CEN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT UNIT · CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit ... SACNASP 401917/83 . Draft Scoping Report for the Proposed Construction and Operation

CEN INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT UNIT Environmental and Rural Development Specialist

Draft Scoping Report for the Proposed Construction and

Operation of a Small-Boat Harbour and a Landside

Development in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape

April 2013

CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit

Draft Scoping Report for the Proposed Construction and Operation of small-boat harbour and landside development in Plettenberg Bay in the Western Cape

2

Project Title: Draft Scoping Report for the Proposed Construction and Operation of a

Small-Boat Harbour and Landside Development in Plettenberg Bay in the

Western Cape.

Project Applicant: Western Cape Marina Investments (Pty) Ltd

Reference Number: 16/3/1/2/D1/13/0004/12

Environmental Assessment Practitioner: CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit

36 River Road

Walmer, Port Elizabeth. 6070

South Africa

Phone (041) 581-2983 • Fax 086 504 2549

E-mail: [email protected]

Document prepared by: Dr Belinda Clark

Project Manager and Review: Dr Mike Cohen

SACNASP 401917/83


3

Executive Summary

CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit was appointed by Western Cape

Marina Investments (Pty) Ltd to undertake an environmental assessment (Scoping

and Environmental Impact Assessment) for the proposed construction and operation

of a small-boat harbour and landside development in Plettenberg Bay in the Western

Cape. This environmental report is required in terms of the Regulations promulgated

under Section 24(5) read with section 44 of the National Environment Management

Act (Act 107 of 1998).

The environmental decision making authority for the Environmental Impact

Assessment (EIA) is the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and

Development Planning (DEA&DP) and an environmental impact report is required in

terms of the Regulations promulgated under Section 24(5) read with Section 44 of

the National Environmental Management Act 107 of 1998 as amended (Government

Notice R.543 in Government Gazette 33306 of 10 December 2010). This chapter

presents the background to the Scoping Report and includes an overview of the

structure of the report

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference established for the environmental assessment of the

proposed development are:

Conduct the necessary environmental investigations in order to produce the

required scoping report for the proposed development

Identify potential significant negative and positive environmental impacts associated with the proposed development

Identify and describe reasonable and feasible project alternatives

Engage the public and relevant stakeholders throughout the environmental assessment process and incorporate all comments in the Scoping Report


4

Site Description

It is proposed to build a small-boat harbour in the Piesang Estuary in the area

between Beacon Isle and the road bridge over the river ~600 m upstream from the

estuary mouth. The harbour entrance is planned adjacent to and north of Beacon

Isle. The nearshore marine environment is therefore also included in the study site.

Residential and commercial development is planned on land surrounding the estuary

and along Central Beach.

In the tender document developed by the Bitou Municipality, activities are proposed

on 4371, 256, 237, 248, 4117 and 2132, Plettenberg Bay (approximate central GPS

co-ordinates: 34°003.631’S 23°022.686’E). The erven are owned by the National

Department of Public Works (Erf 237, 248 and 2132) and the Bitou Municipality (refer

to title deeds attached as Appendix 5). A letter of consent from the Department of

Public Works to apply for a development on state land is included in Appendix 6.

The figures below are extracts from a 1:50 000 topographical map and an aerial

image respectively indicating the relative location of the properties.

Most of the properties are situated either within the coastal protection zone or coastal

public property as defined in Section 17 and 7 respectively of the National

Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act 24 of 2008.

The study area occurs within an urbanized environment and high-use recreational

area. The lower reaches of the estuary are flanked by residential developments, a

public park/picnic area, natural area, roads and parking areas, and the Beacon Isle

Hotel. Prominent coastal features used by the public include the following: ‘The

Blinders’ are rocky outcrops in the nearshore zone north-east of Beacon Isle and

opposite Central Beach. Fishing boats sometimes moor between the Blinders and

Central Beach. Central Beach, the main bathing beach of the town, is situated

between Beacon Isle and Lookout Rocks to the north . There is a slipway on Central

Beach from which boats launch. A National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) station is

located on Central Beach. People also snorkel in the nearshore zone opposite

Central Beach and at the rocky reefs immediately north of Beacon Isle. The Wedge is

a popular surfing spot off Lookout Rocks. North of Lookout Rocks, Lookout Beach

and then the mouth of the Keurbooms River occur. Robberg Beach occurs south of

Beacon Isle and is also used for swimming. This beach stretches a long way towards


5

Robberg peninsula. Guests at the Beacon Isle Hotel use the cove (with a small

enclosed beach) on the northern side of Beacon Isle (WSP, 2013).

Figure: An extract of a 1:50 000 topographical map showing the relative location of

the site.


6

Figure: An aerial image of the area, showing the relative location of individual erven

included in the application. The harbour will extend to the road bridge over the river.

The harbour entrance is proposed north of and adjacent to Beacon Isle.


7

The Development Proposal

The development proposal can broadly be divided into two components – i.e. a

landside residential and commercial component with associated infrastructural

requirements, and a small-boat harbour and associated structures and infrastructure

Residential and Commercial Development

The following land uses are proposed:

Residential: 482 units in 8 separate buildings with heights ranging from 3 to 7 floors, and with a total floor space of 64 049 m²

Penthouses: The top floors of certain of the residential blocks to have 10 penthouses totalling 1 400 m²

Offices: Offices and commercial space totalling 1 343 m²;

Bungalows: A total of 17 bungalows are proposed along the Central Beach strip with the total land area occupied being 4 080m²

Hotel: A 110 room five-star hotel of approximately 6 600m²

Retail: Retail and commercial space along the northern shore totalling 8 700 m²

Other: A plaza, yacht club, NSRI facility and general use areas totalling 1 450 m²

Light Industry: Provision for light industry which would probably be fishing orientated with 750 m² provided

Basement Parking: Parking within or below the buildings with 644 parking bays over an area of 16 068 m²

Open Parking: Public open parking to be provided alongside the various buildings. Total parking including beach parking is estimated at 1504 bays

Total development area: ~87 000 m2.


8

The figures below show a ground floor schematic layout plan, a plan of the

bungalows proposed along Central Beach, and the proposed development

superimposed on an aerial image to have an idea of the extent of the affected area.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

9

Fi

gure

: A g

roun

d flo

or s

chem

atic

layo

ut p

lan

(Sou

rce:

Bar

tsch

Con

sult

(Pty

) Ltd

).

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

10

Fi

gure

: A p

lan

of th

e bu

ngal

ows

prop

osed

alo

ng C

entra

l Bea

ch (S

ourc

e: B

arts

ch C

onsu

lt (P

ty) L

td).

No

deve

lopm

ent w

ill ta

ke p

lace

in th

e

circ

led

area


11 1

Figure: The proposed development superimposed on an aerial image (Source:

Bartsch Consult (Pty) Ltd).


12 1

The harbour entrance channel

Entrance channel dimensions

Allowance was made for skiboats, yachts and chokka boats to be able to enter and

leave the harbour during spring low tide. Applying the largest draught of 2.3 m, the

required level of the seabed in the outer entrance channel was calculated to be -0.57

m MSL (MLWS) – (2.3 m + allowance for ship motions, underkeel clearance, siltation

and survey inaccuracies). The required seabed level of the outer channel was

selected to be -3.5 m MSL. Once a boat has entered the channel and has

progressed to be in calmer water, the required elevation becomes -3.0 m MSL.

Using the guidelines for the width of the entrance channel according to CED (2007)

and Standards Australia (2001), the bottom width of the channel is 30 m. Note that it

has been assumed that all sail boats (yachts) will navigate the entrance channel

under power and therefore, additional channel width for sailing is superfluous.

Together with side slopes, the top width of the channel should be about 50 m.

Comparison of two possible locations for the entrance channel

Two possible locations for the harbour entrance were investigated: i.e. the Central

Beach entrance to the north of Beacon Isle (Option 1); and the Robberg Beach

entrance to the south of Beacon Isle (Option 2) – refer to the Figure below. A

comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the two entrance alternatives

was done by the coastal engineers considering breakwater layout, breakwaters, sand

transport and dredging, navigability of the entrance channel and the influence on the

beaches. This detail is given under the description of project alternatives in Chapter

5. The preferred entrance is Option 1.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

13

Fi

gure

: An

indi

catio

n of

the

two

alte

rnat

ive

entra

nces

con

side

red

(Sou

rce:

WS

P, 2

013)

.


14 1

Services

BSM Baker (Pty) Ltd have been appointed to investigate the services that will be

required by the development and alternative supply options. The development will

require services including water, sanitation, solid waste disposal, energy and

stormwater management. At this stage, it is clear that the existing waste water

treatment works in the town need to be upgraded to accept the predicted additional

loading of 0.9 Ml per day. This upgrade will trigger activities listed under Category B

of the National Waste Act and will require an EIA and Waste Licence application to

the National Department of Environmental Affairs. Once detailed designs are

available, such an application will be lodged in consultation with the municipality.

The existing landfill site in Plettenberg Bay is currently experiencing a number of

problems, and is in the process of being decommissioned. An EIA is underway for a

new transfer station. Upgrading of infrastructure for potable water supply will also

have to be done. It is proposed to construct a new storage reservoir adjacent to the

existing reservoir at Whale Rock Heights, approximately 3.5 km south-west of the

development area. The municipality's water supply is currently under stress, and an

application has been made to the Department of Water Affairs to expand the town's

existing licence rights to get more water. A desalination plant has been constructed

at the estuary to supplement the town's water supply. A Section 24 G application was

submitted to the DEA&DP for this activity as it was illegally constructed prior to

environmental authorisation because of the urgency of the situation. A Draft EIA was

released in December 2012 and an authorisation/refusal is pending. The proposed

harbour development will mean that the desalination plant will have to be relocated.

The applicant has indicated that should this happen, a separate EIA will be done at

his expense. The source of water for the development is under evaluation.

Alternatives are the expansion of the relocated existing desalination plant, the

acquisition of existing water rights currently controlled by private parties, and the

approved acquisition of new water rights. A combination of these solutions may also

be appropriate. Their preliminary report is attached as Appendix 7.


15

Listed Activities

National Environmental Management Act (Act 107 of 1998)

The Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism has in terms of sections 24 and

24D of the National Environmental Management Amendment Act (Act No. 107 of

1998), listed the activities that require an environmental assessment.

In terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2010, made under

section 24(5) of the Act and published in Government Notice R.543 in Government

Gazette 33306 of 10 December 2010 the following activities are subject to an

assessment.

GNR 544 Activity Description Project description 9 The construction of facilities or infrastructure

exceeding 1000 metres in length for the bulk transportation of water, sewage or storm water - (i) with an internal diameter of 0,36 metres or more; or (ii) with a peak throughput of 120 litres per second or more, excluding where (a) such facilities or infrastructure are for bulk transportation of water, sewage or storm water or storm water drainage inside a road reserve; or (b) where such construction will occur within urban areas but further than 32 metres from a watercourse, measured from the edge of the watercourse

This listing applies to infrastructure that is required to provide services to the residential and commercial components of the development.

10 The construction of facilities or infrastructure for the transmission and distribution of electricity - (ii) inside urban areas or industrial complexes with a capacity of 275 kilovolts or more.

Construction of power distribution lines to connect the development to the existing grid

11 The construction of: (i) canals; (ii) channels; (iii) bridges; (iv) bulk storm water outlet structures; (v) marinas;(vi) jetties exceeding 50 square metres in size; (vii) slipways exceeding 50 square metres in size;(viii) buildings exceeding 50 square metres in size; or (ix) infrastructure or structures covering 50 square metres or more where such construction occurs within a watercourse or within 32 metres of a watercourse, measured from the edge of a

Construction of buildings and infrastructure within 32 m of the Piesang River


16

GNR 544 Activity Description Project description watercourse, excluding where such construction will occur behind the development setback line

13 The construction of facilities or infrastructure for the storage, or for the storage and handling, of a dangerous good, where such storage occurs in containers with a combined capacity of 80 but not exceeding 500 cubic metres;

Storage of fuel in the harbour area for boats

14 The construction of structures in the coastal public property where the development footprint is bigger than 50 square metres, excluding (ii) the construction of a port or harbour, in which case activity 24 of Notice 545 of 2010 applies;

Construction of infrastructure below the high-water mark of the sea

16 Construction or earth moving activities in the sea, an estuary, or within the littoral active zone or a distance of 100 metres inland of the high-water mark of the sea or an estuary, whichever is the greater, in respect of – (i) fixed or floating jetties and slipways; (ii) tidal pools; (iii) embankments; (iv) rock revetments or stabilising structures including stabilising walls; (v) buildings of 50 square metres or more; or (vi) infrastructure covering 50 square metres or more – but excluding (a) if such construction or earth moving activities will occur behind a development setback line; where such construction or earth moving or (b) where such construction or earth moving activities is related to the construction of a port or harbour, in which case activity 24 of Notice 545 of 2010 applies.

Construction of infrastructure below the high-water mark of the sea

17 The planting of vegetation or placing of any material on dunes and exposed sand surfaces, within the littoral active zone for the purpose of preventing the free movement of sand, erosion or accretion, excluding where the planting of vegetation or placement of material relates to restoration and maintenance of indigenous coastal vegetation or where such planting of vegetation or placing of material will occur behind a development setback line.

Planting of vegetation on dunes is proposed on portions of Erf 237

18 The infilling or depositing of any material of more than 5 cubic metres into, or the dredging, excavation, removal or moving of soil, sand, shells, shell grit, pebbles or rock or more than 5 cubic metres from: (i) a watercourse; (ii) the sea;

Excavating material from the estuary and coastal zone to build a harbour Excavating material within 100 m of the highwater mark of the sea to construct residential and commercial properties Infilling material into the estuary to reclaim land for development


17

GNR 544 Activity Description Project description (iii) the seashore; (iv) the littoral active zone, an estuary or a distance of 100 metres inland of the high-water mark of the sea or an estuary, whichever distance is the greater

23 The transformation of undeveloped, vacant or derelict land to – (a) residential, retail, commercial, recreational, industrial or institutional use, inside an urban area, and where the total area to be transformed is 5 hectares or more, but less than 20 hectares,

Transformation of undeveloped land to a harbour and residential and commercial structures

24 The transformation of land bigger than 1000 square metres in size, to residential, retail, commercial use, where, at the time of the coming into effect of this Schedule or thereafter such land was zoned open space, conservation or had an equivalent zoning.

Transformation of erven that are zoned for public open space to residential and commercial use

26 Any process or activity identified in terms of section 53(1) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004).

GNR 546 Activity Description Project Description 2 The construction of reservoirs for bulk water

supply with a capacity of more than 250 cubic metres (d) in the Western Cape (iii) all areas outside urban areas

Construction of a reservoir for additional storage capacity to supply potable water to the development

4 The construction of a road wider than 4 metres with a reserve less than 13,5 metres. (a) In Western Cape: (i) In an estuary; (iii) In urban areas: (aa) Areas zoned for use as public open space within urban areas; and (bb) Areas designated for conservation use in Spatial Development Frameworks adopted by the competent authority, or zoned for a conservation purpose

Construction of a road to access various parts of the development on erven that are zoned for public open space

10 The construction of facilities or infrastructure for the storage, or storage and handling of a dangerous good, where such storage occurs in containers with a combined capacity of 30 but not exceeding 80 cubic metres. (a) In Western Cape: (i) In an estuary; (iii) Inside urban areas: (aa) Areas seawards of the development setback line or within 200 metres from the high-water mark of the sea if no such development setback

Storage of fuel for boats


18

GNR 546 Activity Description Project Description line is determined; (bb) Areas on the watercourse side of the development setback line or within 100 metres from the edge of a watercourse where no such setback line has been determined

12 The clearance of an area of 300 square metres or more of vegetation where 75% or more of the vegetative cover constitutes indigenous vegetation. (c) Within the littoral active zone or 100 metres inland from high water mark of the sea or an estuary, whichever distance is the greater, excluding where such removal will occur behind the development setback line on erven in urban areas.

Clearing vegetation to build structures and infrastructure related to the harbour, residential and commercial nodes

13 The clearance of an area of 1 hectare or more of vegetation where 75% or more of the vegetative cover constitutes indigenous vegetation

(a) Critical biodiversity areas and ecological support areas as identified in systematic biodiversity plans adopted by the competent authority. (c) In Western Cape: (i) in an estuary (iii) In urban areas, the following: (aa) Areas zoned for use as public open space; (bb) Areas designated for conservation use in Spatial Development Frameworks adopted by the competent authority or zoned for a conservation purpose; (cc) Areas seawards of the development setback line; (dd) Areas on the watercourse side of the development setback line or within 100 metres from the edge of a watercourse where no such setback line has been determined

Clearance of vegetation to accommodate the development

16 The construction of: (i) jetties exceeding 10 square metres in size; (ii) slipways exceeding 10 square metres in size; (iii) buildings with a footprint exceeding 10 square metres in size; or (iv) infrastructure covering 10 square metres or morewhere such construction occurs within a watercourse or within 32 metres of a watercourse, measured from the edge of a watercourse (a) In Western Cape: (i) In an estuary;

Construction of structures and infrastructure within 32 of the Piesang River and estuary, and within 100 m of the high water mark of the sea


19

GNR 546 Activity Description Project Description (iii) inside urban areas: (aa) Areas zoned for use as public open space; (bb) Areas designated for conservation use in Spatial Development Frameworks adopted by the competent authority or zoned for a conservation purpose; (cc) Areas seawards of the development setback line or within 100 metres of the high water mark where no setback line

GNR 545 Activity Description Project Description14 The construction of an island, anchored platform

or any other permanent structure on or along the sea bed excluding construction of facilities

Construction of permanent structures on the sea bed as part of the harbour

15 Physical alteration of undeveloped, vacant or derelict land for residential, retail, commercial, recreational, industrial or institutional use where the total area to be transformed is 20 hectares or more

Physical alteration of land greater than 20 ha in size to accommodate the harbour and residential and commercial nodes

24 Construction or earth moving activities in the sea, an estuary, or within the littoral active zone or a distance of 100 metres inland of the high-water mark of the sea or an estuary, whichever distance is the greater, in respect of: (i) facilities associated with the arrival and departure of vessels and the handling of cargo; (ii) piers; (iii) inter- and sub-tidal structures for entrapment of sand; (iv) breakwater structures; (v) coastal marinas; (vi) coastal harbours or ports; (vii) structures for reclaiming parts of the sea; but excluding — (a) activities listed in activity 16 in Notice 544 of 2010

Construction of the harbour and other structures and infrastructure within 100 m of the highwater mark of the sea

National Environmental Management: Waste Act No. 59 of 2008

The additional sanitation effluent generated by the development will require

expansion of the existing municipal sewerage treatment plant in Plettenberg Bay.

Based on conceptual designs, the projected peak season daily discharge from the

development and accordingly the size of the upgrade will be approximately 0.9

Megalitres (219 000 m3 per annum). The following waste management activities

listed in GNR 718 in terms of Section 19 (1) of the National Environmental


20

Management: Waste Act No. 59 of 2008 have been identified and require a Waste

Management License (WML):

Category A

Activity No. 19: “The expansion of facilities of or changed to existing facilities for any process or activity, which requires an amendment of an existing permit or licence or a new permit of licence in terms of legislation governing the release of pollution, effluent or waste”

Category B

Activity No. 7: “The treatment of effluent, wastewater or sewage with an annual throughput capacity of 15 000 cubic metres or more”

Activity No 11: “The construction of facilities for activities listed in Category B of this Schedule (not in isolation to associated activity)

A separate application will be submitted for a Waste Licence once detailed designs

are available.

National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act 24 of 2008

Oceans and Coasts have been contacted to determine what application process is

required in terms of the ICMA. They advised that once an environmental

authorisation is available (should one be issued), then the process specified under

Section 27 of the act must be followed. The application would be made to the

Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs in terms of section 27(6) of the ICMA for

the reclamation of land. Furthermore, if there will be any form of discharge into the

coastal environment, then a Coastal Discharge Permit will have to be applied for in

terms of section 69 of the Act. Various sections of the ICMA will be considered in the

EIA process, especially the impact on the coastal protection zone and coastal public

property.


21

Outeniqua Sensitive Coastal Area Extension Regulations (GN R. 1528 of 1998)

Erven 237, 248 and 2132 have been designated as part of the Outeniqua Sensitive

Coastal Area in terms of the Outeniqua Sensitive Coastal Area Extension

Regulations (GN R. 1528 of 1998) published under the Environment Conservation

Act 79 of 1989. In terms of these regulations, an authorisation is required from the

Bitou Municipality prior to the removal of indigenous vegetation from the said erven.

This will form part of the application to DEA&DP in terms of the EIA Regulations

(2010) and a separate application will not be submitted.

Off-Road Vehicle Regulations

These regulations provide for a general prohibition of the recreational use of vehicles

in the coastal zone, provide for demarcation of limited recreational use areas, certain

permissible uses and certain activities where the application of a permit is required to

use vehicles in the coastal zone and /or a license is required in order to operate a

Boat-Launching Site.

The activities requiring the granting of a permit for one or more vehicles to be used

within the coastal zone are listed in Regulation 6(4) of the ORV Regulations, and the

requirements for obtaining a license in order to operate a boat-launching site are

listed in Regulation 7 of the ORV Regulations.

Regulation 7(2) of the ORV Regulations state that -

"No person may operate a boat-launching site or use a vehicle at a boat-launching

site, unless the operator of that site has a valid boat-launching site licence for that

site issued under these regulations".

The applications are assessed in terms of the National Environmental Management

Act, 1998, with specific reference to Section 24(7) of the Act, in respect of the

investigation, assessment and communication of the potential impact of the activity

being applied for. The review authority ensures that these applications are co-

ordinated with other related applications, namely; a lease agreement in terms of the

Sea Shore Act, 1935 (to be repealed according to section 98 of the National

Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act 24 of 2008 and

section 65 of the said Act will apply), or an EIA application where construction below


22

the high water mark is being applied for. Based on this assessment, a decision will

be made by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

whether the activity being applied for is authorised or not.

An application for boat launching and using construction vehicles within the coastal

zone will be made in terms of these regulations.

Methodology

The specific methodology adopted in identifying and assessing impacts and project

alternatives is described in Chapter 5 of the Scoping Report. The Environmental

Impact Assessment Regulations (2010) clearly state the requirements that need to

be fulfilled by all role-players involved in the Environmental Assessment Process. In

this regard, Regulations 28 to 33 list the requirements that an EAP must fulfill in order

to compile a comprehensive Environmental Impact Report and Management

Programme. The methodology was designed to meet the requirements of the EIA

Regulations (2010) and guidelines published in support of the regulations.

Alternatives

The ’no-go’ option

The ‘no-go’ option assumes the status quo, i.e. the harbour and landside

development does not happen. A review of available literature in Chapter 4 has

shown that the estuary and nearshore marine environment is sensitive and has

ecologically important attributes. In terms of the Garden Route Sector Plan (2010),

most of the erven proposed for development occur in a critical biodiversity area or

coastal process area, and land use guidelines suggested for such areas are not

compatible with those proposed in this application. A large percentage of interested

and affected parties have noted that they do not support the development in its

current format (i.e. the scale has to be substantially reduced and must take

cognizance of the ‘sense of place’ of Plettenberg Bay and the natural environment).

In the absence of detailed environmental specialist studies (that will only be done at

EIA stage), it is therefore assumed that the no-go option will mean the exiting

impacts will remain. Findings of the preliminary social investigation done by Dr Anton

de Wit (Appendix 8) suggest that there are positive and negative social impacts of

the proposed development – positive impacts include socio-economic benefits as a


23

result of employment creation, and empowerment benefits through skills

development and training in construction phase in particular; while negative impacts

include socio-cultural conflicts, intrusion impacts and the resultant decrease in

tourism and indirect impacts on businesses in construction phase, competition for

scarce employment opportunities between ‘outsiders’ and ‘locals’, impacts on

resources used by the community (e.g. road access to the beach) and the loss of a

portion of Central Beach (this needs to be quantified in detailed design phase and

when specialist studies are available).

There is also an overwhelming concern of the risk that the development may have on

the municipality and the ratepayers of Plettenberg Bay if it fails. The viability of the

development has been questioned, and key concerns are the proposed scale of the

development that has the potential to impact on service provision and existing

businesses in town, as well as the potential burden of costs from on-going dredging

etc. The economic impact assessment done by Rand International Capital (2013)

recommends a number of mitigation factors that could reduce these risks, and

indicates the need for a market demand study to determine the appropriate scale of

the development (amongst others) to meet the demand. Such a study will be done as

part of the EIA. The economic impact assessment evaluated the balance between

financial benefits and costs, and found that although the achieving of profits for some

can come at an unacceptable cost to wider society, the overall balance is in favour of

the small boat harbour and marina project – this is based upon the information and

undertakings which have been provided by the developer. The study predicts

significantly positive impacts from the development to the local community in terms of

employment in construction phase for 4 years (an additional 968 jobs would be

created per year by the end of year one, with 459 being direct jobs; with a total

potential earning of R44 million in year one), a realization of operating expenditure in

operational phase that will sustain a number of long-terms jobs (potential operational

revenue could create 1458 employment opportunities, with 893 of these being direct

employment, 176 being indirect employment and 389 induced employment

opportunities), an increase in the local GDP, and fiscal revenue to the municipality

and national treasury (the potential rates and utilities income to the Municipality over

a twenty-year period would be R 600.8 million, with a net income of R 288.0 million,

which would have a Net Present Value of R 125.7 million to the Municipality).


