comment.

We have indeed seriously considered an athletics track in the stadium
but the very thorough business plan shows that it is not financially
viable - the stadium would have to be a lot bigger to accommodate the
required sightlines for football and rugby and we cannot justify a
bigger stadium for the cost. In general athletics attracts a far smaller
group of spectators and a dedicated facility (possibly on the Common as
well) would make much more financial, economic and environmental sense
at this point.

I can assure you we have done the arithmetic and yes indeed we do want
to bid for the Olympics and look forward to your support.

kind regards

2-Thanks for the support and indeed we will go for 2020!

regards

Mo, we all appreciate you trying to drill some sense into the minds of the big wigs. However, if they made their mind up, they won't change it for small fry like us. I understand about the need to bring the price of the stadium down but this just seems so short-sighted. And wrong.

Mo, we all appreciate you trying to drill some sense into the minds of the big wigs. However, if they made their mind up, they won't change it for small fry like us. I understand about the need to bring the price of the stadium down but this just seems so short-sighted. And wrong.

Well. 2010 - june-july - world cup
2010-2011 domestic olympic bid race
2011- may - IOC expects cities to announce their intentions
2013 IOC makes its decision

So the need for an athletics facility is important.

If your timelines are correct Mo, then SA cities need to get their ducks in a row asap. I think this explains the sudden flurry of sports infrastructure activity in Durbs. Essentially they all have about 3-4 yrs to prepare for an internal Olympic bid too. Plans have to materialise now and construction will have to begin shortly too.

If your timelines are correct Mo, then SA cities need to get their ducks in a row asap. I think this explains the sudden flurry of sports infrastructure activity in Durbs. Essentially they all have about 3-4 yrs to prepare for an internal Olympic bid too. Plans have to materialise now and construction will have to begin shortly too.

the timeline is not exact, but the host city is announced 7 years before the games, the candidate/applicant phase takes place over 2 years, so rom 2011 to 2013, the host of the 2016 games will be announced in 2009, october in copenhagen. durban bid to host the 2007 ioc congress but was defeated.

1-Thank you very much for your comment.

We have indeed seriously considered an athletics track in the stadium
but the very thorough business plan shows that it is not financially
viable - the stadium would have to be a lot bigger to accommodate the
required sightlines for football and rugby and we cannot justify a
bigger stadium for the cost. In general athletics attracts a far smaller
group of spectators and a dedicated facility (possibly on the Common as
well) would make much more financial, economic and environmental sense
at this point.

I can assure you we have done the arithmetic and yes indeed we do want
to bid for the Olympics and look forward to your support.

kind regards

2-Thanks for the support and indeed we will go for 2020!

regards


I have no idea what that woman is on. Howcome Durban can build a mighty fine looking stadium, with an athletics tracks, but even with the greater cost of the CT stadium they cant get an athletics track in for it will cost too much??

I have no idea what that woman is on. Howcome Durban can build a mighty fine looking stadium, with an athletics tracks, but even with the greater cost of the CT stadium they cant get an athletics track in for it will cost too much??

only reason i can think is the expensive roof and facade material due to the complaints of green point residents. its all a bit suspect though.

i see the fact of the stadium not having a track as a massive missed opportunity that could come back to bite the city

I agree. I personally think that Durbs has better weather and sporting infrastructure than CT but CT easily has better brand recognition between the 2. Thus, if Durbs does win the internal bid and bids for 2020, then loses out to a major big brand city (like NY, Madrid etc) in a 2020 bid purely on the other city's big brand recognition factor, the SA authorities might rue not giving CT the facilities as the brand recognition of CT would have possibly have evened that factor out. Lost opportunities for the whole country, in my view.

I agree. I personally think that Durbs has better weather and sporting infrastructure than CT but CT easily has better brand recognition between the 2. Thus, if Durbs does win the internal bid and bids for 2020, then loses out to a major big brand city (like NY, Madrid etc) in a 2020 bid purely on the other city's big brand recognition factor, the SA authorities might rue not giving CT the facilities as the brand recognition of CT would have possibly have evened that factor out. Lost opportunities for the whole country, in my view.

Cape Town offers the combinations of sports facilities,spectacular backdrops, international recognition, personally I believe in a much better position to truly achieve economic development in the "poorer" areas, good basic transport infrastructure, the 1997 bid had a very large component which was privately funded something joburg and durbs could not do at the time, something like 50% +. Personally, still Africa's best chance at winning.

Durban has excellent planned facilities.

So does Cape Town. One cant deny the benefit of the senz stadium to a durban bid, nor can one deny the benefits of the planned indoor arena.