24

It would therefore appear that there are potentially significant negative and positive

impacts associated with the no-go option and that these can only be objectively

assessed when detailed specialist studies are available in the EIA phase.

Site alternatives

Initial screening assessment (2000)

A comparative study of 4 alternative sites was done by a team of specialists in 2000

to make a recommendation to the proponent on the most suitable site for a small-

boat harbour – these included the Robberg area, the Piesang River, the Keurbooms

estuary and the Robberg vlei. The investigation recommended the Piesang River as

the preferred site.

The evaluation of the four candidate sites took place using a team of specialists with

a sound knowledge of the Plettenberg Bay area using a site screening checklist

compiled specifically for the proposed small boat harbour. The checklist covered both

socio-economic and biophysical aspects. For reference purposes, the screening

report is attached as Appendix 2. A specialist workshop was convened on Tuesday

18th July 2000 and the four candidate sites were rated using the checklist

Based on the ratings applied during the site assessment, the specialist group

concluded that the development of a small boat harbour would have the least

environmental impact on the Piesang Estuary. The screening exercise also indicated

that the Piesang Estuary site was best located to provide the greatest economic and

social benefits to the greater Plettenberg Bay. The Piesang River site is best located

in terms of the existing infrastructure in Plettenberg Bay.

The current study

As part of the current assessment, a local estuarine specialist, Dr Brian Allanson,

was appointed to do an updated comparative assessment of 6 areas – Keurbooms

estuary, Piesang estuary, Robberg beach and vlei, Kranshoek and Poortjies on the

Keurbooms estuary. The Kranshoek and Poortjies sites were recommended in the

public participation process. The results of his study are shown in Appendix 3. The

study recommends the Piesang River estuary and surrounding land as the preferred

alternative (as put forward in the original tender by the Bitou Municipality).


25

A series of focus group meetings was held with key community organizations and

authorities (e.g. the Bitou Municipality and the DEA&DP in September 2012) to get

their input into the Scoping process. Several groups, including the Bitou Municipality,

strongly suggested that an alternative of developing a harbour in the marine

environment east of the Beacon Isle rocks be considered (as per the Geustyn

Forsyth and Joubert Inc. proposal – December 1985 or similar concept). The

comparative assessment of sites done by Dr Allanson includes an addendum that

comments on this option. Dupre Lombard of the Bitou Municipality suggested that the

developer engage the municipality to determine if other erven could be made

available for landside development if the latter harbour option is pursued and

available terrestrial land is limited. Mr Lombard was contacted to discuss this option

and to determine what municipal erven could be considered. He responded as

follows:

‘We are still not in a position to provide you with any further land detail. I furthermore believe you are putting the cart before the horses by insisting to get information on the land to be considered for authorisation of activities.

Remember that even before we get to considering alternative land, which would have to be a Council decision, you have to respond to my initial question, namely: What is the feasibility of the project? If you look at the memorandum of agreement between the Municipality and the applicant, it is step one. Even before authorisations are applied for, step one requires the submission of a feasibility assessment through an environmental process. I would only be able to go to Council with the Phase 2 product (identification of land for development) if Phase 1 is suitably addressed and agreed to. If we do not know what the extent and value of the project is and we do not know what values have to be transacted, how can we agree on land, as land is the “currency” to be used to pay for the project, if it is at all feasible?’ This option will not be considered further because of the above-mentioned

uncertainties in availability of land for residential and commercial development, as

well as the perceived costs of this option by the developer.

Harbour entrance alternatives

Two entrances to the harbour were evaluated by the coastal engineers – i.e. the

Central Beach entrance north of the Beacon Isle Hotel and the Robberg Beach

entrance south of the Beacon Isle Hotel. The ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of each option are

given in tables below. The preferred option is the Central Beach entrance.

Table: The Central Beach entrance option (Source: WSP, 2013).


26

OPTION 1: CENTRAL BEACH ENTRANCE (ENTRANCE NORTH OF BEACON ISLE HOTEL)

Pros Cons Breakwaters The breakwaters are located in shallower water than Option 2 and subsequently will result in less volume and construction cost. Due to the shallower water, the design wave height will be less than that of Option 2. This will directly affect the armour size and cost. Part of the rock of Beacon Isle is used to reduce the length of the main breakwater. Construction will be easier than for Option 2. Dredging From the results of the test probes, it seems unlikely that rock will have to be dredged from the entrance. Maintenance dredging will be substantially lower compared with the Robberg Beach entrance. NavigabilityAccess will be with the waves or at a slight angle and thus easier than navigating through the entrance channel of Option 2. The approach route only has a slight curve and is thus easier to navigate. If a boat overshoots the entrance, it will land on Central Beach from where it could be recovered without major loss. BeachesA small spending beach will reduce wave penetration into the marina and provide a better facility for Beacon Isle Hotel.

Breakwaters Total length of breakwaters is about 20 m longer compared with the Robberg Beach entrance. BeachesCentral Beach will be affected: a part will be forfeited for the entrance channel but local accretion immediately to the north of the secondary breakwater will provide a small extra section of beach.


27

OPTION 1: CENTRAL BEACH ENTRANCE (ENTRANCE NORTH OF BEACON ISLE HOTEL)

Pros Cons Table: The Robberg Beach entrance option (Source: WSP, 2013)

OPTION 2: ROBBERG BEACH ENTRANCE (ENTRANCE SOUTH OF BEACON ISLE HOTEL)

Pros ConsBreakwaters The rock of Beacon Isle will serve as the secondary breakwater. BeachesThe proposed layout will only affect a small portion of the long Robberg Beach. Layout Fit in better with the planned architectural layout of harbour.

Breakwaters Sections of the breakwater are in deeper water requiring a larger volume of rock and thus the construction will be significantly more expensive even though the breakwater length is slightly shorter than that of Option 1. Design wave height is higher and thus the required armouring of the breakwater is larger and more expensive. Construction will be more difficult than for Option 1. Dredging Rock will have to be dredged from the entrance, which is very expensive. Maintenance dredging will be substantially higher compared with the Central Beach entrance. NavigabilityAccess will be with beam waves, which makes navigation difficult. Entrance channel has a 90 degree curve and it is thus difficult to navigate. Localised rock along the approach route may make navigation more difficult and increase the danger; however, the approach route can


28

OPTION 2: ROBBERG BEACH ENTRANCE (ENTRANCE SOUTH OF BEACON ISLE HOTEL)

Pros Consbe between rocky areas to avoid these localised areas. If a boat overshoots the entrance, it will land on the rocks of Beacon Isle resulting possibly in loss of life and major or total damage. Layout Municipal infrastructure (e.g. the parking area) will have to be partially demolished. Will affect the land area (road, parking areas and access to Robberg Beach) to the west of the Beacon Isle Hotel. New access to Beacon Isle Hotel along the entrance channel will be required; alternatively, a high, expensive bridge has to be built. All traffic to the Beacon Isle Hotel may have to go through the congested parking area for Central Beach. May affect the plots to the south-west of the entrance channel as well.

The option of installing a lock system in the harbour

It was proposed to construct a lock close to the mouth of the Piesang River and

create a marina facility upstream of the lock. The main reason cited for the

incorporation of a lock system is to create an almost constant water-level in the

marina area. The coastal engineers (WSP) investigated this option in detail. The pros

and cons for installation of a pound lock system in the Piesang River are tabulated

below.

Table: Advantages and disadvantages of a lock system (Source: WSP, 2013)


29

Pros Cons An almost stable water-level can be achieved in the marina that may create a different atmosphere than when it has at fluctuating water-level. The lock may add to the charm of the marina and can be a focus point of the development.

The capital cost of a lock is high. Environmental impacts are likely to be unacceptably high. Fish migration and freshening of the water upstream of the lock could be problematic. The lock will influence the hydrology of the river and flood levels have to be simulated if a lock system would be implemented. This may have a negative impact on the existing 1:50 year flood line upstream of the lock. Low-lying areas like Beau Rivage are more likely to be inundated than at present. A flushing programme to wash sediment away may need to be implemented. The frequency of this operation has to be determined. The lock will have an impact on the sediment movement across the lock – this effect still has to be quantified. Upstream of the lock, sediment will accumulate over time causing the basin to get shallower. Downstream of the lock, the sediment supply will probably reduce slightly and the effect on the beach width needs to be studied. Any sediment accretion from the ocean side may affect the workings of the lock. Maintenance dredging and resulting operational costs will be required on the upstream as well as the downstream side of the lock – the frequency hereof yet to be quantified. The lock needs to be operated and maintained, resulting in operational expenses


30

Pros Cons such as clearing debris and sediment that are clogging the seals of the gate(s). This maintenance will not be required if there is no lock. Additional capital costs may have to be incurred to feed salt water into the ecological system upstream of the lock to maintain the salinity of the upstream water and to ensure good water quality. Additional operational costs may be required to maintain the salt water supply system.

After considering the above factors, the coastal engineers have made a strong

recommendation against installing a lock system. They note that the potential

environmental impacts and considerable additional cost do not warrant the

advantage of an almost stable water-level.

Residential and commercial development layout alternatives

Once results of specialist studies are available, a number of site development plans

will be assessed. Alternative densities, building heights and development footprints

will be considered. It is envisaged that these will largely be informed by the market

demand study, the visual impact assessment and biodiversity specialist studies.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

31

Pote

ntia

l Im

pact

s

The

follo

win

g po

tent

ial i

mpa

cts

have

bee

n id

entif

ied

for f

urth

er s

tudy

in th

e E

IR:

Impa

ctPh

ase

1. B

iodi

vers

ity im

pact

s - t

erre

stria

l

a. Im

pact

on

flora

l spe

cies

pat

tern

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

a.i.

Cle

arin

g du

ne v

eget

atio

n on

the

north

ern

side

of t

he e

stua

ry a

long

Cen

tral B

each

to b

uild

bu

ngal

ows

and

asso

ciat

ed in

frast

ruct

ure

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l a.

ii. C

lear

ing

of ri

paria

n ve

geta

tion

alon

g th

e no

rther

n an

d so

uthe

rn b

anks

of t

he e

stua

ry fo

r re

side

ntia

l and

com

mer

cial

dev

elop

men

t and

ass

ocia

ted

infra

stru

ctur

e C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

b. Im

pact

on

ecol

ogic

al p

roce

sses

that

are

nec

essa

ry to

faci

litat

e bi

odiv

ersi

ty p

ersi

sten

ce

thro

ugh

dist

urba

nce

to a

crit

ical

bio

dive

rsity

are

a an

d hy

drol

ogic

al p

roce

ss a

rea

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l c.

Los

s of

hab

itat f

or fa

una

– pr

imar

ily a

vifa

una

and

smal

l mam

mal

s th

at u

se th

e la

st

rem

aini

ng te

rres

trial

veg

etat

ion

in th

e ar

ea

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l d.

pre

senc

e of

con

stru

ctio

n ve

hicl

es a

nd s

taff

may

dis

turb

and

/or k

ill fa

una

Con

stru

ctio

n

e. d

istu

rbed

are

as a

re p

rone

to in

vasi

on b

y al

ien

flora

l spe

cies

C

onst

ruct

ion

f. th

e pr

esen

ce o

f con

stru

ctio

n st

aff a

nd a

ctiv

ities

on

site

cre

ates

cer

tain

risk

s if

not

pro

perly

m

anag

ed: f

ire, p

oach

ing

of fa

una,

tram

plin

g of

veg

etat

ion

in a

reas

not

des

igna

ted

for

deve

lopm

ent

Con

stru

ctio

n

2.

Bio

dive

rsity

impa

cts

– es

tuar

ine

and

near

shor

e m

arin

e

a. L

oss

of im

porta

nt e

stua

rine

habi

tats

thro

ugh

dred

ging

and

recl

aim

ing

porti

ons

of th

e es

tuar

y to

acc

omm

odat

e th

e ha

rbou

r and

a p

ortio

n of

the

resi

dent

ial a

nd c

omm

erci

al

deve

lopm

ent

a.

i. Th

is w

ill re

sult

in a

redu

ctio

n in

the

dive

rsity

and

rich

ness

of e

stua

rine

biot

a th

at a

re

curr

ently

dep

ende

nt o

n th

ese

habi

tats

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

a.ii.

The

est

uary

has

bee

n sh

own

to b

e an

impo

rtant

nur

sery

are

a fo

r cer

tain

thre

aten

ed fi

sh

spec

ies

(e.g

. whi

te s

teen

bras

) C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

32

Impa

ctPh

ase

b. L

oss

of /

dam

age

to ro

cky

subt

idal

hab

itats

in th

e m

arin

e en

viro

nmen

t via

con

stru

ctio

n of

th

e br

eakw

ater

s C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

c. L

oss

of a

cer

tain

por

tion

of th

e sa

ndy

beac

h an

d as

soci

ated

bio

ta th

at u

se th

ese

area

s th

at

are

impo

rtant

com

pone

nts

of th

e m

arin

e ec

osys

tem

and

food

cha

in –

e.g

. via

con

stru

ctio

n of

br

eakw

ater

s, re

side

ntia

l and

com

mer

cial

dev

elop

men

t on

the

north

ern

entra

nce

to th

e es

tuar

y an

d so

uth

of th

e pa

rkin

g lo

t at B

eaco

n Is

le, d

evel

opm

ent o

f bun

galo

ws

and

boar

dwal

ks a

long

Cen

tral b

each

. A p

ortio

n of

all

thes

e st

ruct

ures

are

pla

ced

in th

e lit

tora

l ac

tive

zone

– d

isru

ptio

n of

this

are

a ha

s th

e po

tent

ial t

o cr

eate

coa

stal

ero

sion

and

impa

ct o

n be

ach

nour

ishm

ent

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l d.

Cha

nges

to th

e be

ach

prof

ile a

nd s

edim

ent d

ynam

ics

as a

resu

lt of

alte

red

near

shor

e cu

rren

ts a

nd w

ave

dyna

mic

s an

d co

nstru

ctio

n of

the

brea

kwat

er. T

his

may

impa

ct o

n m

arin

e pr

oduc

tivity

and

cau

se a

cha

nge

in s

peci

es c

ompo

sitio

n (b

enth

ic a

nd w

ater

col

umn)

in th

e m

arin

e en

viro

nmen

t C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

e. C

hang

es in

wat

er q

ualit

y –

e.g.

con

tam

inat

ion

from

con

stru

ctio

n ac

tiviti

es (f

uels

, oils

, ce

men

t and

con

cret

e), a

ltere

d sa

linity

and

oxy

gen

grad

ient

in th

e es

tuar

y, p

oten

tial

disl

odge

men

t of c

onta

min

ants

sto

red

in s

tabl

e m

udfla

ts d

urin

g dr

edgi

ng, i

ncre

ased

turb

idity

an

d ch

ange

in li

ght c

ondi

tions

. fue

l and

oil

leak

s fro

m b

oats

and

yac

hts

durin

g re

fuel

ling

and

from

boa

t eng

ine

emis

sion

s, p

roce

ss e

fflue

nt a

nd s

olid

was

te ru

noff

from

fish

pro

cess

ing

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

f. D

istu

rban

ce to

bio

ta fr

om b

last

ing,

vib

ratio

ns a

nd n

oise

. Mar

ine

mam

mal

s an

d bi

rds

will

be

espe

cial

ly s

usce

ptib

le to

this

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

g. Im

pact

s on

the

coas

tal p

rote

ctio

n zo

ne a

s de

fined

in th

e In

tegr

ated

Coa

stal

Man

agem

ent

Act

and

the

impa

ct o

f the

dev

elop

men

t on

the

abili

ty o

f thi

s zo

ne to

func

tion

as it

sho

uld

to

prov

ide

its in

tend

ed s

ervi

ce.

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

3. S

oil d

istu

rban

ce a

nd e

rosi

on

a.

As

vege

tatio

n is

cle

ared

and

soi

ls a

re d

istu

rbed

, the

pot

entia

l for

ero

sion

incr

ease

s.

Ero

sion

risk

will

be

exac

erba

ted

by le

avin

g so

ils e

xpos

ed fo

r lon

ger p

erio

ds a

nd d

urin

g ex

trem

e w

eath

er e

vent

s.

Con

stru

ctio

n b.

Sou

rcin

g of

rock

mat

eria

l to

cons

truct

the

brea

kwat

er a

nd th

e im

pact

this

may

hav

e on

the

sour

ce a

rea

Con

stru

ctio

n

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

33

Impa

ctPh

ase

4. A

ir po

llutio

n

a. E

xpos

ed s

oils

will

gen

erat

e du

st e

spec

ially

dur

ing

win

dy c

ondi

tions

. Thi

s m

ay im

pact

the

visu

al q

ualit

y of

the

area

C

onst

ruct

ion

b. E

xhau

st fu

mes

from

Incr

ease

d ve

hicl

es in

the

area

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

5. N

oise

pol

lutio

n

a. N

oise

will

be

gene

rate

d in

con

stru

ctio

n ph

ase

by c

onst

ruct

ion

vehi

cles

cle

arin

g ve

geta

tion,

ex

cava

tion,

bla

stin

g an

d vi

brat

ions

, and

an

incr

ease

in p

eopl

e on

the

site

C

onst

ruct

ion

b. In

crea

sed

nois

e le

vels

will

be

expe

rienc

ed in

ope

ratio

nal p

hase

as

a re

sult

of in

crea

sed

pers

ons

in th

e ar

ea

Ope

ratio

nal

7. A

rcha

eolo

gica

l, H

erita

ge a

nd P

aleo

ntol

ogic

al im

pact

s

a. S

peci

alis

ts h

ave

been

app

oint

ed to

det

erm

ine

the

arch

aeol

ogic

al, h

erita

ge a

nd

pale

onto

logi

cal s

ensi

tivity

of t

he te

rres

trial

, mar

ine

and

built

env

ironm

ent

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l

8.

Soc

io-e

cono

mic

impa

cts

a.

Pos

itive

impa

cts

a.

i. E

mpl

oym

ent c

reat

ion:

civ

il en

gine

erin

g an

d co

nstru

ctio

n co

mpo

nent

s w

ill ta

ke p

lace

ove

r a

perio

d of

thre

e to

four

yea

rs a

nd w

ill re

sult

in a

n ad

ditio

nal 9

68 jo

bs b

eing

cre

ated

per

yea

r by

the

end

of y

ear o

ne, w

ith 4

59 b

eing

dire

ct jo

bs. O

f the

se 4

20 w

ill b

e fo

r sem

i-ski

lled

wor

kers

, whi

ch w

ill b

e fro

m th

e su

rrou

ndin

g co

mm

uniti

es, a

nd c

ould

pos

sibl

y be

peo

ple

that

ar

e cu

rren

tly u

nem

ploy

ed. A

ppro

xim

atel

y 70

% o

f all

the

jobs

will

be

with

in th

e B

itou

area

with

a

furth

er 2

9% w

ithin

the

Wes

tern

Cap

e. T

hese

em

ploy

ees

coul

d ea

rn a

tota

l of R

44

mill

ion

durin

g ye

ar o

ne, w

ith R

25 m

illio

n be

ing

with

in th

e B

itou

area

and

R

17 m

illio

n w

ithin

the

Wes

tern

Cap

e. T

he in

crea

se in

hou

seho

ld e

xpen

ditu

re d

ue to

the

wag

es a

nd c

omm

issi

ons

earn

ed fr

om th

e pr

ojec

t cou

ld b

e R

48 m

illio

n in

yea

r one

and

R10

2 m

illio

n in

yea

r tw

o, w

hich

wou

ld b

e ex

pend

iture

circ

ulat

ed w

ithin

the

Ple

ttenb

erg

Bay

ec

onom

y C

onst

ruct

ion

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

34

Impa

ctPh

ase

a.ii.

Cha

nges

in G

DP

: The

Sou

th A

frica

n co

mpo

nent

of t

he c

onst

ruct

ion

wor

k is

exp

ecte

d to

be

R 1

,271

mill

ion

for t

he e

ntire

dev

elop

men

t, w

ith e

xpen

ditu

re p

lann

ed o

ver f

our y

ears

. The

ec

onom

ic im

pact

upo

n G

ross

Dom

estic

Pro

duct

(GD

P) i

s ex

pect

ed to

be

R 1

,367

mill

ion

once

the

econ

omic

mul

tiplie

r effe

ct h

as ta

ken

plac

e in

the

econ

omy,

afte

r an

allo

wan

ce fo

r le

akag

e. T

he d

irect

exp

endi

ture

is a

ntic

ipat

ed to

be

R 6

62 m

illio

n, in

dire

ct e

xpen

ditu

re o

f R

299

mill

ion

and

indu

ced

expe

nditu

re o

f R 4

05 m

illio

n. O

f thi

s ex

pend

iture

R 1

,162

mill

ion

shou

ld o

ccur

with

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

and

R 9

57 m

illio

n w

ithin

Bito

u Lo

cal M

unic

ipal

ity

Con

stru

ctio

n a.

iii. F

isca

l rev

enue

to th

e m

unic

ipal

ity a

nd N

atio

nal T

reas

ury:

The

Bito

u Lo

cal M

unic

ipal

ity

will

ear

n re

venu

e fro

m a

n in

crea

se in

the

rate

s ba

se -

this

nee

ds to

be

eval

uate

d in

term

s of

th

e ad

ditio

nal p

roje

ct s

peci

fic c

osts

that

they

wou

ld n

eed

to in

cur t

o fa

cilit

ate

the

prop

osed

de

velo

pmen

t. A

t the

cur

rent

poi

nt in

dis

cuss

ions

with

the

deve

lope

r, th

e M

unic

ipal

ity in

tend

s to

ens

ure

that

the

deve

lope

r bea

rs th

e fin

anci

al c

ost o

f all

addi

tion

mun

icip

al in

frast

ruct

ure

that

is re

quire

d. If

this

wer

e to

be

achi

eved

then

the

pote

ntia

l rat

es a

nd u

tiliti

es in

com

e to

the

Mun

icip

ality

ove

r a tw

enty

-yea

r per

iod

wou

ld b

e R

600

.8 m

illio

n, w

ith a

net

inco

me

of R

288

.0

mill

ion,

whi

ch w

ould

hav

e a

Net

Pre

sent

Val

ue o

f R 1

25.7

mill

ion

to th

e M

unic

ipal

ity

Con

stru

ctio

n a.

iv. S

kills

dev

elop

men

t and

tran

sfer

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

a.v.

As

the

deve

lopm

ent i

s co

mpl

eted

and

the

vario

us c

ompo

nent

s ar

e so

ld o

r let

and

be

com

e op

erat

iona

l, op

erat

ing

expe

nditu

re o

r tur

nove

r is

real

ised

whi

ch g

ener

ates

an

econ

omic

impa

ct a

nd is

abl

e to

sus

tain

a n

umbe

r of l

onge

r ter

m e

mpl

oym

ent o

ppor

tuni

ties.

B

y ye

ar fi

ve it

is a

ntic

ipat

ed th

at th

e fu

lly d

evel

oped

mar

ina

proj

ect c

ould

be

gene

ratin

g op

erat

ing

turn

over

of R

424

mill

ion

per a

nnum

, with

R 3

91 m

illio

n re

mai

ning

with

in th

e B

itou

econ

omy

afte

r a p

rovi

sion

for l

eaka

ge, w

hich

cou

ld p

rovi

de a

wag

e co

mpo

nent

of R

98

mill

ion

Ope

ratio

nal

a.vi

. Thi

s po

tent

ial o

pera

tiona

l rev

enue

cou

ld c

reat

e 1,

458

empl

oym

ent o

ppor

tuni

ties,

with

89

3 of

thes

e be

ing

dire

ct e

mpl

oym

ent,

176

bein

g in

dire

ct e

mpl

oym

ent a

nd 3

89 in

duce

d em

ploy

men

t opp

ortu

nitie

s. T

he s

kill

cate

gorie

s br

eakd

own

coul

d be

23

high

leve

l em

ploy

men

t opp

ortu

nitie

s, 3

41 m

id-le

vel o

ppor

tuni

ties

and

529

sem

i-ski

lled

empl

oym

ent

oppo

rtuni

ties

Ope

ratio

nal

a.vi

i.Fro

m a

n op

erat

iona

l per

spec

tive,

the

smal

l boa

t har

bour

and

mar

ina

will

incu

r ann

ual

dred

ging

and

mai

nten

ance

cos

ts a

nd w

ill h

ave

oper

atin

g co

sts

asso

ciat

ed w

ith a

resi

dent

ial,

reta

il an

d co

mm

erci

al d

evel

opm

ent o

f thi

s na

ture

. It i

s an

ticip

ated

that

the

annu

al o

pera

ting

Ope

ratio

nal

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

35

Impa

ctPh

ase

cost

s an

d/or

reve

nue

for t

he d

evel

opm

ent w

ill b

e R

424

mill

ion

by y

ear f

ive

and

R 3

92 a

fter a

pr

ovis

ion

for l

eaka

ge, o

f whi

ch 9

5% w

ill b

e sp

ent i

n th

e W

este

rn C

ape

and

85%

with

in th

e B

itou

prec

inct

. The

eco

nom

ic m

ultip

lier f

or th

e ‘B

usin

ess

Ser

vice

s’ s

ecto

r of t

he e

cono

my

real

ises

an

econ

omic

impa

ct o

f R 4

95 m

illio

n pe

r yea

r fro

m y

ear f

ive,

with

app

roxi

mat

ely

R

421

mill

ion

of th

is e

xpen

ditu

re re

mai

ning

with

in th

e B

itou

prec

inct

b.

Neg

ativ

e im

pact

s

b.i.

The

cons

truct

ion

phas

e of

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t, vi

a in

trusi

on im

pact

s, c

ould

spa

rk

a de

crea

se in

tour

ists

vis

iting

Ple

ttenb

erg

Bay

for m

uch

of th

e fo

ur-y

ear d

urat

ion

of th

is

phas

e. M

any

loca

l bus

ines

ses

(as

part

of th

e to

uris

m /

hosp

italit

y in

dust

ry) s

uch

as c

offe

e sh

ops,

rest

aura

nts,

gue

st h

ouse

s an

d ho

tels

are

ver

y un

likel

y to

be

resi

lient

eno

ugh,

larg

ely

due

to th

e to

wn’

s cy

clic

al e

cono

my,

to s

urvi

ve a

med

ium

-term

(up

to fo

ur y

ears

) dec

reas

e in

th

e si

ze o

f the

ir m

arke

ts

Con

stru

ctio

n b.

ii. D

urin

g th

e co

nstru

ctio

n ph

ase,

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t is

alm

ost c

erta

in to

attr

act

unem

ploy

ed e

mpl

oym

ent s

eeke

rs, n

ot o

nly

from

the

imm

edia

te s

ocia

l env

ironm

ent,

but a

lso

from

els

ewhe

re. A

n un

heal

thy

com

petit

ion

for s

carc

e em

ploy

men

t opp

ortu

nitie

s be

twee

n ”o

utsi

ders

and

the

loca

l une

mpl

oyed

or “

insi

ders

cou

ld re

sult

in c

onfli

ct b

etw

een

such

gr

oups

C

onst

ruct

ion

b.iii

. For

eign

nat

iona

ls a

ccou

nt fo

r a s

ubst

antia

l per

cent

age

of th

e de

mog

raph

ic m

akeu

p of

P

lette

nber

g B

ay’s

less

affl

uent

resi

dent

ial a

reas

. The

ir ge

nera

l que

st fo

r bet

ter e

cono

mic

pr

ospe

cts

mea

ns th

at th

e em

ploy

men

t opp

ortu

nitie

s of

fere

d by

the

cons

truct

ion

phas

e of

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t cou

ld b

e as

attr

activ

e to

them

as

it w

ould

be

to lo

cal e

mpl

oym

ent

seek

ers.

Res

pond

ents

from

the

less

affl

uent

are

as o

f Ple

ttenb

erg

Bay

sou

nded

a s

tern

w

arni

ng th

at if

fore

ign

natio

nals

wer

e to

be

empl

oyed

as

sem

i-ski

lled

wor

kers

dur

ing

the

cons

truct

ion

phas

e of

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t, co

nflic

t wou

ld b

e in

evita

ble

Con

stru

ctio

n b.

iv. C

omm

unity

reso

urce

impa

cts

b.

iv.1

.The

pro

pose

d de

velo

pmen

t will

be

cons

truct

ed in

the

Pies

ang

Riv

er e

stua

ry, a

site

ch

arac

teris

ed b

y lim

ited

road

acc

ess.

As

a re

sult,

the

Pie

sang

Val

ley

Roa

d (a

two-

lane

re

side

ntia

l acc

ess

road

and

the

shor

test

rout

e to

the

N2

Nat

iona

l Roa

d fo

r mos

t of t

he

subu

rbs

sout

h of

the

Pie

sang

Riv

er) w

ill p

roba

bly

have

to a

ccom

mod

ate

the

cons

truct

ion

rela

ted

traffi

c of

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t for

up

to fo

ur y

ears

. Thi

s is

like

ly to

tota

lly

Con

stru

ctio

n

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

36

Impa

ctPh

ase

degr

ade

the

road

in a

rela

tivel

y sh

ort p

erio

d of

tim

e b.

iv.2

. Ple

ttenb

erg

Bay

’s C

entra

l Bea

ch p

lays

a s

igni

fican

t and

det

erm

inin

g ro

le in

the

sens

e of

pla

ce o

f man

y to

uris

ts a

nd lo

cal r

esid

ents

. It i

s hi

ghlig

hted

by

the

com

mun

ity a

s th

e on

ly

safe

sw

imm

ing

beac

h in

the

area

, and

is h

ighl

y ut

ilise

d by

loca

ls a

nd to

uris

ts a

like.

Apa

rt fro

m th

e fa

ct th

at a

bout

120

m o

f Cen

tral B

each

will

be

lost

to th

e ha

rbou

r ent

ranc

e of

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t and

its

north

ern

pier

/ br

eakw

ater

, the

impa

ct o

n th

is g

eogr

aphi

cal

feat

ure

in it

s en

tiret

y is

cur

rent

ly u

nkno

wn.

An

appr

oach

to th

e im

pact

was

to a

sses

s th

e fa

ct

that

Cen

tral B

each

as

an im

porta

nt c

omm

unity

reso

urce

will

cha

nge,

incl

udin

g an

initi

al lo

ss

of b

etw

een

15 a

nd 2

0% o

f the

bea

ch to

the

harb

our e

ntra

nce.

Thi

s im

pact

can

onl

y be

pr

oper

ly a

sses

sed

whe

n sc

ient

ific

info

rmat

ion

is a

vaila

ble

on h

ow C

entra

l Bea

ch w

ill re

act t

o th

e pr

opos

ed d

evel

opm

ent o

ver t

ime

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l b.

iv.3

. Dev

elop

men

t will

impa

ct o

n di

ving

ope

ratio

ns, s

peci

fical

ly th

e re

efs

arou

nd th

e is

land

. R

edba

it, J

acob

s an

d B

linde

rs R

eefs

are

pop

ular

with

loca

l and

tour

ist d

iver

s as

they

are

ea

sily

acc

essi

ble

and

abun

dant

with

mar

ine

life

incl

udin

g th

ree

shar

k sp

ecie

s fo

und

only

in

Sou

th A

frica

. The

re a

re a

lso

seve

ral a

rtefa

cts

from

whe

n B

eaco

n Is

land

was

a w

halin

g st

atio

n w

hich

pro

vide

furth

er in

tere

st to

div

ers

whi

ch w

ould

be

lost

if th

e ha

rbou

r is

built

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

b.v.

Impa

ct o

n B

eaco

n Is

le H

otel

: Thi

s ho

tel i

s pr

edom

inat

ely

a tim

e sh

are

orie

ntat

ed h

otel

w

ith lo

ng te

rm o

wne

rs a

nd re

gula

r use

rs, a

nd is

situ

ated

dire

ctly

adj

acen

t to

the

prop

osed

de

velo

pmen

t Acc

ordi

ng to

the

curr

ent d

evel

opm

ent a

rchi

tect

ural

dra

win

gs, t

he h

otel

will

lose

a

sign

ifica

nt p

ortio

n of

its

visi

tors

par

king

and

the

bulk

of i

ts la

ndw

ard

outlo

ok a

nd v

iew

will

be

alte

red

by th

e pr

opos

ed d

evel

opm

ent.

A 1

10 ro

om, s

even

sto

ry h

otel

is p

lann

ed d

irect

ly o

ver

the

river

mou

th fr

om th

e cu

rren

t hot

el, a

s w

ell a

s 49

2 re

side

ntia

l apa

rtmen

ts a

nd p

enth

ouse

s,

whi

ch a

re s

een

as s

igni

fican

t com

petit

ion

to th

eir c

urre

nt b

usin

ess.

The

con

stru

ctio

n ac

tivity

ov

er a

per

iod

of fo

ur y

ears

is d

eem

ed to

be

a si

gnifi

cant

thre

at w

ith th

e ho

tel m

anag

emen

t be

lievi

ng th

at th

is w

ill e

ffect

ivel

y re

nder

the

hote

l ino

pera

ble.

The

pro

pose

d de

velo

pmen

t and

br

eakw

ater

s w

ill p

erm

anen

tly a

lter t

he v

iew

s an

d ch

arac

ter o

f the

hot

el a

nd th

e su

rrou

ndin

g se

asca

pes

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l b.

vi. I

mpa

ct o

n su

rrou

ndin

g la

nd u

sers

: The

pro

pose

d de

velo

pmen

t is

boun

ded

by s

ectio

nal

title

uni

ts to

the

sout

h an

d w

est a

long

the

river

, with

wel

l-est

ablis

hed

larg

er p

rope

rties

ov

erlo

okin

g th

e P

iesa

ng R

iver

and

pro

pose

d de

velo

pmen

t fro

m th

e no

rth. T

he b

odie

s co

rpor

ate

and

owne

rs o

f the

se p

rope

rties

hav

e al

l exp

ress

ed th

eir s

trong

resi

stan

ce to

the

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

37

Impa

ctPh

ase

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t as

they

bel

ieve

that

it w

ill le

ad to

hig

h le

vel n

egat

ive

visi

ble

impa

cts

for a

djac

ent l

ando

wne

rs, w

ill c

ause

an

incr

ease

in n

oise

pol

lutio

n, w

ill le

ad to

traf

fic

cong

estio

n, w

ill o

verlo

ad th

e ex

istin

g se

rvic

e in

frast

ruct

ure,

will

con

stitu

te u

nfai

r com

petit

ion

to th

e ex

istin

g re

tail

and

com

mer

cial

com

mun

ity o

pera

ting

on M

ain

Stre

et, a

nd is

gen

eral

ly

out o

f cha

ract

er w

ith th

e to

uris

m im

age

and

resi

dent

ial n

atur

e of

Ple

ttenb

erg

Bay

b.

vii.

Impa

ct o

n ex

istin

g bu

sine

sses

: Cur

rent

ly th

e co

mm

erci

al c

omm

unity

is c

once

ntra

ted

in

the

tradi

tiona

l Cen

tral B

usin

ess

Dis

trict

whi

ch is

pos

ition

ed a

long

Mai

n S

treet

and

the

junc

tion

with

Odl

ands

Roa

d at

the

‘Dol

phin

Circ

le’,

and

the

mor

e re

cent

ly e

stab

lishe

d P

ick

n P

ay c

entre

at t

he e

aste

rn e

ntra

nce

to P

lette

nber

g B

ay, a

long

side

the

N2.

The

bus

ines

s co

mm

unity

hav

e a

mix

ed re

actio

n to

the

prop

osed

dev

elop

men

t with

som

e in

dica

ting

that

th

ey b

elie

ve it

will

offe

r opp

ortu

nitie

s fo

r rel

ocat

ion

and

impr

oved

bus

ines

s, w

hils

t the

bal

ance

be

lieve

it w

ill b

e th

e de

ath

knel

l for

cer

tain

bus

ines

ses

whi

ch a

re a

lread

y in

a c

halle

ngin

g co

mm

erci

al e

nviro

nmen

t C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

Pot

entia

l cos

ts to

the

mun

icip

ality

and

rate

paye

rs: i

n te

rms

of o

n-go

ing

dred

ging

, dis

aste

r m

anag

emen

t and

fina

nces

alre

ady

expe

nded

on

the

desa

linat

ion

plan

t (an

d po

ssib

le fu

ture

re

loca

tion)

9. T

ouris

m im

pact

s

Tour

ism

impa

cts

are

ofte

n dr

iven

by

chan

ges

in th

e se

nse

of p

lace

in a

n ar

ea, w

ith th

e pr

opos

ed d

evel

opm

ent t

hus

havi

ng th

e po

tent

ial t

o im

pact

on

tour

ism

as

its n

atur

e di

ctat

es

that

it is

like

ly to

cha

nge

the

char

acte

r of t

he a

rea

subs

tant

ially

. The

re a

re c

urre

ntly

mix

ed

view

s of

this

dev

elop

men

t with

cer

tain

sec

tors

of t

he c

omm

unity

see

ing

it as

an

addi

tiona

l an

d co

mpl

emen

tary

tour

ism

attr

actio

n, a

nd th

e m

ore

esta

blis

hed

resi

dent

ial c

omm

unity

in

clos

er p

roxi

mity

to th

e de

velo

pmen

t see

ing

it as

hav

ing

a m

ajor

det

rimen

tal e

ffect

on

the

curr

ent s

ense

of p

lace

and

spo

iling

a p

ristin

e na

tura

l env

ironm

ent a

nd tr

ansf

orm

ing

it in

to a

hi

gh d

ensi

ty a

nd v

isib

ly o

btru

sive

urb

an d

evel

opm

ent.

Pot

entia

l pos

itive

impa

cts

coul

d al

so

aris

e sh

ould

the

deve

lopm

ent p

rovi

de a

n ad

ded

attra

ctio

n in

the

area

that

cou

ld d

raw

ad

ditio

nal t

ouris

ts. I

t has

bee

n es

timat

ed th

at th

e de

velo

pmen

t cou

ld p

rovi

de a

n ad

ditio

nal

500

beds

into

the

acco

mm

odat

ion

pool

whi

ch c

ould

stim

ulat

e an

add

ition

R 9

6 m

illio

n of

to

uris

m e

xpen

ditu

re b

y ye

ar fi

ve, w

hich

repr

esen

ts 5

% o

f the

pro

ject

ed to

tal t

ouris

m s

pend

of

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

38

Impa

ctPh

ase

R 1

,912

mill

ion

at th

is p

oint

. Con

side

red

as a

who

le, t

he k

ey p

oten

tial d

river

s of

neg

ativ

e to

uris

m im

pact

s (p

rimar

ily v

isua

l im

pact

s) d

o no

t see

m to

be

sign

ifica

nt e

noug

h to

pro

vide

an

y cl

ear b

asis

to c

oncl

ude

that

the

proj

ect w

ould

ent

ail m

ore

than

a lo

w le

vel o

f ris

k fo

r to

uris

m. I

t is

quite

pos

sibl

e th

at th

is ri

sk w

ould

be

off-s

et b

y th

e po

sitiv

e at

tract

ion

prov

ided

by

the

proj

ect.

It is

ther

efor

e pr

edic

ted

that

the

net t

ouris

m im

pact

s as

soci

ated

with

the

proj

ect w

ould

be

neut

ral t

o lo

w-p

ositi

ve w

ith m

itiga

tion

mea

sure

s in

pla

ce.

10. A

vaila

bilit

y of

ser

vice

s an

d in

fras

truc

ture

to s

uppo

rt th

e de

velo

pmen

t

The

deve

lopm

ent w

ill re

quire

ser

vice

s in

clud

ing

wat

er, s

anita

tion,

sol

id w

aste

dis

posa

l, en

ergy

and

sto

rmw

ater

man

agem

ent.

BS

M B

aker

(Pty

) Ltd

hav

e be

en a

ppoi

nted

to

inve

stig

ate

the

serv

ice

dem

ands

of t

he d

evel

opm

ent a

nd w

hat t

he s

uppl

y op

tions

are

. At t

his

stag

e, it

is c

lear

that

the

exis

ting

was

te w

ater

trea

tmen

t wor

ks in

the

tow

n ne

ed to

be

upgr

aded

to a

ccep

t the

pre

dict

ed a

dditi

onal

load

ing

of 0

.9M

l per

day

. The

exi

stin

g la

ndfil

l site

in

Ple

ttenb

erg

Bay

is c

urre

ntly

exp

erie

ncin

g a

num

ber o

f pro

blem

s, a

nd is

in th

e pr

oces

s of

be

ing

deco

mm

issi

oned

. An

EIA

is u

dner

way

for a

new

tran

sfer

sta

tion.

Upg

radi

ng o

f in

frast

ruct

ure

for p

otab

le w

ater

sup

ply

will

als

o ha

ve to

be

done

. It i

s pr

opos

ed to

con

stru

ct a

ne

w s

tora

ge re

serv

oir a

djac

ent t

o th

e ex

istin

g re

serv

oir a

t Wha

le R

ock

Hei

ghts

, ap

prox

imat

ely

3.5

km s

outh

-wes

t of t

he d

evel

opm

ent a

rea.

The

mun

icip

ality

's w

ater

sup

ply

is

curr

ently

und

er s

tress

, and

an

appl

icat

ion

has

been

mad

e to

the

Dep

artm

ent o

f Wat

er A

ffairs

to

exp

and

the

tow

n's

exis

ting

licen

ce ri

ghts

to g

et m

ore

wat

er. A

des

alin

atio

n pl

ant h

as b

een

cons

truct

ed a

t the

est

uary

to s

uppl

emen

t the

tow

n's

wat

er s

uppl

y. A

Sec

tion

24 G

app

licat

ion

was

sub

mitt

ed to

the

DE

A&

DP

for t

his

activ

ity a

s it

was

ille

gally

con

stru

cted

prio

r to

envi

ronm

enta

l aut

horis

atio

n be

caus

e of

the

urge

ncy

of th

e si

tuat

ion.

A D

raft

EIA

was

re

leas

ed in

Dec

embe

r 201

2 an

d an

aut

horis

atio

n/re

fusa

l is

pend

ing.

The

pro

pose

d ha

rbou

r de

velo

pmen

t will

mea

n th

at th

e de

salin

atio

n pl

ant w

ill h

ave

to b

e re

loca

ted.

The

app

lican

t ha

s in

dica

ted

that

sho

uld

this

hap

pen,

a s

epar

ate

EIA

will

be

done

at h

is e

xpen

se. T

he

sour

ce o

f wat

er fo

r the

dev

elop

men

t is

unde

r eva

luat

ion.

Alte

rnat

ives

are

the

expa

nsio

n of

th

e re

loca

ted

exis

ting

desa

linat

ion

plan

t, th

e ac

quis

ition

of e

xist

ing

wat

er ri

ghts

cur

rent

ly

cont

rolle

d by

priv

ate

parti

es, a

nd th

e ap

prov

ed a

cqui

sitio

n of

new

wat

er ri

ghts

. A c

ombi

natio

n of

thes

e so

lutio

ns m

ay a

lso

be a

ppro

pria

te. A

pre

limin

ary

serv

ices

repo

rt is

atta

ched

as

App

endi

x 8.

O

pera

tiona

l

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

39

Impa

ctPh

ase

11. T

raffi

c im

pact

s

Traf

fic im

pact

s ar

e ex

pect

ed d

urin

g co

nstru

ctio

n an

d op

erat

iona

l pha

ses.

A d

etai

led

traffi

c im

pact

stu

dy w

ill b

e un

derta

ken

to d

eter

min

e th

e im

pact

of t

he d

evel

opm

ent o

n th

e ex

istin

g P

lette

nber

g B

ay ro

ad s

yste

m. T

his

stud

y w

ill d

efin

e th

e re

quire

d up

grad

es to

exi

stin

g ac

cess

ro

ads

and

publ

ic tr

ansp

orta

tion

syst

ems

to e

nsur

e th

at a

ll ad

ditio

nal t

raffi

c ge

nera

ted

by th

e de

velo

pmen

t is

acco

mm

odat

ed a

nd th

at th

ere

is n

o ne

gativ

e im

pact

on

peak

sea

son

or

norm

al d

aily

traf

fic fl

ows

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l

12

. Effe

cts

of fl

oodi

ng a

nd s

torm

sur

ges

on e

xist

ing

prop

ertie

s an

d in

fras

truc

ture

as

wel

l as

the

harb

our d

evel

opm

ent i

n th

e fu

ture

Floo

ding

will

be

inve

stig

ated

in a

floo

d m

odel

of t

he e

stua

ry to

det

erm

ine

wha

t the

impa

ct o

f th

e de

velo

pmen

t will

be

on fl

ood

leve

ls. T

he im

pact

s of

clim

ate

chan

ge a

nd a

ssoc

iate

d er

ratic

wea

ther

pat

tern

s an

d in

crea

sed

flood

ing

will

be

inco

rpor

ated

into

the

mod

el. S

torm

su

rges

and

the

effe

cts

of s

ea-le

vel r

ise

on s

truct

ures

and

infra

stru

ctur

e w

ill a

lso

be

inve

stig

ated

. C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

13. V

isua

l im

pact

s

a. C

hang

e in

vis

ual q

ualit

y of

the

area

in c

onst

ruct

ion

phas

e (~

4 ye

ars)

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

b. C

hang

e in

the

visu

al q

ualit

y of

Cen

tral B

each

and

the

estu

ary

that

are

prim

e to

uris

t are

as

as a

resu

lt of

the

brea

kwat

er a

nd d

evel

opm

ent a

s a

who

le

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tiona

l c.

Cha

nge

in th

e vi

ewsh

ed o

f exi

stin

g re

side

nces

sur

roun

ding

the

deve

lopm

ent a

rea

that

cu

rrne

tly e

njoy

a v

iew

of t

he b

each

and

est

uary

C

onst

ruct

ion

and

Ope

ratio

nal

d. T

he v

isua

l im

pact

of h

igh-

stor

ey b

uild

ings

(i.e

. bet

wee

n 3

and

7 st

orey

s) h

as b

een

stro

ngly

ob

ject

ed to

by

alm

ost a

ll I&

AP

s O

pera

tiona

l

Cum

ulat

ive

Impa

cts

a. In

crea

sed

pres

sure

on

the

mar

ine

envi

ronm

ent a

s a

resu

lt of

mor

e fis

hing

ves

sels

in th

e ar

ea

Ope

ratio

nal

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

40

Impa

ctPh

ase

b. S

ocio

-eco

nom

ic b

enef

its a

nd g

ener

al u

plift

men

t of t

he lo

cal c

omm

unity

O

pera

tiona

l c.

Incr

ease

d pr

essu

re o

n th

e m

unic

ipal

ity to

sup

ply

serv

ices

, par

ticul

arly

wat

er a

nd s

olid

w

aste

dis

posa

l whi

ch a

re c

urre

ntly

pro

blem

atic

in th

e ar

ea

Ope

ratio

nal


41 4

Specialist Studies

The following specialist studies will be done as part of the EIR:

Services Investigation

Terrestrial fauna and flora and avifauna

Wetlands and estuaries

Nearshore marine ecology

Sediment dynamics

Traffic Impact Assessment

Heritage and Archaeological Impact Assessment

Social Impact Assessment

Economic Impact Assessment

Visual Impact Assessment

Public Participation

Public participation was done in accordance with Chapter 6 (Regulations 54 to 57) of

the EIA Regulations (2010) and Guideline 4 published in assistance of interpretation

of these regulations. Adverts were placed in The Herald, Die Burger, the Cape

Times, and Whats New in Plett. Six notices were placed at various locations in the

site vicinity inviting interested parties to register and make comment on the proposed

development. Background Information Documents detailing the proposed

development were either posted, hand delivered or emailed to identified stakeholders

(e.g. government, municipal and non-government organisations, ward councillors,

rate payers association, landowners and businesses within 100 m of the site

boundary etc). Below is a “comments and response sheet” including all issues raised

by Interested and Affected Parties as well as the response by the Environmental

Assessment Practitioner and/or relevant specialist.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

42

Com

men

ts a

nd R

espo

nse

Tabl

e

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Prov

ide a

detai

led pr

oject

desc

riptio

n and

indic

ate w

hat is

plan

ned o

n an e

rf sc

ale

Plea

se re

fer to

Figu

re 8

Prov

ide a

detai

led de

scrip

tion o

f dev

elopm

ent p

lanne

d in t

he es

tuary

and c

oasta

l en

viron

ment

and h

ow th

is wi

ll be a

chiev

ed. In

cludin

g mod

ificati

on to

the e

stuar

ine

chan

nel (e

.g. dr

edgin

g, na

rrowi

ng, r

eclam

ation

etc)

At th

is sta

ge, a

sche

matic

layo

ut pla

n of th

e har

bour

and l

ands

ide de

velop

ment

has

been

prov

ided.

Once

a de

tailed

surve

y of th

e estu

ary h

as be

en do

ne an

d setb

ack

lines

have

been

deter

mine

d, de

tails

on m

odific

ation

of th

e estu

arine

chan

nel w

ill be

av

ailab

le. S

imila

rly, th

e coa

stal e

ngine

ers (

WSP

) hav

e don

e a co

ncep

tual la

yout

of the

harb

our a

nd br

eakw

aters

in the

mar

ine en

viron

ment.