So lets assume durbs has betters sports infrastructure.
It certainly is not far ahead of CT.

Cape Town has:
*velodrome- regular use
*sahara park - archery - regular use
*newlands rugby stadium - regular use
*athlone football stadium - regular use
*softball stadium - regular use
*swartklip sports centre development
*camps bay regular beach volleyball venue -
*tennis centre being developed at greenpoint - planned
*convention centre and its expansion - regular use
*excellent mountain bike trails - regular use
*stellenbosch capable of hosting all modern pentathlon sports - regular use
*excellent marathon routes and cycling routes( do not count as venues) - regular use
*hartleyvale hockey stadium, numerous alternatives - regular use
*berg river - a regular whitewater venue - regular use
*options for sailing at simons town and table bay - volvo ocean race?
*mew way boxing centre (10,000) - community facility
*good hope centre, good venue for indoor sports -regular use as exhibition centre

Other:

*Phillipi East sports hall, Belhar sports centre and others - cant promise the quality of these venues and doubt they can be used
*Grand West Indoor Arena - http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=348&fArticleId=3163613
The planned development of a kings park sports precinct is excellent I dont believe that durban currently has better sports infrastructure.

oh and of course the greenpoint stadium for 2010.
this should be in the ct/durbs olympic thread, but its relevant for now. I doubt rasool or zille will respond to my emails regarding the stadium.

Ct needs, and unfortunately so, an athletics stadium, a good aquatics venue, if it does not need a large indoor arena, temporary solutions are available as seen with london 2012 ( use of 5/6 temporary venues ).

i see the fact of the stadium not having a track as a massive missed opportunity that could come back to bite the city

its more than a missed opportunity, its downright stupid.

An idea of the stadium height +/- 48m high

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/388318656_4d0483108a_b.jpg

all those venues are very dispersed tho mo. there is no one precinct for sport

all those venues are very dispersed tho mo. there is no one precinct for sport

but they exist, and if an olympic park were to be created at wingfield, each venue is connected by rail, most within 10 minutes of the city centre, and address the need for sports facilties in underdeveloped areas, which also happen to be closer to the airport, distances are on par with sydney.

I do agree that a precinct is needed, but the IOC won't approve 20+ venues clustered into one area.

Rethink on Green Point project

LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer

The city is expected to submit another proposal on how it plans to include the public in the design and management plans of the urban park at Green Point, which will become part of the reconfigured common where the 2010 World Cup stadium will be built.

This comes after a proposal two weeks ago failed to meet the expectations of Environment, Planning and Economic Development MEC Tasneem Essop.

A meeting was due tonight between mayor Helen Zille, city 2010 officials, Essop and her de-partment to iron out the sticking points, but was called off yesterday after agreement be-tween officials that the city re-vise its original plan.

The public participation process for the design of the 60ha urban park is a condition added to the environmental Record of Decision by Essop last month.

Yesterday, the city declined to reveal details of its proposed public participation strategy, saying that it was up to Essop to comment once she had considered the proposal.

The city's 2010 spokesperson, Pieter Cronje, would only say that the city planned to resubmit a revised plan to Essop and was eager to get the process started.

The city hired a professional public facilitator to design its public participation plan which it submitted to Essop's office nearly two weeks ago.

Essop's spokeswoman, Lynnette Johns, confirmed that the MEC was expecting the city to resubmit its proposal, but could not say where the original proposal had fallen short of expectations.

The process is not expected to affect the construction of the stadium, but could affect the start of the building of a new golf course for the Metropolitan Golf Club. Part of the land earmarked for the new greens forms part of the open space, the future of which will be up for public comment.

The city's mayoral committee and full council will have to approve the final designs be-fore they are to be submitted to Essop by July 5.

Published on the web by Cape Argus on February 15, 2007.

but they exist, and if an olympic park were to be created at wingfield, each venue is connected by rail, most within 10 minutes of the city centre, and address the need for sports facilties in underdeveloped areas, which also happen to be closer to the airport, distances are on par with sydney.

I do agree that a precinct is needed, but the IOC won't approve 20+ venues clustered into one area.

Mo, as you may be aware, Chicago and LA are bidding against each other to be America's host city for the 2016 bid. While LA has experience on its side (it's hosted 2 Olympic Games) its biggest drawback is how spaced out its facilities are from each other (similar to CT's). Lack of railway connections means ground transportation will be linking Olympic venues; ie. traffic, traffic, traffic. Chicago's biggest strength is how relatively compact its facilities are (similar to Durbs). If LA wins, it won't be on the strength of its spaced out facilities but because of its big brand name and its previous experience. Conventional wisdom suggests the selection committee would favour a compact bid over a spaced out one. I have seen no evidence that the IOC won't approve 20+ facilities into one area, nor of a city losing out because of this factor (please enlighten me with examples if you can, or its policy on this issue). In the case of Durbs, it's not as if everything is in one building. It's over a 5 km strip. That's compact and super convenient but not cramped.

I was in CT for the whole of last week but the traffic really got to me (all in non-peak times). This will be a major drawback in its aspirations for an Olympic bid, especially as most of the venues you list are not linked to each other by rail. First things first, though. CT needs a world class track facility with seating for at least 80,000 people. The new stadium is an excellent opportunity for CT to obtain this facility but shortsightedness on the part of officials means the govt will have to spend big bucks to rebuild the new stadium for any future Olympic bid (by widening and/or lengthening it) or build a new stadium from scratch. SA can ill afford to do either in the years ahead.

Mo, as you may be aware, Chicago and LA are bidding against each other to be America's host city for the 2016 bid. While LA has experience on its side (it's hosted 2 Olympic Games) its biggest drawback is how spaced out its facilities are from each other (similar to CT's). Lack of railway connections means ground transportation will be linking Olympic venues; ie. traffic, traffic, traffic. Chicago's biggest strength is how relatively compact its facilities are (similar to Durbs). If LA wins, it won't be on the strength of its spaced out facilities but because of its big brand name and its previous experience. Conventional wisdom suggests the selection committee would favour a compact bid over a spaced out one. I have seen no evidence that the IOC won't approve 20+ facilities into one area, nor of a city losing out because of this factor (please enlighten me with examples if you can, or its policy on this issue). In the case of Durbs, it's not as if everything is in one building. It's over a 5 km strip. That's compact and super convenient but not cramped.

I was in CT for the whole of last week but the traffic really got to me (all in non-peak times). This will be a major drawback in its aspirations for an Olympic bid, especially as most of the venues you list are not linked to each other by rail. First things first, though. CT needs a world class track facility with seating for at least 80,000 people. The new stadium is an excellent opportunity for CT to obtain this facility but shortsightedness on the part of officials means the govt will have to spend big bucks to rebuild the new stadium for any future Olympic bid (by widening and/or lengthening it) or build a new stadium from scratch. SA can ill afford to do either in the years ahead.

I'm aware of CT's strength's and weaknesses.
If LA wins, it will be because of the security it can offer the IOC of existing venues and a highly succesful games. Brand name will have very little to do with it and the situation is certainly not a good example of a CT vs durban bid.
The brand of Chicago and what it can offer the IOC is probably stronger than that of LA. The LA games are still "fresh" in the minds of many IOC members, simply because they really saved the Olympic movement, and hosted a financially successful games, something which will probably never be repeated again.

As much as the gvt would need to play a role in an Olympic bid, the previous bid did have a large private component as I said before, and I won't be surprised if this repeats itself.

While the clustering of facilities is great, clustering too many facilities into one strip causes logistical and security nightmares. What other rail connections exist in durban. So if 15 venues are located at kings park, where will the other venues be located? What economic development do they offer to durban as a whole?(rich and poor). My argument at the end of the day is not about the weakness of the durban plan but the existence of excellent sports facilities in CT, whether or not that includes an athletics stadium.

As for transport, of course CT has traffic, its a growing city, but IMO still has the best public transport in South Africa. A planned airport - city rail connection, supplemented by the BRT system as you would have seen which is already under construction. That IMO is just the start, to a transport plan which would make sense and would actually work.Sure the kings park complex is connected to the CBD by rail, but what kind of CBD are we really looking at in Durban?? How long before we see a significant change?

I've looked very closely at a CT olympic venue plan over the last 2 years, and compared it to many previous bids, and along with the city centre, greenpoint and a possible olympic park, it offers an excellent venue plan on par with sydney and perhaps even more compact.(remembering that the sydney olypic park was some 45 miles from the city centre.)

If cape town does bid and does create an olympic park, the park will be within 10 mins of the CBD, and be well connected to other venues. The lack of an olympic stadium/aquatic centre did not hurt the London olympic bid. Its venues too arent exactly located in one 5km strip. Have you tried getting from wembley stadium to wimbledon? Its biggest weakness(transport) became its biggest strength, going up against a city like Paris, who were technically the best candidate.