How

ever

, this

is su

bject

to ch

ange

at de

tailed

desig

n stag

e. Sp

ecial

ist st

udies

(e.g.

sedim

entol

ogy,

furthe

r jet

prob

es et

c) ne

ed to

be do

ne be

fore t

his ca

n be f

inalis

ed.

A slo

pe an

alysis

of al

l pro

pertie

s inc

luded

in th

e dev

elopm

ent p

ropo

sal m

ust b

e don

e To

be do

ne at

detai

led de

sign p

hase

in th

e EIA

Re

ques

t an a

rchite

ct's m

odel

of the

prop

osed

harb

our d

evelo

pmen

t To

be do

ne at

detai

led de

sign p

hase

in th

e EIA

Ne

ed a

desc

riptio

n of a

ltern

ative

sites

and d

evelo

pmen

t con

cepts

being

cons

idere

d (h

arbo

ur an

d res

identi

al an

d com

merci

al co

mpon

ents

Plea

se re

fer to

Cha

pter 5

for a

disc

ussio

n of p

rojec

t alte

rnati

ves

The h

igh de

nsity

prop

osed

is un

acce

ptable

Th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent is

over

bulk.

To p

ut it i

nto pe

rspec

tive,

Gard

en R

oute

Mall i

n Geo

rge h

as a

Gros

s Lett

able

Area

of 45

000 s

quar

e metr

es w

ith 2

891

parki

ng ba

ys.

Yo

ur do

cume

nt sa

ys th

at the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt wi

ll hav

e a to

tal G

LA of

80

000 s

quar

e metr

es of

whic

h 20%

will

be co

mmer

cial w

ith th

e bala

nce b

eing

resid

entia

l.

It i

s acc

epted

that

some

form

of re

siden

tial a

nd co

mmer

cial d

evelo

pmen

t is

need

ed to

mak

e the

deve

lopme

nt su

staina

ble, b

ut thi

s in s

cale

and c

hara

cter

Outco

mes o

f the f

ollow

ing sp

ecial

ist st

udies

will

be pr

ime d

eterm

inants

of an

ap

prop

riate

dens

ity:

Ma

rket d

eman

d

Visu

al im

pact

Ec

ologic

al

Se

rvice

s ava

ilabil

ity

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

43

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

must

be co

mpati

ble w

ith su

rroun

ding d

evelo

pmen

ts an

d the

area

in ge

nera

l. Two

or

thre

e stor

ey re

siden

tial d

evelo

pmen

ts wi

th so

me re

tail w

ould

be m

ore

acce

ptable

Al

terna

tive s

ites m

ust b

e con

sider

ed.T

he pr

opos

ed si

te is

not s

uitab

le an

d a

degr

aded

area

shou

ld pr

efere

ntiall

y be c

onsid

ered

No

ted. P

lease

refer

to C

hapte

r 5 fo

r a de

scrip

tion o

f alte

rnati

ves b

eing c

onsid

ered

. Ou

tcome

s of e

colog

ical s

pecia

list s

tudies

will

objec

tively

infor

m sit

e sen

sitivi

ty an

d su

itabil

ity fo

r dev

elopm

ent. A

t this

stage

, a re

view

of av

ailab

le lite

ratur

e and

plan

ning

guide

lines

indic

ates t

he si

te is

sens

itive.

Desig

n and

deve

lopme

nt co

ncep

t:

Ex

isting

Cen

tral B

each

facil

ities a

nd lif

e sav

ing cl

ub to

be in

corp

orate

d into

desig

n

Go

od fa

cilitie

s mus

t be c

reate

d for

sailin

g boa

ts to

enco

urag

e rou

nd-th

e-wo

rld

sailo

rs to

drop

into

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay

A

lift ca

pable

of lif

ting l

arge

sailin

g boa

ts is

a mus

t

Ho

w ma

ny m

oorin

g ber

ths ar

e bein

g buil

t and

how

many

will

be av

ailab

le to

resid

ents

of Pl

etten

berg

Bay

?

W

here

will

the en

tranc

e to t

he ha

rbou

r be?

Bu

ilding

s sho

uld no

t be i

n a bl

ock w

ith no

spac

es in

betw

een t

hat c

reate

s a ba

rrier

Mu

lti-ris

e buil

dings

on fo

resh

ore u

p to b

each

front

erve

n is u

nacc

eptab

le

Ce

ntral

Beac

h pro

posa

l:

o Th

is ar

ea sh

ould

be re

taine

d for

tour

ism. D

evelo

pmen

t in th

is ar

ea

shou

ld be

focu

ssed

on pu

blic f

acilit

ies, to

urist

relat

ed sh

ops,

resta

uran

ts

Th

ese c

omme

nts ha

ve be

en no

ted an

d sen

t to th

e dev

elope

r and

arch

itects

for

cons

idera

tion i

n the

ir des

igns.

The i

mpac

ts of

vario

us ite

ms hi

ghlig

hted h

ere w

ill be

rated

in th

e EIA

in te

rms o

f the d

esira

bility

of th

e pro

posa

l, the

mar

ket

dema

nd, v

isual

impa

cts, s

ocial

impa

cts an

d tou

rism

impa

cts.

A

copy

of th

e tow

n’s to

urism

bran

ding s

trateg

y has

been

obtai

ned a

nd se

nt to

the

arch

itects

. The

need

for t

he pr

opos

al to

be de

velop

ed in

line w

ith th

is str

ategy

is

reco

gnize

d.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

44

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

etc.: a

small

wate

rfron

t type

deve

lopme

nt mo

stly s

ingle

store

y step

ping

into d

ouble

stor

y in s

electe

d are

as. N

o res

identi

al co

mpon

ent s

hould

ex

ist.

o W

hatev

er de

velop

ment

that ta

kes p

lace h

ere s

hould

give

prior

ity to

im

prov

ing th

e bea

ch ex

perie

nce t

ogeth

er w

ith a

mode

rn m

ini

water

front

expe

rienc

e

o Ne

ed to

rede

velop

the '

tacky

' buil

dings

alon

g the

Cen

tral B

each

o An

y dev

elopm

ent ta

king p

lace a

t Cen

tral B

each

has t

o be i

n kee

ping w

ith

the pu

blic’s

perce

ived i

mage

of P

letten

berg

Bay

– an

upma

rket, d

esira

ble

holid

ay de

stina

tion.

No f

ast fo

od or

comm

ercia

l cha

in sto

res,

infor

mal

marke

ts, et

c. sh

ould

be al

lowed

to op

erate

in th

e are

a

o Co

nside

r the

harb

our d

evelo

pmen

t con

cept

pres

ented

for t

he ‘B

eaco

n Isle

Pr

ecinc

t’ in t

he ‘U

rban

Ren

ewal

of Pl

etten

berg

Bay

CBD

’ (May

2005

)

No

rther

n ban

k of th

e Pies

ang E

stuar

y pro

posa

l

o No

build

ings i

n this

area

shou

ld be

high

er th

an th

e cur

rent

plann

ing

sche

me (1

0.3 m

). Th

is ar

ea co

uld ha

ve so

me re

siden

tial c

ompo

nent

over

lookin

g the

estua

ry.

o Th

e exis

ting p

arkin

g lot

at Ro

bber

g bea

ch sh

ould

be re

taine

d for

publi

c us

e and

acce

ss. T

he de

velop

ment

shou

ld no

t com

prom

ise th

e Bea

con

Islan

d hote

l exp

erien

ce or

oper

ation

s ass

ociat

ed w

ith th

e hote

l

So

uther

n ban

k of th

e Pies

ang E

stuar

y pro

posa

l

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

45

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

o An

y dev

elopm

ent in

this

area

shou

ld als

o be r

estric

ted to

the c

urre

nt pla

nning

sche

me. T

his ar

ea is

used

over

high

seas

on as

a pa

rking

area

du

e to t

he lim

ited a

vaila

bility

and t

his ar

ea w

ill jus

t incre

ase t

he tr

affic

cong

estio

n of s

umme

r mon

ths

Pl

ett V

olunta

ry To

urism

Ass

ociat

ion:

o Ty

picall

y the

prop

osal

would

have

to be

evalu

ated a

gains

t the t

own b

rand

/ str

ategy

form

ulated

(tou

rism)

. The

stra

tegy w

ill inf

orm

what

type o

f de

velop

ments

are w

anted

in P

lett, t

he ki

nd of

town

peop

le wa

nt Pl

ett to

be

, the w

ay pe

ople

want

it to l

ook,

soun

d and

beha

ve, a

nd w

ould

prov

ide

guida

nce o

n wha

t is ap

prop

riate.

A dr

aft br

and s

trateg

y ha

s bee

n for

mulat

ed 18

mon

ths ag

o – in

light

of thi

s, the

follo

wing

comm

ents

on th

e de

velop

ment

prop

osal

are m

ade:

A

key v

alue o

f the s

trateg

y is ‘

high v

alue l

ow im

pact

touris

m’.

This

impli

es at

tracti

ng a

prem

ium sp

endin

g mar

ket w

hich

resp

ects

the en

viron

ment

and t

read

s ligh

tly on

the e

nviro

nmen

t

A

small

boat

harb

our w

as id

entifi

ed by

man

y who

wer

e co

nsult

ed as

a fea

ture t

hat w

ould

enha

nce P

lett’s

tour

ism

offer

ing

Ho

weve

r, the

bran

d stra

tegy i

mplie

s tha

t the d

evelo

pmen

t sho

uld

be en

viron

menta

lly se

nsitiv

e and

of th

e righ

t mar

ketin

g pos

ition

and p

itch

At fa

ce va

lue, s

even

stor

ey bu

ilding

s wou

ld be

inap

prop

riate

and o

ut of

bran

d con

text

Safet

y:Th

ough

t nee

ded a

s to h

ow to

main

tain s

ecur

ity fo

r the

boats

with

out u

gly

Noted

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

46

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

barb

ed w

ire or

wall

ed en

closu

res.

Boat

owne

rs ne

ed go

od se

curity

Im

pact

of the

shad

ow ef

fect o

f pro

pose

d high

rise b

uildin

gs on

safe

swim

ming

beac

hes

and t

he P

iesan

g Estu

ary

To be

addr

esse

d in t

he V

isual

Impa

ct As

sess

ment

Wha

t abo

ut the

desa

linati

on pl

ant?

The c

urre

nt sit

e dev

elopm

ent p

lan w

ill me

an th

at the

desa

linati

on pl

ant w

ill ha

ve to

mo

ve. T

he de

salin

ation

plan

t is an

illeg

al str

uctur

e – a

Secti

on 24

G an

d retr

ospe

ctive

EI

A is

curre

ntly u

nder

way a

nd an

autho

risati

on/re

fusal

is pe

nding

. The

deve

loper

has

noted

that

he w

ill tak

e res

pons

ibility

for r

eloca

ting t

he de

salin

ation

plan

t and

the

nece

ssar

y auth

orisa

tions

Vi

abilit

y of p

ropo

sal, f

inanc

ial ris

k, su

staina

bility

Th

e Fina

ncial

Risk

of de

velop

ment

must

be co

nside

red i

n rela

tion t

o othe

r sim

ilar

deve

lopme

nts in

relat

ively

close

prox

imity

– Kn

ysna

and S

t Fra

ncis

water

front

harb

ours

have

both

had f

inanc

ial di

fficult

ies

Ha

s a ne

eds a

sses

smen

t bee

n don

e? T

he pr

oper

ty ma

rket a

nd bu

ilding

indu

stry i

n Pl

ett ha

s slum

ped

Th

e fea

sibilit

y of th

e enti

re de

velop

ment

must

be as

sess

ed an

d mor

e spe

cifica

lly

the lo

ng te

rm fe

asibi

lity of

the h

arbo

ur. T

here

mus

t be a

finan

cial m

odel

for th

e lon

g ter

m ma

inten

ance

of th

e har

bour

and r

elated

facil

ities,

with

suita

ble se

curity

to

ensu

re th

at the

Mun

icipa

lity ne

ed no

t incu

r cos

ts in

the m

ainten

ance

if the

de

velop

ment

fails

to pr

ovide

finan

cial m

eans

for t

he m

ainten

ance

Th

ere a

re 10

0s of

open

plots

in P

lett, w

hy cr

eate

more

?

Th

e sma

ll boa

t har

bour

was

origi

nally

moti

vated

arou

nd th

e fish

ing in

dustr

y, wh

ich

has s

ubse

quen

tly co

llaps

ed. I

s this

war

rante

d for

10 or

fewe

r boa

ts tha

t laun

ch of

f the

beac

h with

out a

prob

lem, a

nd w

ill the

se bo

at ow

ners

be ab

le to

pay t

he ki

nd of

An

econ

omic

impa

ct as

sess

ment

has b

een d

one o

f the c

urre

nt pr

opos

al. T

he

econ

omic

spec

ialist

stud

y was

infor

med b

y the

appli

cant’

s fina

ncial

viab

ility

asse

ssme

nt. T

he ec

onom

ic stu

dy co

nclud

es th

at the

proje

ct pr

opos

al in

its

curre

nt for

mat is

feas

ible.

A ma

rket d

eman

d stud

y is s

ugge

sted t

o dete

rmine

the

scale

of th

e dev

elopm

ent.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

47

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

fees t

hat w

ill ha

ve to

be ch

arge

d for

the u

se of

an ex

treme

ly ex

pens

ive ha

rbou

r?

Ha

s the

extre

me se

ason

ality

of Pl

ett be

en co

nside

red a

nd if

the pr

opos

ed

deve

lopme

nt is

assu

ming

that

it will

resu

lt in l

ess s

easo

nality

, on w

hat b

asis?

Th

e pro

posa

l will

suffe

r fro

m the

same

prob

lems a

s “go

lf cou

rse” d

evelo

pmen

ts,

name

ly tha

t whe

n the

secti

onal

title p

rope

rties h

ave b

een s

old an

d the

deve

loper

mo

ves o

n the

n the

re is

no m

oney

to ru

n the

“golf

cour

se” o

r “sm

all bo

at ha

rbou

r”

If t

he pr

opor

tion o

f the r

eside

ntial

comp

onen

t is du

e to s

ecur

e the

finan

cial

nece

ssitie

s of s

uch a

proje

ct, it

migh

t be a

dvisa

ble to

re-co

nside

r the

feas

ibility

of a

harb

our p

rojec

t in th

e firs

t plac

e

W

ill the

small

boat

harb

our a

ttrac

t suff

icien

t cus

tom to

mak

e it v

iable?

This

will

requ

ire ad

dition

al se

curity

and a

stea

dy an

d sus

taina

ble nu

mber

of sm

all bo

at an

d ya

cht o

wner

s who

wish

to ut

ilise t

he fa

cility

eithe

r per

mane

ntly o

r fro

m tim

e-to-

time

In

any E

IA, a

ltern

ative

s nee

d to b

e con

sider

ed. K

nysn

a, a m

ere 3

0km

away

is an

alt

erna

tive f

or ha

rbou

ring s

mall b

oats.

The

re ap

pear

s to b

e amp

le ex

isting

ca

pacit

y the

re. H

ere,

in Pl

ett th

ere i

s also

acce

ss to

the s

ea fr

om K

eurb

ooms

ne

ar Lo

okou

t for s

mall c

raft.

Here

too,

there

appe

ars t

o be c

apac

ity fo

r mor

e bo

ats. S

o if th

ere i

s this

over

capa

city c

lose b

y, wh

y the

need

for a

small

craft

ha

rbou

r?

Lega

l que

ries

As

sess

ment

of the

statu

tory s

ituati

on re

lating

to th

e disp

osal

of un

regis

tered

and

other

state

and p

ublic

land

below

the s

etbac

k line

and /

or hi

gh w

ater m

ark.

The a

pplic

ant h

as ap

point

ed a

legal

team

to as

sist w

ith va

rious

items

. A de

tailed

re

spon

se w

ill be

inclu

ded i

n the

EIA

.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

48

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Do

es th

e dev

elope

r hav

e per

miss

ion to

cons

truct

on st

ate la

nd, in

partic

ular e

rf 23

7

Th

e Bea

con I

sland

Res

ort h

as be

en re

nting

a ca

r par

k and

acce

ss ro

ad fr

om th

e Lo

cal M

unici

pality

for a

ppro

ximate

ly 40

year

s. Th

e dev

elopm

ent a

reas

appe

ar to

inc

lude t

his pa

rking

and a

cces

s are

a. Th

e hote

l will

be pr

ejudic

ed if

it los

es th

ese

facilit

ies an

d this

will

have

obvio

us de

trimen

tal co

nseq

uenc

es fo

r the

Res

ort. T

he

Reso

rt re

serve

s its

right

to de

fend t

he ag

reem

ent it

has w

ith th

e mun

icipa

lity fo

r the

us

e and

enjoy

ment

of the

parki

ng ba

y and

acce

ss ro

ad

Co

gniza

nce m

ust b

e tak

en of

the W

ester

n Cap

e Stra

tegy D

ocum

ent fo

r Clim

ate

Chan

ge, th

e Ede

n Sea

Leve

l Rise

docu

ment,

Pro

vincia

l Spa

tial D

evelo

pmen

t Fr

amew

ork (

WCS

DF) a

nd In

tegra

ted C

oasta

l Man

agem

ent P

lan (I

CMP)

.

Th

e Inte

grate

d Coa

stal M

anag

emen

t (IC

M) P

lan, h

as re

comm

ende

d tha

t no

deve

lopme

nt sh

ould

take p

lace u

nder

the 1

00 m

high

wate

r mar

k or 5

m co

ntour

lin

e

W

hat a

gree

ments

are i

n plac

e reg

ardin

g stat

e own

ed la

nd -

i.e. h

ow ca

n the

de

velop

ers s

ubmi

t an a

pplic

ation

for s

tate o

wned

land

? Whe

re do

the o

wner

s of

this s

tate l

and s

it in r

egar

d to t

his ap

plica

tion?

Is th

ere n

ot co

nflict

of in

teres

t? Th

e pro

posa

l wou

ld be

a co

mplet

e dep

artur

e fro

m the

curre

nt To

wn P

lannin

g and

zo

ning g

uideli

nes f

or th

e tow

n Ac

cord

ing to

the e

xistin

g Zon

ing S

chem

e Reg

ulatio

ns fo

r Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay th

at we

re

prom

ulgate

d in t

erms

of S

ectio

n 7 of

Ord

inanc

e 15 o

f 198

5, the

re ar

e spe

cific

zonin

gs

listed

for s

pecif

ic lan

d use

s. T

his do

cume

nt als

o mak

es pr

ovisi

on fo

r a zo

ning t

o ac

comm

odate

any l

and u

se ot

her t

han w

hat is

conta

ined i

n this

docu

ment.

This

Sp

ecial

Zon

ing is

defin

ed as

:

“3.14

Spe

cial Z

one

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

49

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

If spe

cial fa

ctors

justify

the c

reati

on of

a ne

w zo

ne on

the z

oning

map

for a

site

or

sites

with

out ju

stifyi

ng th

e cre

ation

of a

new

zone

in th

e reg

ulatio

ns su

ch si

te sh

all be

zo

ned a

spec

ial zo

ne on

the z

oning

map

. Eve

ry su

ch po

rtion o

f land

whic

h has

been

zo

ned a

s a sp

ecial

zone

and o

f whic

h has

been

zone

d as s

pecia

l zon

es, s

hall b

e giv

en a

sepa

rate

numb

er on

the z

oning

map

. A su

b-zo

ne of

the s

pecia

l zon

e map

ma

y con

sist o

f mor

e tha

n one

portio

n of la

nd pr

ovide

d the

para

meter

s are

the s

ame.

Ea

ch sp

ecial

zone

of w

hich t

he pa

rame

ters d

iffer f

rom

other

spec

ial zo

nes i

s give

n a

sepa

rate

numb

er (f

rom

1 and

furth

er) a

nd ea

ch nu

mber

with

acco

mpan

ying

para

meter

s is d

ealt w

ith as

a se

para

te su

b-cla

use o

f Clau

se 3.

14 of

thes

e reg

ulatio

ns”

Sinc

e this

docu

ment

does

not m

ake p

rovis

ion fo

r a sp

ecific

zonin

g tha

t can

ac

comm

odate

a ha

rbou

r, it i

s rec

omme

nded

that

appli

catio

n be m

ade f

or a

Spec

ial

Zone

to ac

comm

odate

the p

ropo

sed h

arbo

ur de

velop

ment.

This

spec

ial zo

ne w

ill als

o inc

lude t

he ac

comp

anyin

g lan

d use

s (co

mmer

cial a

nd re

siden

tial) s

ince t

he

prop

osed

para

meter

s (he

ight, b

ulk an

d cov

erag

e) di

ffer f

rom

the re

gulat

ions

Need

and d

esira

bility

asse

ssme

nt – e

spec

ially

in ter

ms of

how

the pr

opos

al fits

in w

ith

avail

able

polic

ies, g

uideli

nes a

nd re

gulat

ions;

timing

etc

Avail

able

polic

y doc

umen

tation

to gu

ide de

velop

ment:

Ac

cord

ing to

the P

rovin

cial G

over

nmen

t Wes

tern C

ape a

nd B

itou M

unici

pality

ther

e ar

e no a

ppro

ved p

olicy

docu

menta

tion g

uiding

futur

e plan

ning f

or B

itou M

unici

pality

. Th

e mun

icipa

lity ho

weve

r is in

a pr

oces

s of c

ompil

ing a

Spati

al De

velop

ment

Fram

ewor

k for

Bito

u Mun

icipa

lity bu

t this

proc

ess i

s in i

ts firs

t pha

se

The K

nysn

a-W

ilder

ness

-Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay R

egion

al St

ructu

re P

lan th

at wa

s com

piled

as

a Gu

ide P

lan in

term

s of S

ectio

n 6A(

1) of

the P

hysic

al Pl

annin

g Act

88 of

1967

wa

s the

only

appr

oved

plan

ning d

ocum

ent fo

r the

area

but in

the H

IGH

COUR

T OF

SO

UTH

AFRI

CA (W

ESTE

RN C

APE

HIGH

COU

RT, C

APE

TOW

N) in

a ca

se

SHEL

FPLE

TT 47

(PTY

) LTD

vs M

EC F

OR E

NVIR

ONME

NTAL

AFF

AIRS

&

DEVE

LOPM

ENT

PLAN

NING

(Firs

t Res

pond

ent)

and B

ITOU

MUN

ICIP

ALIT

Y

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

50

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

(Sec

ond R

espo

nden

t) Ca

se N

o. 16

416/1

0 the

follo

wing

was

orde

red b

y Jud

ge A

J Ro

dger

s in h

is jud

geme

nt da

ted 5

March

2012

:

“[a] T

he K

nysn

a-W

ilder

ness

-Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay G

uide P

lan, w

hich w

as by

a de

clara

tion

publi

shed

in th

e Gov

ernm

ent G

azett

e on 9

Feb

ruar

y 199

6 in t

erms

of s

37(2

) of th

e Ph

ysica

l Plan

ning A

ct 12

5 of 1

991 d

eeme

d to b

e a re

giona

l stru

cture

plan

as

conte

mplat

ed in

that

Act, i

s dec

lared

to be

inco

nsist

ent w

ith th

e Con

stitut

ion an

d inv

alid.”

The n

eed a

nd de

sirab

ility o

f the d

evelo

pmen

t will

be de

termi

ned i

n ter

ms of

the

requ

ireme

nts of

the E

IA re

gulat

ions b

y res

pond

ing to

the q

uery

list p

rese

nted i

n Ch

apter

3 of

this S

copin

g Rep

ort

The d

evelo

pmen

t sho

uld be

in ac

cord

with

the P

letten

berg

Bay

’s Sp

atial

Deve

lopme

nt Fr

amew

ork

As ab

ove –

no ap

prov

ed S

DF cu

rrentl

y exis

ts

The O

ld Pl

ett Z

oning

Sch

eme.

This

is st

ill in

force

. It ap

plies

to th

e for

mer P

letten

berg

Ba

y mun

icipa

l are

a only

(it is

not a

prov

incial

zonin

g sch

eme i

n ter

ms of

s.8 o

f LUP

O -

Ord.1

5 of 1

985)

. Only

2 re

siden

tial z

ones

are p

rovid

ed fo

r in th

e ‘old

sche

me’, w

hich i

s ap

plica

ble to

the p

rojec

t are

a. T

hey a

re S

ingle

Res.

and G

ener

al Re

s. Th

e max

imum

he

ight in

Gen

Res

is 3

store

ys w

hile t

he m

axim

um he

ight in

the b

usine

ss zo

ne is

10,3m

. A

new

zonin

g sch

eme i

s req

uired

for B

itou.

Con

sulta

nts w

ere a

ppoin

ted m

ore t

han t

en

year

s ago

to pr

oduc

e one

but it

has n

ever

been

brou

ght to

conc

lusion

. Inev

itably

the

proje

ct wi

ll con

flict w

ith th

e cur

rent

zonin

g reg

ulatio

ns. B

itou m

ight s

oon a

dopt

the

prov

incial

mod

el sc

heme

or a

varia

tion o

f it

The e

xistin

g and

appr

oved

Zon

ing S

chem

e Reg

ulatio

ns fo

r Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay m

akes

pr

ovisi

on fo

r the

follo

wing

resid

entia

l zon

es:

1. Si

ngle

Resid

entia

l Zon

e 2.

Gene

ral R

eside

ntial

zone

3.

Grou

p hou

sing z

one

4. Sp

ecial

Res

identi

al zo

ne

With

the e

xpan

sion o

f the m

unici

pal b

ound

aries

to al

so in

clude

the l

and l

ocate

d ou

tside

the o

rigina

l mun

icipa

l bou

ndar

ies to

form

wall

to w

all m

unici

paliti

es, it

resu

lted

in on

e mun

icipa

lity ha

ving t

wo zo

ning s

chem

e reg

ulatio

ns. T

o ens

ure p

rope

r ma

nage

ment

and e

fficien

t land

use p

lannin

g ins

ide th

ese n

ew m

unici

paliti

es, th

e nee

d for

a co

mmon

sche

me re

gulat

ion do

cume

nt ar

ises.

Bito

u Mun

icipa

lity is

no di

ffere

nt

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

51

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

from

other

s and

this

time c

onsu

ming

proc

ess w

ill als

o be r

equir

ed in

the n

ear f

uture

. Bu

t unti

l then

the e

xistin

g Zon

ing S

chem

e Reg

ulatio

ns fo

r Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay is

in pl

ace.

The l

and a

nd pr

oper

ties s

how

on yo

ur pl

an in

clude

s priv

ate la

nd (s

ome s

ubjec

t to th

e un

der t

he 1:

50 ye

ar flo

od lin

es);

other

s are

with

in the

Mar

ine an

d Coa

stal p

rotec

tion

area

, whic

h will

requ

ire sp

ecial

disp

ensa

tion

Acco

rding

to tit

le de

eds,

erve

n with

in the

deve

lopme

nt ap

plica

tion b

elong

to th

e Bito

u Mu

nicipa

lity an

d the

Nati

onal

Depa

rtmen

t of P

ublic

Wor

ks on

ly. T

he lo

catio

n of c

ertai

n er

ven b

elow

the er

ven i

s note

d and

the i

mpac

t of th

is wi

ll be a

sses

sed i

n the

EIA

. Is

there

a lar

ger s

tudy i

ncor

pora

ting t

he w

hole

of Pl

etten

berg

Bay

show

ing w

hy su

ch

node

s of h

igh de

nsity

mak

e sen

se? C

oasta

l villa

ges g

ener

ally c

hoos

e high

dens

ity or

low

dens

ity –

very

rare

ly ar

e the

two c

ombin

ed su

cces

sfully

No th

ere i

s no s

uch d

ocum

ent a

vaila

ble an

d the

inten

tion i

s tha

t the S

patia

l De

velop

ment

Fram

ewor

k for

Bito

u Mun

icipa

lity w

ill se

rve as

futur

e plan

ning p

olicy

. Th

e Pro

vincia

l Gov

ernm

ent W

ester

n Cap

e thr

ough

its de

nsific

ation

polic

y and

Pr

ovinc

ial S

patia

l Dev

elopm

ent F

rame

work

(PSD

F) en

cour

age i

ncre

ased

dens

ities

inside

exist

ing ur

ban a

reas

to pr

even

t unn

eces

sary

urba

n spr

awl.

An av

erag

e den

sity

of 25

units

per h

ectar

es is

reco

mmen

ded.

Sinc

e man

y exis

ting d

evelo

pmen

ts int

he

urba

n are

a hav

e a m

uch l

ower

dens

ity, th

is wi

ll res

ult in

appli

catio

ns fo

r dev

elopm

ent

of sp

ecific

portio

ns of

land

with

muc

h high

er de

nsitie

s to a

chiev

e the

reco

mmen

ded

aver

age d

ensit

y. T

he ex

isting

PSD

F do

cume

nt pr

ovide

s spe

cific

plann

ing gu

idelin

es

that e

valua

te the

suita

bility

of th

ese p

ortio

ns of

land

for h

igher

dens

ities.

Th

e dev

elopm

ent w

ill tra

nsfor

m the

char

acter

of th

e tow

n fro

m a h

olida

y res

ort to

a inn

er ci

ty su

burb

Al

thoug

h the

re ar

e alre

ady c

omme

rcial

activ

ities n

ear C

entra

l bea

ch an

d the

Pies

ang

estua

ry, th

e dev

elopm

ent o

f a ha

rbou

r will

defin

itely

trans

form

the ar

ea an

d in t

he

proc

ess e

stabli

sh a

new

activ

ity no

de. D

espit

e the

incre

ase i

n den

sity a

nd he

ight th

at wi

ll cha

nge t

he vi

sual

char

acter

of th

e are

a, the

land

uses

will

rema

in re

siden

tial a

nd

comm

ercia

l. Th

is pr

incipl

e of c

ombin

ing ec

onom

ic op

portu

nities

toge

ther in

a ce

ntrali

sed n

ode i

nside

an ex

isting

urba

n are

a is i

n line

with

the p

rincip

les of

the

PSDF

.De

termi

natio

n of a

deve

lopme

nt se

tback

line:

A de

velop

ment

setba

ck lin

e mus

t be

deter

mine

d for

the a

rea,

to en

sure

that

all pa

rties a

re aw

are o

f the l

and t

hat w

ould

be

perm

itted t

o be d

evelo

ped i

f or w

hen e

nviro

nmen

tal au

thoris

ation

is gr

anted

. Ad h

oc

setba

ck lin

es ha

ve be

en de

termi

ned f

or pr

oper

ties i

n the

area

and t

hese

are f

urthe

r fro

m the

high

wate

r mar

k tha

n the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt, i.e

. the p

ropo

sed

Spec

ialist

s will

be ap

point

ed to

deter

mine

the s

etbac

k line

for t

he pr

opos

ed

deve

lopme

nt. T

he la

nd un

its (w

ithin

the es

tuary)

on w

hich t

he de

velop

ment

is pr

opos

ed ar

e not

regis

tered

as er

ven a

nd do

not h

ave a

ny de

finite

ERF

boun

darie

s.

The i

ntenti

on of

this

appli

catio

n is t

o dete

rmine

the e

xact

erf b

ound

aries

of th

ese l

and

units

after

the d

emar

catio

n of th

e pro

pose

d har

bour

and n

ew w

ater e

dge i

n the

river

.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

52

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

deve

lopme

nt wi

ll the

oreti

cally

occu

r sea

ward

of an

alre

ady d

eterm

ined s

etbac

k line

On

ce th

e pos

ition o

f the n

ew pi

er an

d har

bour

boun

dary

is de

termi

ned t

hrou

gh

engin

eerin

g des

ign, th

e erf

boun

darie

s of th

e lan

d unit

s can

be de

termi

ned a

nd th

e ne

cess

ary s

tatuto

ry ap

prov

als w

ill be

soug

ht to

regis

ter th

ese l

and u

nits a

s erve

n.

The s

etbac

k line

of th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent w

ill the

n be d

eterm

ined f

rom

these

erf

boun

darie

s in a

ccor

danc

e with

the a

rchite

ctura

l des

ign co

ncep

t.

Cogn

isanc

e will

be ta

ken o

f the r

equir

emen

t s of

the I

CMA

in de

termi

ning s

et-ba

ck

lines

, as w

ell as

the i

mpac

t of s

ea-le

vel ri

se, s

torm

surg

es an

d floo

ding.

W

hat p

lans a

re in

tende

d for

incre

asing

parki

ng? M

uch o

f the d

esign

ated d

evelo

pmen

t ar

ea is

curre

ntly u

sed f

or pa

rking

Pa

rking

will

be pr

ovide

d on s

ite an

d as s

emi b

asem

ent p

arkin

g for

all a

ctivit

ies

acco

rding

to th

e reg

ulated

requ

ireme

nts. T

he de

velop

ment

prop

osal

make

s pro

vision

for

mor

e par

king t

han w

hat is

curre

ntly a

vaila

ble.

Wha

t has

happ

ened

in P

letten

berg

Bay

over

the y

ears

seem

s to b

e tha

t per

miss

ions

have

been

give

n in s

ever

al pla

ces i

n a pi

ecem

eal p

roce

ss. W

hat is

first

not a

llowe

d co

mes t

o be l

ater a

llowe

d. W

hat is

need

ed is

a ho

listic

visio

n of th

e enti

re ar

ea. Is

the

re on

e?

No, th

ere i

s no a

ppro

ved p

olicy

docu

ment

that h

as a

holis

tic vi

sion f

or th

e phy

sical

deve

lopme

nt of

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay. A

lthou

gh pl

annin

g is a

dyna

mic p

roce

ss, it

is

comm

on w

ith th

e abs

ence

of an

appr

oved

polic

y doc

umen

t that

ad ho

c dec

ision

s are

ma

de. T

he B

itou M

unici

pality

has h

owev

er st

arted

with

the p

repa

ratio

n of a

Spa

tial

Deve

lopme

nt Fr

amew

ork i

n whic

h the

futur

e visi

on fo

r Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay an

d env

irons

wi

ll be e

xpre

ssed

. Se

nse p

lace/c

hara

cter:

The p

ropo

sed 4

and 7

stor

ey bu

ilding

s will

affec

t the e

ntire

ch

arac

ter of

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay

Noted

– the

seve

rity of

this

impa

ct wi

ll be a

sses

sed i

n the

EIA

Odlan

d Driv

e con

nects

the s

outhe

rn pr

imar

ily re

siden

tial p

art o

f Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay w

ith

the C

BD an

d Mar

ket S

quar

e. An

y con

strain

t on m

ovem

ent a

long t

his ro

ad lin

k will

tend t

o alie

nate

the so

uth fr

om th

e nor

th. T

his w

ill re

sult i

n fur

ther p

ress

ure f

or

comm

ercia

l dev

elopm

ent in

the s

outhe

rn, p

rimar

ily re

siden

tial, a

reas

. This

could

resu

lt in

the de

stabil

isatio

n of th

e res

identi

al ar

ea be

twee

n Odla

nd D

rive a

nd T

he P

rong

s Cr

esce

nt. A

prop

er st

udy m

ust b

e don

e to i

nform

us on

the i

mpac

t of th

e pro

pose

d de

velop

ment

of the

Sma

ll Boa

t Har

bour

on th

e res

identi

al ch

arac

ter of

the a

ffecte

d re

siden

tial a

reas

Acco

rding

to th

e dev

elopm

ent p

ropo

sal th

ere w

ill be

no co

nstra

ints i

n mov

emen

t be

twee

n the

“sou

th” an

d the

“nor

th” of

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay. R

ather

, the d

evelo

pmen

t pr

opos

es an

addit

ional

pede

strian

link b

etwee

n the

two s

ides a

nd m

ore s

pecif

ically

the

Cen

tral B

each

area

with

Rob

berg

Bea

ch

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

53

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

The c

urre

nt bu

ilding

heigh

t res

trictio

n of 8

.5 me

tres.

Many

prop

erty

owne

rs wo

uld

have

love

d to b

uild t

heir h

omes

high

er th

an 8

.5 me

tres t

o max

imise

their

view

s, bu

t we

re no

t per

mitte

d to.

They

acce

pted t

his re

strict

ion in

the i

ntere

st of

the to

wn an

d oth

er re

siden

ts. It

would

be ta

ntamo

unt to

a br

each

of co

ntrac

t to no

w all

ow a

comm

ercia

l dev

elopm

ent to

avoid

the s

ame r

estric

tions

for t

he sa

me re

ason

s

Acco

rding

to th

e Zon

ing S

chem

e Reg

ulatio

ns th

e heig

ht of

build

ings v

ary a

ccor

ding t

o the

spec

ific zo

ning;

henc

e the

6 me

ter he

ight r

estric

tion i

n the

Sing

le Re

siden

tial Z

one

and t

he 10

.6 me

ter he

ight r

estric

tion i

n Bus

iness

Zon

e

Title

restr

iction

s app

ly in

some

case

s and

thes

e nee

d to b

e add

ress

ed

A for

mal C

onve

yanc

er’s

Certif

icate

will b

e obta

ined t

o ide

ntify

any p

ossib

le re

strict

ive

cond

itions

in th

e title

deed

s and

if the

re ar

e any

, form

al ap

plica

tion i

n ter

ms of

the

Remo

val o

f Res

trictio

ns A

ct, 19

67 (A

ct 84

of 19

67) w

ill be

subm

itted a

s par

t of th

e LU

PO ap

plica

tion b

y the

town

plan

ner

The I

ntegr

ated D

evelo

pmen

t Plan

iden

tifies

prior

ities f

or de

velop

ment

in Bi

tou. W

e are

no

t sur

e how

the c

urre

nt ID

P re

lates

to th

is pr

oject

Altho

ugh t

he ID

P do

cume

nt pr

imar

ily fo

cuse

s on s

pecif

ic pr

ojects

and g

oals

withi

n the

mu

nicipa

lity, th

e IDP

reco

gnise

s “Ec

onom

ic gr

owth

and j

ob cr

eatio

n” as

one o

f the

three

prior

ities o

f Nati

onal

Gove

rnme

nt. T

he W

ester

n Cap

e Cab

inet a

lso lis

t “in

creas

ing op

portu

nities

for jo

bs an

d gro

wth”

as on

e of th

eir to

p twe

lve de

velop

ment

objec

tives

. The

IDP

lists

“socia

l and

loca

l eco

nomi

c dev

elopm

ent”

as on

e of th

e key

pe

rform

ance

area

s for

the m

unici

pality

. A de

finitio

n for

loca

l eco

nomi

c dev

elopm

ent

is giv

en: “

local

econ

omic

deve

lopme

nt ca

n be d

efine

d as t

he pr

oces

s by w

hich p

ublic

, bu

sines

s and

non-

gove

rnme

ntal s

ector

partn

ers w

ork c

ollec

tively

to cr

eate

bette

r co

nditio

ns fo

r eco

nomi

c gro

wth”

The d

evelo

per is

of th

e opin

ion th

at by

deve

loping

a co

mmer

cial h

arbo

ur in

the

Pies

ang R

iver w

ith th

e ass

istan

ce of

the p

rivate

secto

r (fun

ding)

and n

ation

al an

d loc

al go

vern

ment

(pro

perty

) the

loca

l eco

nomy

of B

itou w

ill be

stim

ulated

and n

ew

emplo

ymen

t opp

ortun

ities (

shor

t term

and p

erma

nent)

will

be cr

eated

. The

econ

omic

impa

ct as

sess

ment

supp

orts

this.

This

PPP

proje

ct is

direc

tly in

line w

ith th

e ob

jectiv

es of

the I

DP do

cume

nt.

The I

DP do

cume

nt als

o high

light

the ur

gent

need

and l

ack o

f suff

icien

t fund

ing fo

r

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

54

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

bulk

infra

struc

ture a

nd se

rvice

s with

in the

Bito

u mun

icipa

lity. W

ith th

e bulk

co

ntribu

tion l

evies

paya

ble fo

r the

prop

osed

harb

our d

evelo

pmen

t, the

Bito

u mu

nicipa

lity w

ill be

in a

finan

cial p

ositio

n to a

ddre

ss so

me of

the u

rgen

t nee

ds lis

ted in

the

IDP

docu

ment.

In ad

dition

to th

at, th

e exp

ected

taxe

s and

servi

ces c

osts

that w

ill ar

ise fr

om th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent w

ill ma

ke a

signif

icant

impa

ct to

the lo

cal

econ

omy i

n the

area

and m

ore s

pecif

ically

the B

itou M

unici

pality

. The

se m

oney

s can

the

n be u

tilize

d by t

he m

unici

pality

in ad

dres

sing t

he sp

ecific

need

s ide

ntifie

d in t

he

IDP

docu

ment.

The p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t can

also

prov

ide a

uniqu

e opp

ortun

ity fo

r Bito

u mu

nicipa

lity to

imple

ment

traini

ng pr

ogra

ms in

partn

ersh

ip wi

th pr

ivate

enter

prise

wi

thin t

he co

nstru

ction

indu

stry a

nd th

ereb

y com

plying

with

yet a

nothe

r obje

ctive

and

goal

of the

IDP

Gard

en R

oute

Integ

rated

Mar

ine M

anag

emen

t Plan

reco

mmen

ds:

Ensu

re S

DF an

d IDP

docu

ments

prom

ote pl

annin

g and

land

-use

that

bene

fits th

e en

viron

ment,

avoid

s dam

age t

o or lo

ss of

sens

itive a

reas

and p

rese

rves a

esthe

tic

appe

al of

Gard

en R

oute

for to

urist

s.This

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt wi

ll hav

e eno

rmou

s im

pact

on th

e cur

rent

plann

ing st

ructu

re of

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay, p

artic

ularly

on th

e ex

isting

CBD

and t

ouris

m hu

b whe

re re

staur

ants

and s

hops

rely

on to

urist

s. Th

e de

velop

ment

will a

lso ha

ve de

trimen

tal en

viron

menta

l and

aesth

etic i

mpac

ts. In

shor

t, if o

ne ap

plies

the p

rincip

les of

Trip

le Bo

ttom/

Top L

ine to

this

prop

osal,

it fai

ls on

all

coun

ts

Envir

onme

ntal a

nd ae

stheti

c imp

acts

will b

e ass

esse

d in t

he E

IA on

ce ec

ologic

al an

d vis

ual im

pact

asse

ssme

nt sp

ecial

ist st

udies

have

been

done

. The

econ

omic

spec

ialist

stu

dy co

nside

red i

mpac

ts on

tour

ism an

d exis

ting b

usine

sses

. The

impa

ct on

tour

ism

is su

mmar

ised a

s foll

ows:

‘Tour

ism im

pacts

are o

ften d

riven

by ch

ange

s in t

he se

nse o

f plac

e in a

n are

a, wi

th the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt thu

s hav

ing th

e pote

ntial

to im

pact

on to

urism

as its

natur

e dic

tates

that

it is l

ikely

to ch

ange

the c

hara

cter o

f the a

rea s

ubsta

ntiall

y. Th

ere a

re

curre

ntly m

ixed v

iews o

f this

deve

lopme

nt wi

th ce

rtain

secto

rs of

the co

mmun

ity

seein

g it a

s an a

dditio

nal a

nd co

mplem

entar

y tou

rism

attra

ction

, and

the m

ore

estab

lishe

d res

identi

al co

mmun

ity in

clos

er pr

oxim

ity to

the d

evelo

pmen

t see

ing it

as

havin

g a m

ajor d

etrim

ental

effec

t on t

he cu

rrent

sens

e of p

lace a

nd sp

oiling

a pr

istine

na

tural

envir

onme

nt an

d tra

nsfor

ming

it int

o a hi

gh de

nsity

and v

isibly

obtru

sive u

rban

de

velop

ment.

Pote

ntial

posit

ive im

pacts

could

also

arise

shou

ld the

deve

lopme

nt pr

ovide

an ad

ded a

ttrac

tion i

n the

area

that

could

draw

addit

ional

touris

ts. It

has b

een

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

55

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

estim

ated t

hat th

e dev

elopm

ent c

ould

prov

ide an

addit

ional

500 b

eds i

nto th

e ac

comm

odati

on po

ol wh

ich co

uld st

imula

te an

addit

ion R

96 m

illion

of to

urism

ex

pend

iture

by ye

ar fiv

e, wh

ich re

pres

ents

5% of

the p

rojec

ted to

tal to

urism

spen

d of

R 1,9

12 m

illion

at th

is po

int. C

onsid

ered

as a

whole

, the k

ey po

tentia

l driv

ers o

f ne

gativ

e tou

rism

impa

cts (p

rimar

ily vi

sual

impa

cts) d

o not

seem

to be

sign

ifican

t en

ough

to pr

ovide

any c

lear b

asis

to co

nclud

e tha

t the p

rojec

t wou

ld en

tail m

ore t

han

a low

leve

l of r

isk fo

r tou

rism.

It is

quite

poss

ible t

hat th

is ris

k wou

ld be

off-s

et by

the

posit

ive at

tracti

on pr

ovide

d by t

he pr

oject.

It is

there

fore p

redic

ted th

at the

net to

urism

im

pacts

asso

ciated

with

the p

rojec

t wou

ld be

neutr

al to

low-p

ositiv

e with

mitig

ation

me

asur

es in

plac

e’.

The i

mpac

t on e

xistin

g bus

iness

es is

summ

arize

d belo

w:

‘Cur

rentl

y the

comm

ercia

l com

munit

y is c

once

ntrate

d in t

he tr

aditio

nal C

entra

l Bu

sines

s Dist

rict w

hich i

s pos

itione

d alon

g Main

Stre

et an

d the

junc

tion w

ith O

dland

s Ro

ad at

the ‘

Dolph

in Ci

rcle’,

and t

he m

ore r

ecen

tly es

tablis

hed P

ick n

Pay c

entre

at

the ea

stern

entra

nce t

o Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay, a

longs

ide th

e N2.

The b

usine

ss co

mmun

ity

have

a mi

xed r

eacti

on to

the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t with

some

indic

ating

that

they

belie

ve it

will o

ffer o

ppor

tunitie

s for

reloc

ation

and i

mpro

ved b

usine

ss, w

hilst

the

balan

ce be

lieve

it wi

ll be t

he de

ath kn

ell fo

r cer

tain b

usine

sses

whic

h are

alre

ady i

n a

chall

engin

g com

merci

al en

viron

ment’

. A m

arke

t dem

and s

tudy w

ill be

done

to

deter

mine

the n

eed f

or th

e dev

elopm

ent a

nd if

it can

be su

staine

d in t

he to

wn.

Cogn

izanc

e mus

t be t

aken

of th

e Wes

tern C

ape S

trateg

y Doc

umen

t for C

limate

Ch

ange

, the E

den S

ea Le

vel R

ise do

cume

nt, P

rovin

cial S

patia

l Dev

elopm

ent

Fram

ewor

k (W

CSDF

) and

Integ

rated

Coa

stal M

anag

emen

t Plan

(ICM

P)

Noted

It is a

lso im

porta

nt tha

t the d

evelo

per c

onsid

er th

e DEA

&DP

repo

rt “D

evelo

pmen

t of a

Me

thodo

logy f

or D

efinin

g and

Ado

pting

Coa

stal D

evelo

pmen

t Setb

ack L

ines”

which

re

comm

ends

that

set b

ack l

ines s

hould

be se

t in or

der t

o main

tain:

Noted

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

56

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Ad

equa

te se

tback

to m

aintai

n aes

thetic

featu

res,

such

as ro

ck fo

rmati

ons,

and s

ense

of pl

ace.

Ad

equa

te se

tback

to m

inimi

se sh

ading

of be

ache

s by t

all st

ructu

res;

Th

e key

findin

gs in

this

repo

rt fou

nd th

at de

velop

ment

setba

ck sh

ould

cons

ider t

he fo

llowi

ng is

sues

:

a)

Coa

stal h

azar

ds (v

ery h

igh-w

ater le

vels

and c

o-inc

ident

storm

s);

b)

Con

serva

tion/b

iodive

rsity;

c)

Herita

ge;

d)

Pub

lic ac

cess

and a

menit

y;

e)

Land

scap

e valu

e (se

nse o

f plac

e).

Th

is re

port

also r

eferre

rs to

a stud

y don

e by R

oets

& Du

ffell-C

anha

m (2

009)

wh

o hav

e, ide

ntifie

d thr

ee m

ain ar

eas u

ndes

irable

for d

evelo

pmen

t defi

ned

as:

1.

Below

the 1

in 10

0 yea

r floo

d line

2.

Below

the 5

m co

ntour

(with

refer

ence

to es

tuarin

e sys

tems)

3.