An olympic bid is a combination of many things roman, but at the end of the day its what can inspire those 105 members of the IOC the most to vote for your city. The cultural strength, dramatic beauty, good existing sports facilities, good basic transport infrastructure, excellent "green" energy plans and goals for 2020 and the brand of cape town combined offers a product and complete package to the IOC which durban will struggle to find even if it is South Africa's second attempt. If a durban olympic bid rests purely on its venues, well then I refer you to the list of previous and current olympic hosts.

Objection to stadium 'was not authorised'

By LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer

A submission to the city by the Mouille Point Ratepayers' Association to object to the building plans of the 2010 Green Point stadium was not sanctioned by the association.

Although on its letterhead and signed by its deputy chairperson Bronny Harding, the association's chairman, Marco van Embden, said the committee would need to discuss the contents of the submission before deciding whether or not to back it.

The city on Monday report-ed that it had received 26 objections to the building plans of the stadium, all except one from individual residents of Sea Point and Green Point.

When contacted by the Cape Argus, Van Embden said he was flummoxed as no such decision had been made at its last meeting two weeks ago.

He said later that the association's committee had received a copy of the objection from the city and would meet soon to consider the contents.

Harding said yesterday that she and others had failed to obtain revised stadium designs from the city, after a decision to reduce its diameter and height slightly to cut costs.

She said it was unacceptable that the city could not provide the updated designs, having put the process out for public comment and that ratepayers in the association could object as individuals.

A special full sitting of the city council is expected to decide on the matter next week.

City of Cape Town 2010 spokesman Pieter Cronje said that unless the city received a letter of clarity from the Mouille Point Ratepayers' Association, it would assume the objection to be from it.

Published on the web by Cape Argus on February 21, 2007.

still all seems a mess with no one being informed about whats going on

still all seems a mess with no one being informed about whats going on

The stadium is still going ahead and has avoided any court issues.
The City of Cape Town's PR/communications people are to blame for the lack of correspondence with interested parties regarding designs.

One of the stadium proposals. Thought I'd share.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p210/rfataar/image-3.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p210/rfataar/image-2.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p210/rfataar/image-1.jpg

It would have been cool to see built, love the over lapping rooves.

Thanx Mo

Mo, this is what they should have chosen. This is extremely unique from other stadiums. Did they conclude about chosing the design that we all know.

looks bold, but ugly imo. glad it was not chosen

interesting i sort of like it except that the roof has 2 halves looks uncompleted thou

This is bold and distinctive but I prefer the more elegant design of the current stadium.

looks nice inside-like you inside a sunflower..
but from the outside-its a shocker

Looks great from inside. But from the outside, it looks like something from an informal settlement. :lol:

One advantage it has over the chosen design is that it's totally unique. No one would forget that design. Whereas when people think back on the chosen design, they'll just confuse it with Munich.

Looks great from inside. But from the outside, it looks like something from an informal settlement. :lol:

One advantage it has over the chosen design is that it's totally unique. No one would forget that design. Whereas when people think back on the chosen design, they'll just confuse it with Munich.


The current design (or lack thereof) is safe since its facade and roof material won't have the bubble effect of allianz.

City happy with its allocation

By LINDSAY DENTLINGER
Metro Writer

The City of Cape Town has welcomed its portion of the national Budget - R2.4 billion.

Of the money earmarked for infrastructural development, the largest amount goes to the building of the Green Point stadium for 2010.

In the 2007-08 financial year the city will receive the first amount of R434 million for the stadium as part of a total commitment of R1.92bn over the next three years.

Mayoral committee member for finance Ian Neilson said the city had not received any more money for the stadium from the Treasury in yesterday's budget than the R1.92bn promised last year.

The cCity will also receive a hefty R230m through the 2007-08 Budget to accelerate public transport projects in the run-up to 2010.

The Treasury has given the City a further R1.1bn to spend, plugging the gap in its loss of revenue from scrapping municipal levies last year.

"The Budget to the city is a welcome amount of money and we are happy that funding has been increased," said Neilson.

The city's municipal infrastructure grant amounts to R232m. This is conditional funding and may only be spent on projects identified for funding by the city and already approved by the Treasury.

Neilson said this would be used in particular to upgrade sewerage works which needed an injection of at least R1bn.

Next month the city council will present its draft budget for comment.

It will include the R66m it has received from the Treasury for the upgrade and maintenance of the electricity grid.

The city's equitable share from the Budget totals R344m, which it may spend in any way it chooses.

Neilson said he was disappointed that the budget of the provincial government had not appeared to make additional provision for unfunded mandates of the city.

He said that, by law, the city was not responsible for the running of health facilities and libraries and that it needed fin-ancial assistance from the pro-vincial government to run them.

Published on the web by Cape Argus on February 22, 2007.