Prim

ary a

nd se

cond

ary d

unes

All o

f the a

bove

point

s refe

rred t

o in t

he D

EA&D

P re

port

are a

pplic

able

to thi

s pr

opos

ed de

velop

ment

and s

how

that th

e dev

elopm

ent is

unde

sirab

le an

d high

ly ina

ppro

priat

e Th

e dev

elopm

ent p

ropo

ses t

o rez

one t

he pu

blic o

pen s

pace

s, fro

ntal d

une a

rea a

nd

cons

erva

tion a

reas

arou

nd th

e Pies

ang R

iver a

nd on

the b

each

for r

eside

ntial

and

Noted

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

57

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

comm

ercia

l use

. The

WCS

DF (2

009)

reco

gnise

s tha

t den

sifica

tion i

s not

appr

opria

te in

histor

ical p

arts

of tow

n or a

reas

of en

viron

menta

l con

strain

ts (su

ch as

wetl

ands

, flo

od lin

es an

d are

as of

high

biod

iversi

ty). T

his is

the c

ase f

or C

entra

l Bea

ch w

hich i

s pr

one t

o floo

ds an

d vuln

erab

le to

clima

te ch

ange

. The

scale

of th

is de

velop

ment

wher

e the

heigh

t res

trictio

ns w

ill ha

ve to

be ch

ange

d and

area

s of p

rotec

tion a

re

rezo

ned w

ill als

o cha

nge t

he hi

storic

al ch

arac

ter of

the a

rea

The W

CSDF

guide

lines

state

that

no bu

sines

s dev

elopm

ent s

hould

take

plac

e und

er

the 1:

50 ye

ar flo

od lin

e and

that

the he

ight a

nd sc

ale of

the b

uildin

g sho

uld tie

in w

ith

the ch

arac

ter of

the s

urro

undin

g are

a

Apar

t from

the c

omme

rcial

harb

our,

no de

velop

ment

will b

e belo

w the

1:50

year

flo

odlin

e of th

e Pies

ang R

iver

Cons

ider t

he ha

rbou

r dev

elopm

ent c

once

pt pr

esen

ted fo

r the

‘Bea

con I

sle P

recin

ct’ in

the

‘Urb

an R

enew

al of

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay C

BD’ (M

ay 20

05)

Noted

ENGI

NEER

S

Fram

ewor

k ser

vices

repo

rt an

d ind

icatio

n of a

ltern

ative

s bein

g con

sider

ed

A pr

elimi

nary

servi

ces r

epor

t has

been

done

by B

SM B

aker

and i

s atta

ched

as

Appe

ndix

7 An

y app

rova

l mus

t com

e with

a co

mmitm

ent b

y the

deve

loper

s to p

rovid

e sew

age

remo

val p

umps

. Pum

ping i

nto th

e sea

a kil

omete

r offs

hore

is no

t goo

d eno

ugh

At th

is sta

ge, it

is pr

opos

ed to

pump

sewe

rage

to th

e exis

ting w

aste

water

trea

tmen

t pla

nt in

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay. T

he an

ticipa

ted de

mand

of th

e dev

elopm

ent is

0.9 M

l the

refor

e the

wor

ks w

ill ha

ve to

be ex

pand

ed. T

his w

ill re

quire

an E

IA an

d Was

te Lic

ence

appli

catio

n to t

he N

ation

al DE

A.

The r

ivers

in Pl

ett ar

e ver

y sen

sitive

and f

urthe

r extr

actio

n can

not b

e con

sider

ed

befor

e a fu

ll eco

logica

l rese

rve st

udy i

s und

er ta

ken t

hat w

ill en

sure

a he

althy

ec

osys

tem as

well

as a

secu

re w

ater s

upply

for P

lett

Noted

Prov

ision

of se

rvice

s: ex

isting

infra

struc

ture i

s at a

max

imum

capa

city

Noted

, BSM

Bak

er ar

e inv

estig

ating

avail

able

capa

city a

nd w

hat u

pgra

des a

re

requ

ired t

o mee

t the d

eman

ds of

the d

evelo

pmen

t W

aste

mana

geme

nt –T

he la

ndfill

site

is ov

er its

lega

l safe

limit a

nd w

ill sh

ortly

be

deco

mmiss

ioned

. An E

IA is

unde

r way

to de

velop

a wa

ste tr

ansfe

r stat

ion, b

ut thi

s is

not a

long

term

solut

ion th

at wi

ll allo

w for

a lar

ge am

ount

of ec

onom

ic gr

owth

to ha

ppen

in P

lett a

s the

tran

spor

tation

of w

aste

will b

e ver

y exp

ensiv

e and

the s

ite in

Noted

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

58

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Moss

el Ba

y will

not b

e able

to ha

ndle

the in

creas

e in w

aste

for ve

ry lon

gTh

e pop

ulatio

n inc

reas

es fr

om ab

out 6

000 t

o 240

00 in

peak

holid

ay pe

riods

(D

ecem

ber a

nd E

aster

holid

ays).

The

exist

ing se

rvice

infra

struc

ture c

anno

t mee

t the

dema

nds i

n the

se pe

riod

Noted

Wha

t will

the im

pact

on th

e bea

ches

be, a

s the

ocea

n cur

rents

will

be af

fected

by th

e pr

opos

ed de

velop

ment

To as

sess

the i

mpac

ts of

the ha

rbou

r on C

entra

l and

Rob

berg

beac

hes,

it is i

mpor

tant

to un

derst

and a

nd qu

antify

the s

and t

rans

port

regim

e. Fu

rther

more

, the s

and

trans

port

and t

he br

eakw

ater la

yout

also a

ffect

the m

ainten

ance

dred

ging o

f the

harb

our.

A de

tailed

sand

tran

spor

t stud

y will

be un

derta

ken d

uring

the n

ext p

hase

of th

e pro

ject

to qu

antify

long

shor

e, cro

ss-sh

ore a

nd ae

olian

sand

tran

spor

t in th

e vici

nity o

f the

harb

our.

Howe

ver,

the pr

esen

t initia

l ass

essm

ent s

hows

the f

ollow

ing: (

1) a

part

of Ce

ntral

Beac

h will

be dr

edge

d and

will

be in

corp

orate

d in t

he en

tranc

e cha

nnel;

(2)

limite

d acc

retio

n is e

xpec

ted in

the l

ee (w

est)

of the

seco

ndar

y bre

akwa

ter, th

us

repla

cing p

art o

f Cen

tral B

each

lost

to the

chan

nel; (

3) ex

chan

ge of

sand

betw

een

Robb

erg B

each

and C

entra

l Bea

ch an

d betw

een L

ooko

ut Be

ach a

nd C

entra

l Bea

ch is

lim

ited a

nd th

erefo

re C

entra

l Bea

ch is

esse

ntiall

y a po

cket

beac

h, me

aning

that

phys

ical im

pacts

will

prob

ably

be co

nfine

d to C

entra

l Bea

ch; (

4) th

e phy

sical

impa

ct of

the ha

rbou

r on R

obbe

rg B

each

will

prob

ably

be ve

ry low

; (5)

the f

luvial

sand

tran

spor

t of

the P

iesan

g Rive

r is lo

w; (6

) the

phys

ical im

pact

of the

harb

our o

n Keu

rboo

ms

Rive

r is ex

pecte

d to b

e neg

ligibl

e It h

as al

read

y bee

n esta

blish

ed th

at a g

roin/

brea

kwate

r wou

ld no

t be p

ermi

tted a

t a

harb

our e

ntran

ce he

re as

this

would

upse

t the m

ovem

ent o

f san

d alon

g the

shor

e of

the ba

y in t

his ar

ea. A

ny at

tempte

d har

bour

entra

nce w

ould,

as a

resu

lt, sil

t up i

n no

time a

t all.

This

has b

een p

rove

n by t

he fa

ct tha

t eve

ry tim

e the

sand

on C

entra

l be

ach h

as be

en w

ashe

d out

by a

seve

re st

orm

(whic

h occ

urs a

bout

ever

y 10 t

o 15

To be

deter

mine

d by t

he co

astal

engin

eers

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

59

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

year

s), th

e san

d is r

apidl

y rep

laced

by th

e natu

ral m

ovem

ent o

f cur

rents

bring

ing in

re

place

ment

sand

(refe

r also

the s

ilting

prob

lems a

t the J

effre

ys B

ay M

arina

en

tranc

e). T

he de

sign o

f the h

arbo

ur ex

it wou

ld ha

ve to

be pr

eced

ed by

i) ac

tual

labor

atory

mode

l inve

stiga

tion,

and

ii) Co

astal

Man

agem

ent p

ermi

ssion

The b

each

and t

he la

goon

are i

nter-r

elated

and d

epen

dent

on ea

ch ot

her.

We h

ave

all se

en th

e hav

oc a

storm

can c

ause

with

beac

h was

h awa

y etc.

How

ever

with

time

and d

ue to

the n

atura

l mov

emen

t of w

ind an

d wate

r the

beac

h alw

ays c

omes

back

. Th

is wi

ll not

be th

e cas

e with

any s

ort o

f per

mane

nt str

uctur

e alon

g this

beac

h are

a, an

d eve

ntuall

y Cen

tral B

each

as w

e kno

w it w

ill no

long

er ex

ist

As no

ted ab

ove,

the im

pact

on C

entra

l Bea

ch w

ill be

asse

ssed

by th

e coa

stal

engin

eers

once

a de

tailed

sedim

ent s

tudy h

as be

en do

ne

Has a

flood

plain

stud

y bee

n und

ertak

en of

the e

ntire

valle

y affe

cted b

y the

harb

our?

W

e hav

e con

cern

s abo

ut ris

ing riv

er le

vels

which

migh

t hap

pen s

hould

the m

outh

and

estua

ry be

mad

e dee

per.

Many

build

ings o

n the

Pies

ang r

iver v

alley

are o

n the

hu

ndre

d yea

r floo

d line

s. Ri

ver c

lub an

d bea

u rav

age a

re ex

ample

s. Dr

edgin

g wou

ld be

requ

ired f

airly

regu

larly

due t

o the

tidal

ebb a

ffecti

ng th

e mou

th of

what

is es

senti

ally a

lago

on sy

stem

A flo

odlin

e ana

lysis

will b

e don

e by B

SM B

aker

Wha

t will

the im

pact

on ot

her b

each

es be

(e.g.

Keu

rboo

ms/Lo

okou

t, Rob

berg

) Se

e abo

ve

Centr

al be

ach a

re is

slow

ly de

creas

ing in

size

and s

ome e

xpen

sive m

easu

re ha

ve

been

put in

plac

e to p

reve

nt se

a-sa

nd er

osion

no

ted

Most

prop

ertie

s fall

with

in the

Coa

stal P

rotec

tion Z

one a

nd co

astal

publi

c pro

perty

. Th

e fun

ction

of th

ese a

reas

as sp

ecifie

d in t

erms

of th

e Coa

stal M

anag

emen

t Act

must

be m

aintai

ned

Noted

– thi

s is a

key c

onsid

erati

on in

the E

IA. T

he im

pact

of the

deve

lopme

nt on

the

coas

tal pr

otecti

on zo

ne an

d its

abilit

y to p

erfor

m its

inten

ded f

uncti

on w

ill be

as

sess

ed.

The m

outh

of the

Pies

ang R

iver e

stuar

y has

rece

ntly e

xper

ience

d the

effec

ts of

incre

ased

stor

m su

rges

and f

loodin

g, wi

th co

ncom

itant

dama

ge to

coas

tal ec

ologic

al inf

rastr

uctur

e. Th

e high

wate

r mar

k of th

e sea

is in

a co

nstan

t of fl

ux in

this

area

noted

The c

hang

es to

the f

loor o

f the o

cean

at th

e mou

th of

the ch

anne

l cou

ld ha

ve fa

r-re

achin

g effe

cts on

the s

tabilit

y of n

earb

y bea

ches

, suc

h as i

n the

case

of S

t Fra

ncis

Bay w

here

the l

evel

of the

beac

h dro

pped

seve

ral m

etres

. A pr

oper

risk a

nalys

es

Noted

. The

appo

inted

coas

tal en

ginee

rs ar

e lea

ding e

xper

ts in

this f

ield

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

60

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

must

be do

ne by

inter

natio

nal e

xper

ts to

infor

m us

on po

tentia

l impli

catio

ns an

d to

prov

ide us

with

a co

mpre

hens

ive op

erati

ons c

ost b

udge

t Ce

ntral

Beac

h is t

he on

ly sa

fe be

ach f

or ch

ildre

n in P

lett.

How

will t

he pr

opos

ed

harb

our e

ntran

ce be

cons

tructe

d so a

s not

to en

croac

h on a

sign

ifican

t por

tion o

f the

safes

t are

a of C

entra

l bea

ch ad

jacen

t to B

eaco

n Isla

nd?

As no

ted ab

ove,

impa

cts on

Cen

tral B

each

will

only

be ob

jectiv

ely qu

antifi

ed on

ce th

e co

astal

engin

eers

have

done

sedim

ent s

tudies

It see

ms m

ost li

kely

that a

harb

our w

ould

need

a wa

ll to b

e buil

t out

to se

a to p

rovid

e pr

otecti

on fo

r boa

ts en

tering

or le

aving

. Suc

h a w

all w

ould

serio

usly

impa

ct the

att

racti

vene

ss of

Cen

tral b

each

and t

he B

eaco

n Isle

and w

ould

almos

t cer

tainly

affec

t the

wav

e and

tide a

ction

betw

een C

entra

l bea

ch an

d the

Isle

which

could

be a

serio

us

threa

t to th

e attr

activ

enes

s as a

swim

ming

beac

h. Ot

her s

ide ef

fects

such

as er

osion

of

the be

ach c

ould

resu

lt

Noted

, thes

e item

s will

all be

cons

idere

d by W

SP

With

the d

epth

of wa

ter of

Bea

con I

sland

only

being

abou

t 3 m

and t

here

being

sh

allow

rock

pres

ent, t

he fe

asibi

lity of

prov

iding

acce

ss to

keelb

oats

must

be

ques

tione

d

A ba

thyme

tric st

udy a

nd je

t pro

bes h

ave b

een d

one t

hat in

form

water

depth

and s

ea

floor

char

acter

istics

(refe

r to F

igure

12).

WSP

have

desig

ned t

he ha

rbou

r and

depth

of

the en

tranc

e cha

nnel

for th

e typ

e of v

esse

ls ex

pecte

d in t

he ha

rbou

r (re

fer to

Tab

le 1

and 2

) Th

e san

dy be

ache

s and

lago

ons i

n Plet

tenbe

rg ba

y are

conti

nuall

y shif

ting w

ith th

e sto

rms,

wind

s and

tides

. The

Pies

ang r

iver m

outh

is oft

en cl

osed

due t

o the

se sh

ifting

sa

nds.

How

will t

he ha

rbou

r be k

ept o

pen,

at wh

at co

st to

the m

unici

pality

and r

ate

paye

rs

Dred

ging c

osts

have

been

quan

tified

in th

e eco

nomi

c imp

act a

sses

smen

t

The e

stuar

y itse

lf has

alwa

ys be

en a

slow

flowi

ng, s

hallo

w wa

ter sy

stem.

The

re is

re

feren

ce to

them

digg

ing op

en th

e mou

th in

the m

id 18

00's

(see T

he D

iary o

f the

Villa

ge H

arbo

ur M

aster

, By C

.Stor

rer)

befor

e the

Bea

con I

sland

was

deve

loped

, be

fore t

he ho

tel's

car p

ark w

as bu

ilt, an

d befo

re th

e Roo

defon

tein D

am w

as bu

ilt

noted

Any p

ropo

sed b

reak

water

arra

ngem

ent s

hould

be as

sess

ed on

the b

asis

of a

comp

rehe

nsive

bathy

metric

surve

y of th

e bay

and t

he m

odel

shou

ld ex

tend a

t leas

t to

the B

lind R

ocks

and L

ooko

ut Ro

cks.

It sh

ould

be as

sess

ed fo

r all s

ea co

nditio

ns,

winte

r and

summ

er

done

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

61

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

The e

rodin

g bea

chfro

nt an

d risi

ng m

ean s

ea le

vel w

ill pla

y hav

oc w

ith an

y wate

rside

str

uctur

es in

futur

e. Ind

eed,

one i

s led

to be

lieve

ther

e is a

lread

y a m

orato

rium

on

seas

ide de

velop

ments

due t

o the

expe

ctatio

ns of

larg

e sca

le flo

oding

. The

re ar

e alr

eady

no fu

nds l

eft to

prote

ct pr

oper

ties o

n the

Keu

rboo

m La

goon

and R

obbe

rg

seafr

ont. T

he sy

stem

simply

cann

ot tol

erate

mor

e

noted

I hav

e live

d abo

ve th

e Klei

n Pies

ang V

alley

Rive

r for

the p

ast 3

3 yea

rs, an

d hav

e ob

serve

d the

serio

us flo

oding

in th

e vall

ey on

at le

ast 4

occa

sions

durin

g this

time.

Wha

t is go

ing to

happ

en to

this

water

if the

harb

our c

onstr

uctio

n inte

rfere

s with

the

relea

se of

this

water

? This

last

week

end P

iesan

g Vall

ey R

oad h

as be

en im

pass

able

and c

losed

to tr

affic

Noted

, BSM

Bak

er w

ill do

a flo

od ris

k ana

lysis

Flood

contr

ol at

the pr

opos

ed ne

w sm

all bo

at ha

rbou

r: As

you k

now

there

was

majo

r flo

oding

this

past

week

end a

long t

he so

uth co

ast, t

o the

exten

t that

the K

eurb

ooms

Ri

ver e

stuar

y bro

ke its

elf a

new

mouth

abou

t 250

m w

ide an

d the

re w

as m

ajor

dama

ge to

the A

nglin

g Club

jettie

s. Th

e floo

ding i

n the

Pies

ang r

iver la

goon

was

also

qu

ite sp

ectac

ular.

It cro

ssed

my m

ind th

at if t

he pr

opos

ed ha

rbou

r wer

e to b

e buil

t it is

bo

und t

o disa

ppea

r in th

e firs

t floo

d, es

pecia

lly si

nce a

harb

our w

ill co

mpre

ss th

e wa

ter ch

anne

l and

mak

e the

curre

nt ev

en st

rong

er. A

t the v

ery l

east

all bo

ats w

ill be

wi

ped o

ut. A

nd th

is flo

od is

nothi

ng co

mpar

ed to

wha

t we s

aw fiv

e yea

rs ag

o

Noted

, BSM

Bak

er w

ill do

a flo

od ris

k ana

lysis

The i

ssue

of bi

-dire

ction

al flo

oding

(rive

r and

tidal

surg

es) is

of gr

eat c

once

rn.

Prop

ertie

s suc

h as B

eaur

ivage

and R

iver C

lub ar

e esp

ecial

ly at

risk o

f floo

ding

Noted

, BSM

Bak

er w

ill do

a flo

od ris

k ana

lysis

Road

s are

in di

srepa

ir A

Traff

ic Im

pact

Asse

ssme

nt wi

ll be d

one a

s par

t of th

e EIA

. The

stud

y will

cons

ider

the cu

rrent

status

of ro

ads a

nd in

frastr

uctur

e and

will

deter

mine

wha

t upg

rade

s are

ne

eded

to ac

comm

odate

the p

redic

ted tr

affic.

Rec

omme

ndati

ons w

ill be

mad

e as t

o sa

fe ac

cess

and p

arkin

g req

uirem

ents,

as w

ell as

publi

c tra

nspo

rt.

Traff

ic flo

w an

d con

gesti

on ne

ed to

be co

nside

red

Curre

ntly i

nsuff

icien

t par

king t

o acc

ess t

he be

ach a

nd ot

her r

ecre

ation

al ar

eas,

espe

cially

in pe

ak ho

liday

times

. If pa

rking

area

s will

be de

velop

ed, w

here

will

addit

ional

parki

ng be

crea

ted

The a

moun

t of tr

affic

will i

ncre

ase c

onsid

erab

ly, es

pecia

lly in

the h

olida

y sea

son,

when

it ha

s alre

ady b

ecom

e dan

gero

us to

take

a wa

lk w

ith ch

ildre

n and

dogs

alon

g

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

62

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Beac

hyhe

ad R

oad

Odlan

d Driv

e is a

n urb

an ar

terial

. It ha

s ser

ved t

o con

nect

the no

rther

n old

part

of Pl

etten

berg

Bay

with

the s

outhe

rn m

ore r

ecen

t dev

elopm

ents

over

the p

ast 2

0 to 3

0 ye

ars.

The r

oad i

s cha

racte

rised

by st

eep g

rade

s and

horiz

ontal

curve

s. Ex

isting

road

int

erse

ction

s alon

g this

road

are a

ll pro

blema

tic fr

om a

road

safet

y per

spec

tive.

The

inter

secti

on w

ith M

eedin

g Stre

et, S

inclai

re S

treet,

Per

estre

llo S

treet,

Stra

nd S

treet

and S

ewell

Stre

et ar

e all u

nsafe

as a

resu

lt of th

e abo

ve m

entio

ned c

hara

cteris

tics o

f Od

land D

rive.

Any a

dditio

nal tr

affic

on O

dland

Driv

e or a

dditio

nal a

cces

s pos

itions

for

the pr

opos

ed de

velop

ments

on th

e nor

thern

ban

k will

comp

romi

se th

e alre

ady u

nsafe

sit

uatio

n To

deter

mine

the i

mpac

t of th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent o

f the S

mall B

oat H

arbo

ur a

prop

er ro

ad sa

fety a

udit f

or O

dland

Driv

e befo

re an

d afte

r the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt sh

ould

be do

ne. T

he au

dit sh

ould

take c

ognis

ance

of th

e mov

emen

t of p

edes

trians

an

d cyc

list a

long O

dland

Driv

e Co

nges

tion i

s cur

rentl

y exp

erien

ced w

here

Pies

ang V

alley

Roa

d inte

rsects

with

the

N2 The a

dditio

nal d

evelo

pmen

t of 8

0 000

m² w

ill im

pact

on th

e nee

d for

prop

er pu

blic

trans

port

facilit

ies, s

uch a

s a ta

xi ra

nk. A

prop

er pu

blic t

rans

port

study

mus

t be d

one

to inf

orm

us on

the n

eed a

nd lo

catio

n of a

furth

er pu

blic t

rans

port

facilit

y to s

erve

the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt

The p

rogr

essio

n of a

lmos

t two s

torey

high

plea

sure

boats

on its

' trail

ers,

comi

ng th

roug

h on M

ain R

oad,

on th

eir sh

ort c

ut to

and f

rom

the ne

w pr

opos

ed sm

all bo

at ha

rbou

r at th

e Pies

ang V

alley

Esc

arpm

ent:

o Th

ey w

ill ne

ed to

slow

down

whic

h will

caus

e tra

ffic up

heav

als

o Th

ese b

oats

migh

t/will

be bi

g and

wide

- o

ur M

ain S

treet'

s par

king

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

63

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

lots

are a

lread

y cra

mping

/ nar

rowi

ng th

e usa

ble st

reet

spac

e of o

ur

CBD'

s high

way

o Ac

cess

ibility

to ou

r petr

ol sta

tions

in to

wn fo

r the

se bo

ats is

not to

be

reco

mmen

ded

o W

e now

will

need

mor

e extr

a tra

ffic of

ficer

s to m

anag

e tho

se bo

ats

throu

gh to

wn -

espe

cially

in se

ason

o Od

land's

Driv

e's ro

ad su

rface

will

be sc

arifie

d

o Od

land's

Driv

e is a

mou

ntain

drive

- it i

s stee

p goin

g up a

nd co

ming

do

wn -

boats

will

slow

down

all tr

affic

o En

tranc

e to a

nd fr

om th

e Main

Bea

ch, is

at th

is sta

ge a

prob

lem fo

r all

moto

rists

- wha

t will

happ

en w

ith m

ore b

oats

and m

ore p

eople

?

o Da

nger

with

fast

movin

g tra

ffic si

dewa

ys -

have

to w

ait fo

r the

se

heav

y boa

ts an

d tra

ilers

to tur

n into

and t

urn o

ffs fr

om O

dland

Durin

g wee

kend

s and

summ

er ev

ening

s, in

and o

ut of

seas

on, e

veryo

ne w

ants

to a

have

a ba

rbeq

ue on

the d

esign

ated p

icnic

spot

on O

dland

's Dr

ive. L

ocals

could

see

that la

st De

cemb

er's

in flu

x on t

hat p

iece o

f esc

arpm

ent w

as da

nger

ous w

ith al

l the

accid

ents

happ

ening

, with

out a

ny ex

tra in

put a

s will

be w

ith /

from

small

boat

harb

ours

ECON

OMIC

SPE

CIAL

ISAT

Dema

nd

W

here

is th

e "de

mand

" for

such

a de

velop

ment?

Eve

n the

seve

nteen

odd

An ec

onom

ic im

pact

asse

ssme

nt ha

s bee

n don

e tha

t pre

dicts

signif

icant

econ

omic

bene

fits to

the l

ocal

comm

unity

and m

unici

pality

. The

stud

y rec

omme

nds a

mar

ket

dema

nd st

udy t

hat w

ill be

done

as pa

rt of

the E

IA.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

64

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

chok

ka lic

ense

s hav

e bee

n los

t. Is o

ne or

two "

whale

watc

hing"

boats

and a

ya

cht o

r two

going

to m

ake i

t so?

The

fishin

g has

beco

me to

tally

unec

onom

ical

even

for t

he od

d holi

day s

ki bo

at en

thusia

st. T

he co

st of

the fu

el ca

n't ev

en be

co

vere

d. T

he fis

h res

ource

s hav

e bee

n dec

imate

d! T

he ch

okka

, as a

fish

food s

ource

, has

been

dras

ticall

y dep

leted

Ha

s a ne

eds a

sses

smen

t bee

n don

e? T

he pr

oper

ty ma

rket a

nd bu

ilding

ind

ustry

in P

lett h

as sl

umpe

d

Th

e bay

has

been

fishe

d out

there

fore t

here

is no

need

for a

small

-boa

t ha

rbou

r

Th

e sma

ll boa

t har

bour

was

origi

nally

moti

vated

arou

nd th

e fish

ing in

dustr

y, wh

ich ha

s sub

sequ

ently

colla

psed

. Is t

his w

arra

nted f

or 10

or fe

wer b

oats

that

launc

h off t

he be

ach w

ithou

t a pr

oblem

, and

will

these

boat

owne

rs be

able

to pa

y the

kind

of fe

es th

at wi

ll hav

e to b

e cha

rged

for t

he us

e of a

n extr

emely

ex

pens

ive ha

rbou

r?

Cl

early

the i

ntend

ed co

mmer

cial a

nd re

siden

tial d

evelo

pmen

ts wi

ll hav

e to b

e of

an up

marke

t natu

re in

orde

r to p

ay fo

r the

harb

our.

At pr

esen

t ther

e is a

big

over

supp

ly of

upma

rket s

hop a

nd of

fice s

pace

and

hous

es

Th

e con

struc

tion o

f the s

mall b

oat h

arbo

ur do

es no

t mak

e any

econ

omic

sens

e. Th

e fish

ing bo

ats th

at pr

eviou

sly an

chor

ed of

f Cen

tral b

each

have

all

left a

s fish

ing th

ese w

aters

is no

long

er a

viable

oper

ation

.

Altho

ugh o

ne of

the p

rimar

y con

sider

ation

s abo

ut the

prop

osal

will b

e tha

t it se

eks t

o off

er a

boos

t to th

e loc

al ec

onom

y thr

ough

tour

ism, c

omme

rcial

busin

ess a

nd

resid

entia

l opp

ortun

ities,

there

is a

weak

mar

ket a

t pre

sent

for lu

xury

boat

harb

ours.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

65

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

The d

owntu

rn in

the g

lobal

econ

omy a

nd th

e fin

ancia

l pinc

h tha

t we a

re ex

perie

ncing

in

SA as

a wh

ole ha

s cau

sed p

eople

to re

-prio

ritise

their

need

s and

a lux

uriou

s sma

ll-bo

at ha

rbou

r see

ms un

reali

stic i

n ligh

t of th

e eco

nomi

c slum

p bec

ause

luxu

rious

go

ods a

nd se

rvice

s are

not a

top p

riority

for m

ost

Beac

on Is

le:

Be

acon

Isle

is on

e of P

lett’s

spec

ial an

d attr

activ

e fea

tures

– the

deve

lopme

nt wi

ll effe

ctive

ly cu

t it of

f, cra

mp it

in, an

d iso

late i

t.

Ac

cess

by th

e Bea

con I

sle R

esor

t’s gu

ests

to the

Cen

tral B

each

will

be

curta

iled b

y the

prop

osal

beca

use t

he sa

nd ba

nks t

hat s

epar

ates t

he riv

er

mouth

from

the I

ndian

Oce

an w

ill be

dred

ged t

o allo

w op

ening

to th

e sea

. The

Re

sort

appe

als to

gues

ts pr

imar

ily to

its un

ique l

ocati

on an

d its

posit

ion

adjac

ent to

the m

ain be

ach.

The r

emov

al of

the sa

nd ba

nk w

ill be

the c

ause

of

signif

icant

incon

venie

nce t

o the

Res

ort’s

gues

ts as

they

will

no lo

nger

be ab

le to

walk

along

the b

ank t

o acc

ess t

he m

ain be

ach

W

hat w

ill the

impa

ct be

on B

eaco

n Isla

nd H

otel p

arkin

g?

The e

cono

mic i

mpac

t ass

essm

ent s

pecif

ically

asse

ssed

impa

cts on

the B

eaco

n Isle

ho

tel:

Acco

rding

to th

e cur

rent

deve

lopme

nt ar

chite

ctura

l dra

wing

s, the

hotel

will

lose a

sig

nifica

nt po

rtion o

f its v

isitor

s par

king a

nd th

e bulk

of its

land

ward

outlo

ok an

d view

wi

ll be a

ltere

d by t

he pr

opos

ed de

velop

ment.

A 11

0 roo

m, se

ven s

tory h

otel is

pla

nned

dire

ctly o

ver t

he riv

er m

outh

from

the cu

rrent

hotel

, as w

ell as

492 r

eside

ntial

apar

tmen

ts an

d pen

thous

es, w

hich a

re se

en as

sign

ifican

t com

petiti

on to

their

curre

nt bu

sines

s. Th

e con

struc

tion a

ctivit

y ove

r a pe

riod o

f four

year

s is d

eeme

d to b

e a

signif

icant

threa

t with

the h

otel m

anag

emen

t beli

eving

that

this w

ill eff

ectiv

ely re

nder

the

hotel

inop

erab

le. T

he pr

opos

ed de

velop

ment

and b

reak

water

s will

perm

anen

tly

alter

the v

iews a

nd ch

arac

ter of

the h

otel a

nd th

e sur

roun

ding s

easc

apes

. The

fol

lowing

high

ly ne

gativ

e imp

acts

are p

redic

ted fo

r the

hotel

: dist

urba

nce,

supp

ress

ion

of tou

rism

Impa

ct on

exist

ing bu

sines

ses a

nd ec

onom

ic ac

tivitie

s in t

own

An

econ

omic

impa

ct as

sess

ment

must

be do

ne to

deter

mine

how

the pr

oject

will i

mpac

t on t

he m

icro-

econ

omy o

f Plet

t, esp

ecial

ly the

busin

ess a

nd

resid

entia

l sec

tor an

d the

infra

struc

tural

comp

onen

t.

An

y fur

ther r

etail o

r com

merci

al no

des w

ould

turn M

ain S

treet

into a

‘Gho

st To

wn’ a

s the

year

-roun

d pop

ulatio

n can

not s

ustai

n mor

e reta

il nod

es

Im

pact

on ex

isting

land

owne

rs, vi

sitor

s and

othe

r con

tributo

rs to

Plett

enbe

rg

The e

cono

mic a

nd so

cial im

pact

asse

ssme

nts sa

y the

follo

wing

abou

t impa

cts of

the

deve

lopme

nt pr

opos

al on

exist

ing bu

sines

ses:

‘Cur

rentl

y the

comm

ercia

l com

munit

y is c

once

ntrate

d in t

he tr

aditio

nal C

entra

l Bu

sines

s Dist

rict w

hich i

s pos

itione

d alon

g Main

Stre

et an

d the

junc

tion w

ith O

dland

s Ro

ad at

the ‘

Dolph

in Ci

rcle’,

and t

he m

ore r

ecen

tly es

tablis

hed P

ick n

Pay c

entre

at

the ea

stern

entra

nce t

o Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay, a

longs

ide th

e N2.

The b

usine

ss co

mmun

ity

have

a mi

xed r

eacti

on to

the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t with

some

indic

ating

that

they

belie

ve it

will o

ffer o

ppor

tunitie

s for

reloc

ation

and i

mpro

ved b

usine

ss, w

hilst

the

balan

ce be

lieve

it wi

ll be t

he de

ath kn

ell fo

r bus

iness

whic

h is a

lread

y in a

chall

engin

g co

mmer

cial e

nviro

nmen

t’. Th

e inc

lusion

of a

detai

led ne

ed an

d des

irabil

ity st

udy w

as

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

66

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Bay’s

econ

omy –

this

will d

amag

e futu

re ec

onom

y and

tour

ism

So

cio ec

onom

ic stu

dies a

re es

senti

al to

cons

ider t

he im

pact

on th

e cur

rent

CBD.

It ne

eds t

o ben

efit A

LL in

Plet

t, esp

ecial

ly the

year

roun

d loc

als (i.

e. wh

at wi

ll the

impa

cts be

on lo

cal b

usine

sses

such

as th

e Bea

con I

sle H

otel?

Wha

t wi

ll the

impa

ct be

on pr

oper

ty ow

ners,

resta

uran

ts, sh

ops,

regu

lar vi

sitor

s and

oth

er co

ntribu

tors t

o the

town

’s ec

onom

y?).

Deve

lopme

nts of

this

natur

e car

ry ve

ry hig

h fina

ncial

risk a

nd a

failed

deve

lopme

nt wi

ll not

be go

od fo

r Pl

etten

berg

Bay

. Plet

t is kn

own f

or its

natur

al be

auty

and n

ot for

its sh

oppin

g, hig

h imp

act s

ports

or co

mmer

cial e

nterta

inmen

t

Co

mmer

cial s

ector

is ov

er-tr

aded

and h

as a

two-

phas

e eco

nomy

that

place

s co

nside

rable

stre

ss on

this

secto

r – du

ring o

ff-se

ason

and p

eak h

olida

y tim

es

De

velop

ment

will i

mpac

t on d

iving

oper

ation

s, sp

ecific

ally t

he re

efs ar

ound

the

islan

d. Re

dbait

, Jac

obs a

nd B

linde

rs Re

efs ar

e pop

ular w

ith lo

cal a

nd to

urist

div

ers a

s the

y are

easil

y acc

essib

le an

d abu

ndan

t with

mar

ine lif

e inc

luding

thr

ee sh

ark s

pecie

s fou

nd on

ly in

South

Afric

a. Th

ere a

re al

so se

vera

l arte

facts

from

when

Bea

con I

sland

was

a wh

aling

stati

on w

hich p

rovid

e fur

ther in

teres

t to

diver

s whic

h wou

ld be

lost

if the

harb

our is

built.

Im

pact

on M

oby D

icks R

estau

rant

and K

iosk.

Have

a re

spon

sibilit

y to p

rovid

e a s

ervic

e to t

he co

mmun

ity, b

each

goer

s and

staff

.

At

Keu

rboo

ms R

iver a

nd R

obbe

rg w

e alre

ady h

ave a

prob

lem w

ith ac

cess

to

the be

ache

s. Ou

r natu

ral re

sour

ces a

nd at

tracti

ons a

re be

ing pu

t furth

er an

d fur

ther b

eyon

d the

reac

h of th

e loc

al po

pulat

ion an

d the

long

-stay

ing m

oney

sp

endin

g tou

rist. T

hose

who

keep

the e

cono

my an

d the

town

goin

g mon

th

emph

asize

d by t

he pu

blic.

This

will b

e don

e as p

art o

f the E

IA pr

oces

s, an

d is a

re

quire

ment

of the

EIA

Reg

ulatio

ns. C

ommo

n per

cepti

ons t

hat c

ame u

p in t

he pu

blic

partic

ipatio

n pro

cess

are t

hat th

e sca

le of

the de

velop

ment

is no

t acc

eptab

le to

the

publi

c.

Posit

ive im

pacts

: ‘Th

ere i

s a ge

nera

l feeli

ng of

supp

ort fo

r the

proje

ct on

a mo

re lim

ited s

cale

and

assu

ming

that

it has

a les

s obtr

usive

impa

ct on

surro

undin

g bus

iness

es an

d lan

d ow

ners

base

d upo

n the

follo

wing

cons

idera

tions

:

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay ne

eds a

sign

ature

deve

lopme

nt wh

ich ca

n act

as a

catal

yst fo

r ad

dition

al inv

estm

ent, t

ouris

m an

d com

merci

al ac

tivity

,

Certa

in se

ction

s of th

e reta

il and

comm

ercia

l frate

rnity

wou

ld be

nefit

from

being

ab

le to

reloc

ate in

to a n

ew no

de an

d lea

ve a

stagn

ating

Cen

tral B

usine

ss D

istric

t,

High

-end

resid

entia

l com

pone

nts w

ill att

ract

foreig

n and

loca

l buy

ers w

ho w

ill as

sist in

stim

ulatin

g the

tour

ist an

d com

merci

al se

ctors,

A ma

rina a

dds a

dime

nsion

to th

e Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay m

arke

t offe

ring w

hich i

s cu

rrentl

y una

vaila

ble an

d ess

entia

lly es

tablis

hes a

new

marke

t and

core

bu

sines

s,

Th

e dev

elopm

ent w

ill lea

d to t

he up

grad

e of e

xistin

g infr

astru

cture

and t

he

prov

ision

of ne

w se

rvice

s, an

d

Emplo

ymen

t opp

ortun

ities w

ill be

crea

ted fo

r loca

l com

munit

ies

Nega

tive i

mpac

ts:

The n

egati

ve im

pacts

are m

ainly

to do

with

the p

erce

ived l

arge

scale

of th

e pro

ject,

the ne

gativ

e affe

ct it m

ay ha

ve on

estab

lishe

d bus

iness

and t

he im

pacts

durin

g co

nstru

ction

. Cer

tain o

f the n

egati

ve im

pacts

high

lighte

d by s

urro

undin

g lan

down

ers

are a

s foll

ow:

Th

e nuis

ance

value

of co

nstru

ction

over

a fou

r yea

r per

iod w

ith co

nstru

ction

ve

hicles

, dus

t, nois

e, lar

ger v

olume

s of p

eople

in th

e are

a, pe

tty th

eft, tr

affic

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

67

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

after

mon

th ar

e bein

g los

t by s

uch a

ction

s co

nges

tion a

nd di

srupti

on of

curre

nt ha

bits a

nd lif

estyl

e,

Th

e con

struc

tion p

hase

of th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent, v

ia int

rusio

n imp

acts,

co

uld sp

ark a

decre

ase i

n tou

rists

visitin

g Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay fo

r muc

h of th

e fou

r-ye

ar du

ratio

n of th

is ph

ase.

Many

loca

l bus

iness

es (a

s par

t of th

e tou

rism

/ ho

spita

lity in

dustr

y) su

ch as

coffe

e sho

ps, r

estau

rants

, gue

st ho

uses

and h

otels

are v

ery u

nlike

ly to

be re

silien

t eno

ugh,

large

ly du

e to t

he to

wn’s

cycli

cal

econ

omy,

to su

rvive

a me

dium-

term

(up t

o fou

r yea

rs) de

creas

e in t

he si

ze of

the

ir mar

kets

On

ce th

e con

struc

tion p

hase

is ov

er, th

ere m

ay w

ell be

a re

sidua

l labo

ur fo

rce

which

is no

w re

siden

t and

unem

ploye

d, lea

ding t

o an e

xace

rbati

on of

the c

urre

nt un

emplo

ymen

t pro

blem,

Impe

ded v

iews t

o cer

tain r

eside

nts du

e to t

he pr

opos

ed se

ven-

story

build

ings,

The d

estru

ction

of th

e cur

rent

sens

e of p

lace a

nd pe

ace a

nd tr

anqu

illity

Emplo

ymen

t opp

ortun

ities:

My

dome

stic h

as be

en w

aiting

16 ye

ars f

or a

hous

e. M

any p

eople

from

the

Easte

rn C

ape,

who c

ame d

own w

hen t

he N

2 was

being

cons

tructe

d, ha

ve

been

gran

ted ho

uses

ahea

d of h

er. T

his is

so un

fair.

How

ever

, if th

ere w

ere a

wa

y to g

uara

ntee t

hat o

nly lo

cals

could

apply

for jo

bs, th

is wo

uld pr

even

t the

abov

e fro

m oc

curri

ng. T

he P

iesan

g Vall

ey ro

ad pr

oject

is a c

ase i

n poin

t her

e wh

ere r

ioting

occu

rred s

ince l

abou

r was

being

emplo

yed f

rom

Knys

na an

d not

Plett

.

Ad

dition

al lab

our w

ill ha

ve to

be br

ough

t into

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay an

d the

grea

ter

Bitou

area

to su

pplem

ent th

e exis

ting u

n-tra

ined a

nd un

-skille

d lab

our.

The f

ollow

ing im

pacts

are i

denti

fied b

y the

econ

omic

and s

ocial

spec

ialist

s reg

ardin

g em

ploym

ent:

Posit

ive im

pacts

:

Em

ploym

ent c

reati

on: c

ivil e

ngine

ering

and c

onstr

uctio

n com

pone

nts w

ill tak

e pla

ce ov

er a

perio

d of th

ree t

o fou

r yea

rs an

d will

resu

lt in a

n add

itiona

l 968

jobs

be

ing cr

eated

per y

ear b

y the

end o

f yea

r one

, with

459 b

eing d

irect

jobs.

Of

these

420 w

ill be

for s

emi-s

killed

wor

kers,

whic

h will

be fr

om th

e sur

roun

ding

comm

unitie

s, an

d cou

ld po

ssibl

y be p

eople

that

are c

urre

ntly u

nemp

loyed

. Ap

prox

imate

ly 70

% of

all th

e job

s will

be w

ithin

the B

itou a

rea w

ith a

furthe

r 29%

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

68

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Hous

ing w

ill ha

ve to

be pr

ovide

d for

the a

dditio

nal la

bour

and t

he lo

ng-te

rm

resp

onsib

ility/b

urde

n of th

is ad

dition

al lab

our w

ill fal

l onto

the r

ate pa

yers

of Pl

etten

berg

Bay

. The

mun

icipa

lity of

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay is

curre

ntly c

arryi

ng th

e fin

ancia

l bur

den o

f labo

ur w

ho w

ere a

ttrac

ted to

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay du

ring t

he

hous

ing bo

om an

d who

subs

eque

ntly h

ave m

ade P

letten

berg

Bay

their

home

s an

d for

who

m the

re is

no w

ork o

r wor

k opp

ortun

ities

Ho

w ma

ny pe

rman

ent e

mploy

ment

oppo

rtunit

ies w

ill the

deve

lopme

nt pr

ovide

an

d will

these

be as

sure

d to l

ocal

popu

lace

Th

e old

saw

that a

deve

lopme

nt of

this n

ature

wou

ld pr

ovide

wor

k op

portu

nities

mus

t also

be pu

nctur

ed. It

is a

one-

off w

ork o

ppor

tunity

. Afte

r a

year

or tw

o the

re w

ould

be ve

ry few

job o

ppor

tunitie

s rem

aining

. Tho

se w

ho

were

invo

lved i

n the

capit

al de

velop

ment

are b

ack t

o squ

are o

ne an

d ind

eed

the in

jectio

n of la

bour

from

outsi

de ou

r bor

ders

(whic

h wou

ld be

very

likely

), wh

o rem

ain he

re al

so w

orkle

ss, is

a ph

enom

enon

we c

an do

with

out.

Comp

are t

hat to

tour

ism. F

irstly

we h

ave a

mple

resid

entia

l spa

ce fo

r tou

rists

witho

ut ch

arac

terles

s high

-rise

build

ings,

and t

he de

mand

for la

bour

is

orga

nic an

d ong

oing.

As to

urism

deve

lops,

so w

ill re

siden

tial o

ppor

tunitie

s, ag

ain or

ganic

ally

withi

n the

Wes

tern C

ape.

Thes

e emp

loyee

s cou

ld ea

rn a

total

of R

44 m

illion

du

ring y

ear o

ne, w

ith R

25 m

illion

being

with

in the

Bito

u are

a and

R1

7 milli

on w

ithin

the W

ester

n Cap

e. Th

e inc

reas

e in h

ouse

hold

expe

nditu

re du

e to

the w

ages

and c

ommi

ssion

s ear

ned f

rom

the pr

oject

could

be R

48 m

illion

in

year

one a

nd R

102 m

illion

in ye

ar tw

o, wh

ich w

ould

be ex

pend

iture

circu

lated

wi

thin t

he P

letten

berg

Bay

econ

omy

As

the d

evelo

pmen

t is co

mplet

ed an

d the

vario

us co

mpon

ents

are s

old or

let a

nd

beco

me op

erati

onal,

oper

ating

expe

nditu

re or

turn

over

is re

alise

d whic

h ge

nera

tes an

econ

omic

impa

ct an

d is a

ble to

susta

in a n

umbe

r of lo

nger

term

em

ploym

ent o

ppor

tunitie

s. By

year

five i

t is an

ticipa

ted th

at the

fully

deve

loped

ma

rina p

rojec

t cou

ld be

gene

ratin

g ope

ratin

g tur

nove

r of R

424 m

illion

per

annu

m, w

ith R

391 m

illion

rema

ining

with

in the

Bito

u eco

nomy

after

a pr

ovisi

on

for le

akag

e, wh

ich co

uld pr

ovide

a wa

ge co

mpon

ent o

f R 98

milli

on

Th

is po

tentia

l ope

ratio

nal re

venu

e cou

ld cre

ate 1,

458 e

mploy

ment

oppo

rtunit

ies,

with

893 o

f thes

e bein

g dire

ct em

ploym

ent, 1

76 be

ing in

direc

t emp

loyme

nt an

d 38

9 ind

uced

emplo

ymen

t opp

ortun

ities.

The s

kill c

atego

ries b

reak

down

could

be

23 hi

gh le

vel e

mploy

ment

oppo

rtunit

ies, 3

41 m

id-lev

el op

portu

nities

and 5

29

semi

-skille

d emp

loyme

nt op

portu

nities

Nega

tive:

Th

e con

struc

tion p

hase

of th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent, v

ia int

rusio

n imp

acts,

co

uld sp

ark a

decre

ase i

n tou

rists

visitin

g Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay fo

r muc

h of th

e fou

r-ye

ar du

ratio

n of th

is ph

ase.

Many

loca

l bus

iness

es (a

s par

t of th

e tou

rism

/

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

69

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

hosp

itality

indu

stry)

such

as co

ffee s

hops

, res

taura

nts, g

uest

hous

es an

d hote

ls ar

e ver

y unli

kely

to be

resil

ient e

noug

h, lar

gely

due t

o the

town

’s cy

clica

l ec

onom

y, to

survi

ve a

mediu

m-ter

m (u

p to f

our y

ears)

decre

ase i

n the

size

of

their m

arke

ts

Du

ring t

he co

nstru

ction

phas

e, the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt is

almos

t cer

tain t

o att

ract

unem

ploye

d emp

loyme

nt se

eker

s, no

t only

from

the i

mmed

iate s

ocial

en

viron

ment,

but a

lso fr

om el

sewh

ere.

An un

healt

hy co

mpeti

tion f

or sc

arce

em

ploym

ent o

ppor

tunitie

s betw

een ”

outsi

ders

and t

he lo

cal u

nemp

loyed

or

“insid

ers

could

resu

lt in c

onflic

t betw

een s

uch g

roup

s

Fo

reign

natio

nals

acco

unt fo

r a su

bstan

tial p

erce

ntage

of th

e dem

ogra

phic

make

up of

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay’s

less a

ffluen

t res

identi

al ar

eas.

Their

gene

ral q

uest

for be

tter e

cono

mic p

rosp

ects

mean

s tha

t the e

mploy

ment

oppo

rtunit

ies of

fered

by

the c

onstr

uctio

n pha

se of

the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t cou

ld be

as at

tracti

ve to

the

m as

it wo

uld be

to lo

cal e

mploy

ment

seek

ers.

Resp

onde

nts fr

om th

e les

s aff

luent

area

s of P

letten

berg

Bay

soun

ded a

ster

n war

ning t

hat if

fore

ign

natio

nals

were

to be

emplo

yed a

s sem

i-skil

led w

orke

rs du

ring t

he co

nstru

ction

ph

ase o

f the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t, con

flict w

ould

be in

evita

ble

Tour

ism:

Ty

picall

y the

prop

osal

would

have

to be

evalu

ation

again

st the

town

bran

d/ str

ategy

form

ulated

(tou

rism)

. The

stra

tegy w

ill inf

orm

what

type o

f de

velop

ments

are w

anted

in P

lett, t

he ki

nd of

town

peop

le wa

nt Pl

ett to

be, th

e wa

y peo

ple w

ant it

to lo

ok, s

ound

and b

ehav

e, an

d wou

ld pr

ovide

guida

nce o

n wh

at is

appr

opria

te. A

draft

bran

d stra

tegy

has b

een f

ormu

lated

18 m

onths

ag

o – in

light

of thi

s, the

follo

wing

comm

ents

on th

e dev

elopm

ent p

ropo

sal a

re

made

:

No

ted. A

copy

of th

e stra

tegy h

as be

en se

nt to

the ar

chite

cts an

d dev

elope

r for

co

nside

ratio

n whe

n dev

elopin

g site

deve

lopme

nt pla

n alte

rnati

ves.

This

will b

e a

key i

nform

ant to

gethe

r with

resu

lts of

spec

ialist

stud

ies

No

ted, th

e soc

ial an

d eco

nomi

c spe

cialis

ts ha

ve co

nside

red t

he po

tentia

l impa

ct of

cons

tructi

on on

tour

ism. Im

pacts

are s

umma

rized

below

: o

Posit

ive im

pacts

: Al

thoug

h the

re is

well

docu

mente

d evid

ence

of fa

iled m

arina

de

velop

ments

both

in So

uth A

frica a

nd in

terna

tiona

lly, it

is ac

cepte

d tha

t a s

ucce

ssful

mar

ina br

ings a

diffe

rent

touris

m dim

ensio

n and

leve

l of

comm

ercia

l acti

vity t

o a re

gion,

which

inva

riably

lead

s to a

rang

e of

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

70

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

o A

key v

alue o

f the s

trateg

y is ‘

high v

alue l

ow im

pact

touris

m’. T

his

impli

es at

tracti

ng a

prem

ium sp

endin

g mar

ket w

hich r

espe

cts th

e en

viron

ment

and t

read

s ligh

tly on

the e

nviro

nmen

t

o A

small

boat

harb

our w

as id

entifi

ed by

man

y who

wer

e con

sulte

d as

a fea

ture t

hat w

ould

enha

nce P

lett’s

tour

ism of

fering

o Ho

weve

r, the

bran

d stra

tegy i

mplie

s tha

t the d

evelo

pmen

t sho

uld be

en

viron

menta

lly se

nsitiv

e and

of th

e righ

t mar

ketin

g pos

ition a

nd pi

tch

o At

face

value

, sev

en st

orey

build

ings w

ould

be in

appr

opria

te an

d ou

t of b

rand

conte

xt

The i

mpac

t of th

e con

struc

tion p

hase

of th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent o

f the

Small

Boa

t Har

bour

mus

t be i

nves

tigate

d. Th

e dev

elopm

ent w

ill co

nsist

of at

lea

st tw

o pha

ses.

The f

irst p

hase

will

be th

e con

struc

tion o

f the h

arbo

ur an

d bu

lk inf

rastr

uctur

e suc

h as r

oads

, wate

r main

s and

sewe

r main

s. Th

is ph

ase

will t

ake b

etwee

n 2 an

d 4 ye

ars.

Once

the i

nfras

tructu

re ha

s bee

n com

pleted

the

cons

tructi

on of

resid

entia

l and

comm

ercia

l buil

dings

will

comm

ence

. This

ph

ase c

an be

expe

cted t

o exte

nd ov

er m

any y

ears.

The

comb

ined e

ffect

of the

se tw

o pha

ses w

ill be

cons

tructi

on ac

tivity

at an

d aro

und o

ur m

ain be

ach f

or

the ne

xt 10

year

s at le

ast. T

he im

pact

of thi

s exte

nded

cons

tructi

on ac

tivity

will

have

a ma

jor im

pact

on th

e dev

elopm

ent o

f tour

ism in

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay

W

hat im

pact

will c

hang

e in v

isual

char

acter

a.r.o

. 4 to

7 sto

rey b

uildin

gs ha

ve

on to

urist

s who

expe

ct a r

esor

t of n

atura

l bea

uty an

d bea

utiful

vista

s

Hi

storic

ally t

he to

urist

seas

on in

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay co

mmen

ced i

n Octo

ber

exten

ding t

o the

end o

f Apr

il. O

ur to

urist

seas

on is

now

down

to tw

o/thr

ee

posit

ive so

cio-e

cono

mic i

mpac

ts wh

ich co

uld be

: o

The

crea

tion o

f a un

ique t

ouris

m de

stina

tion,

o

The

attra

ction

of a

class

of to

urist

whic

h is g

ener

ally w

ell tr

avell

ed an

d of

an in

terna

tiona

l natu

re, w

ith a

high p

rope

nsity

to sp

end o

n mar

ina

servi

ces a

nd le

isure

and t

ouris

m pr

oduc

ts,

o T

he de

velop

ment

of a s

pecia

list c

omme

rcial

and r

etail c

luster

whic

h will

cater

spec

ificall

y for

the n

eeds

of a

marin

a and

its cu

stome

rs,

o T

he cr

eatio

n of e

mploy

ment

oppo

rtunit

ies w

ithin

the m

arina

clus

ter,

o R

elativ

ely hi

gh co

mmer

cial a

nd re

tail tu

rnov

ers w

hich w

ill lea

d to

incre

ased

fisca

l reve

nue t

o the

state

thro

ugh t

axes

. o

Nega

tive i

mpac

ts:

The e

stabli

shme

nt of

a mar

ina w

ith th

e cur

rentl

y und

evelo

ped P

iesan

g Ri

ver e

stuar

y will

perm

anen

tly ch

ange

the n

ature

and c

hara

cter o

f this

prec

inct fr

om on

e of a

natur

al es

tuarin

e env

ironm

ent to

that

of a m

arine

co

mmer

cial h

ub, w

ith its

atten

dant

conn

otatio

ns of

a de

nsifie

d co

mmer

cial e

nviro

nmen

t. The

poten

tial n

egati

ve ef

fects

of thi

s cou

ld be

: o

A lo

ss of

a se

nse o

f plac

e for

the e

stuar

y,

o S

ilting

up of

the d

redg

ed es

tuary,

o

The

noise

s, sm

ells a

nd vi

sible

impa

cts th

at ar

e atte

ndan

t to m

arina

s,

o T

raffic

cong

estio

n in a

nd ar

ound

the m

arina

prec

inct, a

nd

o C

ompe

tition

with

othe

r reta

il and

leisu

re bu

sines

ses w

ithin

Plett

enbe

rg

Bay.

To

urism

impa

cts ar

e ofte

n driv

en by

chan

ges i

n the

sens

e of p

lace i

n an

area

, with

the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t thus

havin

g the

poten

tial to

impa

ct on

tou

rism

as its

natur

e dict

ates t

hat it

is lik

ely to

chan

ge th

e cha

racte

r of th

e ar

ea su

bstan

tially

. The

re ar

e cur

rentl

y mixe

d view

s of th

is de

velop

ment

with

certa

in se

ctors

of the

comm

unity

seein

g it a

s an a

dditio

nal a

nd

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

71

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

week

s of th

e yea

r fro

m the

16th D

ecem

ber t

o 7th J

anua

ry

Plett

has d

evelo

ped a

.r.o i

ts be

ach/c

oasta

l tour

ism/at

tracti

on. It

is fu

ndam

ental

to th

e fut

ure o

f the t

own t

hat th

is is

not c

ompr

omise

d

comp

lemen

tary t

ouris

m att

racti

on, a

nd th

e mor

e esta

blish

ed re

siden

tial

comm

unity

in cl

oser

prox

imity

to th

e dev

elopm

ent s

eeing

it as

havin

g a m

ajor

detrim

ental

effec

t on t

he cu

rrent

sens

e of p

lace a

nd sp

oiling

a pr

istine

na

tural

envir

onme

nt an

d tra

nsfor

ming

it int

o a hi

gh de

nsity

and v

isibly

ob

trusiv

e urb

an de

velop

ment.

Po

tentia

l pos

itive i

mpac

ts co

uld al

so ar

ise sh

ould

the de

velop

ment

prov

ide

an ad

ded a

ttrac

tion i

n the

area

that

could

draw

addit

ional

touris

ts. It

has

been

estim

ated t

hat th

e dev

elopm

ent c

ould

prov

ide an

addit

ional

500 b

eds

into t

he ac

comm

odati

on po

ol wh

ich co

uld st

imula

te an

addit

ion R

96 m

illion

of

touris

m ex

pend

iture

by ye

ar fiv

e, wh

ich re

pres

ents

5% of

the p

rojec

ted

total

touris

m sp

end o

f R 1,

912 m

illion

at th

is po

int.

Cons

idere

d as a

who

le, th

e key

poten

tial d

river

s of n

egati

ve to

urism

impa

cts

(prim

arily

visu

al im

pacts

) do n

ot se

em to

be si

gnific

ant e

noug

h to p

rovid

e an

y clea

r bas

is to

conc

lude t

hat th

e pro

ject w

ould

entai

l mor

e tha

n a lo

w lev

el of

risk f

or to

urism

. It is

quite

poss

ible t

hat th

is ris

k wou

ld be

off-s

et by

the

posit

ive at

tracti

on pr

ovide

d by t

he p

rojec

t. It is

ther

efore

pred

icted

that

the ne

t tour

ism im

pacts

asso

ciated

with

the p

rojec

t wou

ld be

neutr

al to

low-

posit

ive w

ith m

itigati

on in

plac

e Im

pact

on M

ilkwo

od C

entre

on H

opwo

od S

treet:

Vi

ews f

rom

the ou

tdoor

eatin

g are

as.

Pa

rking

Lo

ss of

busin

ess

Re

strict

ive flo

w of

pede

strian

traff

ic es

senti

al for

shop

owne

rs of

Milkw

ood

Centr

e

Refer

to ou

tcome

s of th

e eco

nomi

c ass

essm

ent a

bove

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

72

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Prop

erty

value

s

Th

e pos

itionin

g, de

sirab

ility a

nd va

lue of

home

s in P

letten

berg

Bay

will

drop

as

its po

sition

ing as

the p

remi

er ve

nue o

n the

Gar

den R

oute

will b

e at r

isk

Th

e pro

perty

mar

ket, e

spec

ially

at the

uppe

r end

in P

lett is

over

-supp

lied.

Bring

ing m

ore s

uch p

rope

rties o

nto th

e mar

ked w

ill re

sult i

n fur

ther o

ver-

supp

ly, an

d lea

d to a

decre

ase i

n pro

perty

value

s whic

h will

have

no lo

ng-te

rm

bene

fits fo

r any

body

Lo

ss of

seav

iews (

beca

use o

f high

rise b

uildin

gs) w

ill re

sult i

n dec

reas

ed

prop

erty

value

s

The p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t is bo

unde

d by s

ectio

nal ti

tle un

its to

the s

outh

and w

est

along

the r

iver,

with

well e

stabli

shed

larg

er pr

oper

ties o

verlo

oking

the P

iesan

g Rive

r an

d pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent fr

om th

e nor

th. T

he b

odies

corp

orate

and o

wner

s of th

ese

prop

ertie

s hav

e all e

xpre

ssed

their

stro

ng re

sistan

ce to

the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t as

they b

eliev

e tha

t it w

ill lea

d to h

igh le

vel n

egati

ve vi

sible

impa

cts fo

r adja

cent

lando

wner

s, wi

ll cau

se an

incre

ase i

n nois

e poll

ution

, will

lead t

o tra

ffic co

nges

tion,

will o

verlo

ad th

e exis

ting s

ervic

e infr

astru

cture

, will

cons

titute

unfai

r com

petiti

on to

the

exist

ing re

tail a

nd co

mmer

cial c

ommu

nity o

pera

ting o

n Main

Stre

et, an

d is g

ener

ally

out o

f cha

racte

r with

the t

ouris

m im

age a

nd re

siden

tial n

ature

of P

letten

berg

Bay

. All

these

items

have

to po

tentia

l to im

pact

on pr

oper

ty va

lues.

The d

esira

bility

of th

e dev

elopm

ent p

ropo

sal w

ill be

evalu

ated i

n ter

ms of

the s

tanda

rd

ques

tionn

aire p

resc

ribed

in th

e EIA

Reg

ulatio

ns an

d by t

he to

wn pl

anne

r in te

rms o

f the

LUPO

appli

catio

n. A

marke

t dem

and s

tudy w

ill als

o be d

one t

o info

rm th

e sca

le of

the de

velop

ment.

A V

isual

Impa

ct As

sess

ment

will b

e don

e tha

t will

asse

ss lo

ss of

vie

ws.

Comm

unity

/Rate

paye

r cos

ts an

d ben

efits

to

whom

does

the p

rope

rty be

long a

nd w

ill the

comm

unity

bene

fit thr

ough

the

sale

price

whic

h sho

uld, I

pres

ume g

o to t

he m

unici

pality

W

ho w

ill be

resp

onsib

le for

the c

osts

of co

nstru

cting

the h

arbo

ur br

eakw

aters,

dr

edgin

g the

chan

nel a

nd riv

er m

outh

(inclu

ding o

ngoin

g dre

dging

over

time)

? It a

ppea

rs tha

t it w

ill no

t be t

he de

velop

er, b

ut ra

ther t

he ta

xpay

er th

at be

ars

this c

ost. C

ertai

nly th

e Bito

u Mun

icipa

lity ca

nnot

bear

thes

e cos

ts, so

wha

t lev

el an

d sph

ere o

f gov

ernm

ent w

ill?

Th

e are

a cho

sen i

s belo

w the

100 y

ear f

loodli

ne an

d the

50 ye

ar flo

odlin

e –it

no

ted -

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

73

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

will c

ost th

e Cou

ncil a

nd al

l of u

s dea

rly w

hen m

ost o

f it is

was

hed o

ut to

sea

Need

to de

mons

trate

susta

inabil

ity a

nd fin

ancia

l viab

ility o

f dev

elopm

ent

The e

cono

mic i

mpac

t ass

essm

ent s

tates

the f

ollow

ing re

gard

ing fin

ancia

l viab

ility o

f the

proje

ct: T

he sm

all bo

at ha

rbou

r and

mar

ina pr

oject

deve

loper

s hav

e eva

luated

the

finan

cial ri

sks o

f the p

rojec

t and

are s

atisfi

ed th

at the

corre

ct ris

k mitig

ation

mea

sure

s ha

ve be

en pu

t in pl

ace a

nd th

at the

deve

lopme

nt is

finan

cially

viab

le. T

he m

ajor

finan

cial c

onsid

erati

on is

the d

eman

d for

the d

evelo

pmen

t com

pone

nt on

ce th

e ma

rina a

nd its

asso

ciated

comp

onen

ts ha

s bee

n dev

elope

d, tog

ether

with

the o

n-go

ing op

erati

ng co

sts fo

r the

deve

lopme

nt, in

cludin

g mar

ine co

sts su

ch as

dred

ging

and s

ea pr

otecti

on. T

he ba

lance

betw

een f

inanc

ial be

nefits

and c

osts

have

been

ev

aluate

d, an

d alth

ough

it is

reco

gnise

d tha

t the a

chiev

ing of

profi

ts for

some

can

come

at an

unac

cepta

ble co

st to

wide

r soc

iety,

the ov

erall

balan

ce is

in fa

vour

of th

e sm

all bo

at ha

rbou

r and

mar

ina pr

oject,

base

d upo

n the

infor

matio

n and

unde

rtakin

gs

which

have

been

prov

ided b

y the

deve

loper

An

y env

ironm

ental

impa

ct stu

dy w

orth

its sa

lt will

seek

to es

tablis

h the

leve

ls of

stres

s ca

used

loca

ls by

the p

ropo

sals

for a

deve

lopme

nt se

en to

be in

confl

ict w

ith lo

cal

need

s. It i

s like

ly to

obtai

n res

ults w

hich i

ndica

te tha

t the d

evelo

pmen

t wou

ld be

be

yond

any d

egre

e of to

leran

ce an

d like

ly to

lead

to m

ental

and p

hysic

al illn

esse

s

Noted

– thi

s will

be as

sess

ed un

der s

ocial

impa

cts in

the E

IA

For g

ener

ation

s the

indig

enou

s peo

ples o

f this

area

have

subs

isted

from

line r

ock

fishin

g. T

his gh

astly

and h

orrifi

c buil

ding p

ropo

sal w

ill be

disa

strou

s to t

hem

and t

heir

familie

s

Noted

– thi

s will

be as

sess

ed un

der s

ocial

and e

cono

mic i

mpac

ts in

the E

IA

Centr

al Be

ach u

sers:

W

e hav

e alre

ady l

ost L

ooko

ut be

ach d

ue to

flood

ing an

d the

shifti

ng of

the

Keur

boom

s mou

th. W

e can

not a

fford

to se

e Cen

tral b

each

comp

romi

sed i

n an

y way

.

Th

e SIA

mus

t inco

rpor

ate be

ach u

ser s

urve

ys du

ring t

he co

ming

holid

ay

Noted

. The

coas

tal en

ginee

rs ar

e in t

he pr

oces

s of d

etaile

d sed

imen

tolog

y stud

ies

that w

ill be

used

to pr

edict

the p

hysic

al im

pacts

on C

entra

l Bea

ch. T

he so

cial im

pact

asse

ssme

nt inc

luded

a be

ach s

urve

y. Im

pacts

on m

arine

mam

mals

will b

e ass

esse

d in

the m

arine

spec

ialist

stud

y.

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

74

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

seas

on to

deter

mine

the o

pinion

s of th

e Cen

tral B

each

and B

eaco

n Isla

nd

beac

h use

rs in

reac

tion t

o the

deve

lopme

nt pr

opos

al.

Al

read

y ove

r the

Dec

embe

r holi

days

Cen

tral b

each

is fu

ll of d

olphin

view

ing

boats

and j

et sk

is – o

ne ha

rdly

sees

the d

olphin

shoa

ls pa

ssing

by du

ring t

his

time a

s the

y see

m to

keep

well

clea

r. Lu

ckily

this

is on

ly for

a sh

ort p

eriod

and

then t

he do

lphins

are b

ack,

imag

ine w

hat th

is wo

uld be

like o

n a pe

rman

ent

basis

.

On

e has

only

to se

e how

popu

lar th

e Cen

tral B

each

area

is, e

spec

ially

for

familie

s with

youn

g chil

dren

beca

use o

f the r

elativ

e safe

ty of

the la

goon

, to

reali

se th

at thi

s are

a is a

foca

l poin

t of a

full s

pectr

um of

the p

opula

tion

rathe

r tha

n the

elite

, to w

hich t

his de

velop

ment

is dir

ected

. It is

also

a fav

ourite

plac

e for

the l

ess a

dvan

taged

to pu

mp fo

r pra

wns a

nd fis

h. Ag

ain,

the pr

ice th

e gre

ater c

ommu

nity h

as to

pay f

or th

e pro

fiteer

ing of

a few

is no

t on

ly un

warra

nted b

ut en

viron

menta

lly an

d soc

iolog

ically

unfai

r nor

“poli

ticall

y co

rrect”

Re

creati

onal

use,

beac

h acc

ess:

Th

e fish

ing bo

ats th

at pr

eviou

sly an

chor

ed of

f Cen

tral b

each

have

all le

ft as

fishin

g the

se w

aters

is no

long

er a

viable

oper

ation

. Whe

n the

y ope

rated

from

Ce

ntral

beac

h the

y did

prov

ide so

me em

ploym

ent fo

r fish

erme

n but

they a

lso

caus

ed pr

oblem

s – th

ere w

ere c

onsta

nt pr

oblem

s with

vehic

les on

the b

each

an

d this

affec

ted pe

ople

who w

anted

to en

joy tim

e the

beac

h for

wha

t it

offer

ed. S

wimm

ing w

as al

so af

fected

as ol

d bait

and f

ish gu

t was

depo

sited

int

o the

sea w

hich t

hen a

ttrac

ted ot

her p

reda

tors –

swim

mers

have

been

calle

d ou

t of th

e wate

r sev

eral

times

in th

e las

t few

year

s whic

h we c

anno

t rec

all

No

ted

Ye

s

Noted

. The

Soc

ial Im

pact

Asse

ssme

nt ha

s eva

luated

the l

oss o

f pub

lic

amen

ities

In

terms

of th

e ICM

A, ac

cess

to be

ache

s may

not b

e bloc

ked o

r pro

hibite

d.

In te

rms o

f the I

CMA,

acce

ss to

beac

hes m

ay no

t be b

locke

d or p

rohib

ited

To

be ad

dres

sed u

nder

socia

l impa

cts

To

be in

dicate

d – a

safe

swim

ming

area

will

likely

be de

marca

ted w

here

boat

traffic

will

not b

e allo

wed a

s is d

one a

t othe

r bea

ches

No

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

75

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

happ

ening

in th

e pas

t

W

ill the

publi

c reta

in un

restr

icted

acce

ss to

area

s pro

pose

d for

deve

lopme

nt?

Th

e rive

r mou

th is

a pop

ular b

athing

loca

tion a

nd of

fers a

uniqu

e pro

tected

ar

ea fo

r chil

dren

to sw

im. T

he pr

opos

al wi

ll effe

ctive

ly de

stroy

this

uniqu

e so

cial a

menit

y – th

e Bea

con I

sle re

sort

would

like t

o see

a sim

ilar a

rea r

e-cre

ated t

o ens

ure t

hat a

cces

s to s

uch a

featu

re re

mains

an at

tracti

on to

re

siden

ts an

d holi

day m

aker

s.

Th

e inte

nded

build

ing de

velop

ment

on th

e “So

uther

n Ban

k of th

e Pies

ang

Rive

r” wo

uld cu

t off a

cces

s for

anyo

ne w

ishing

to ge

t on t

o Rob

berg

beac

h, an

d wou

ld als

o elim

inate

all pa

rking

for p

eople

wish

ing to

use t

his be

ach.

This

, in

my op

inion

, is no

t acc

eptab

le as

it pr

eclud

es on

e of th

e few

rema

ining

beac

h ar

eas f

or vi

sitor

s

At

Keu

rboo

ms R

iver a

nd R

obbe

rg w

e alre

ady h

ave a

prob

lem w

ith ac

cess

to

the be

ache

s. Ou

r natu

ral re

sour

ces a

nd at

tracti

ons a

re be

ing pu

t furth

er an

d fur

ther b

eyon

d the

reac

h of th

e loc

al po

pulat

ion an

d the

long

-stay

ing m

oney

sp

endin

g tou

rist. T

hose

who

keep

the e

cono

my an

d the

town

goin

g mon

th aft

er m

onth

are b

eing l

ost b

y suc

h acti

ons

W

here

wou

ld Pl

ett S

urf te

ach t

he N

ipper

s and

Life

save

rs? W

here

wou

ld the

Sa

brina

Love

foun

datio

n hav

e the

ir ann

ual s

port

even

t? W

here

wou

ld the

ch

ildre

n play

and t

he el

derly

feel

free?

Ho

w wi

ll boa

t traff

ic be

acco

mmod

ated t

o avo

id en

dang

ering

beac

h use

rs?

W

ill ac

cess

by pa

ddlec

raft f

rom

down

the P

iesan

g thr

ough

the h

arbo

ur to

the

Ad

equa

te pa

rking

is pr

ovide

d for

in th

e site

deve

lopme

nt pla

n

The p

ositio

n of th

e bre

akwa

ters w

ould

impa

ct on

the 3

sub-

tidal

reefs

used

for

divin

g.

The c

oasta

l eng

ineer

ing st

udy w

ill de

termi

ne ph

ysica

l impa

cts, w

hich w

ill inc

lude w

ave d

ynam

ics. T

his w

ill be

used

to de

termi

ne im

pacts

on su

rfers.

Publi

c are

as (e

.g. pl

azas

) whe

re pe

ople

can g

ather

have

been

desig

nated

wi

thin t

he si

te de

velop

ment

plan

No

ted

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

76

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

sea b

e imp

acted

?

Pa

rking

facil

ity fo

r bea

ch go

ers a

nd bo

aters

W

ith an

y har

bour

come

s inc

reas

ed sh

ark a

ctivit

y and

pollu

ted w

ater –

ev

entua

lly th

e sea

in th

is ar

ea w

ill be

beco

me to

o dan

gero

us an

d unc

lean f

or

any s

ort o

f bath

ing or

sea a

ctivit

ies

Th

e divi

ng ar

ea w

ill be

comp

romi

sed a

s the

inlet

to th

e har

bour

will

be a

dang

er to

dive

rs!

St

andin

g boa

rd su

rfers

will n

o lon

ger b

e able

to us

e tha

t are

a.

Th

e gra

ss ar

eas t

hat s

urro

und t

he es

tuary

are m

uch l

oved

by pi

cknic

kers

from

the co

mmun

ities o

utside

the t

own a

nd ac

ross

the N

2 who

do no

t hav

e eas

y ac

cess

to th

e coa

st

Th

e gra

ss ar

eas t

hat s

urro

und t

he es

tuary

are m

uch l

oved

by pi

cknic

kers

from

the co

mmun

ities o

utside

the t

own a

nd ac

ross

the N

2 who

do no

t hav

e eas

y ac

cess

to th

e coa

st

Lo

cals

have

lear

ned t

o par

take o

f eco

-frien

dly pa

stime

s suc

h as h

iking

, she

ll-co

llecti

ng, b

athing

, sur

fing,

kaya

king a

nd ki

te-su

rfing i

n the

abse

nce o

f othe

r, mo

re ar

tificia

l one

s, su

ch as

may

be fo

und i

n citie

s, ma

lls an

d par

king l

ots.

The n

atura

l acti

vities

enjoy

ed he

re ar

e pow

erful

in re

spec

t of o

fferin

g alt

erna

tives

to ar

tificia

l and

carb

on-p

rodu

cing s

ports

and t

heir v

alue c

anno

t be

unde

r-esti

mated

, esp

ecial

ly no

t now

in th

e age

of an

acute

awar

enes

s of

the en

viron

ment.

Visi

tors f

rom

cities

curre

ntly s

tream

into

Plett

to ex

perie

nce

prec

isely

this

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

77

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Priva

cy of

surro

undin

g lan

down

ers

It is e

xpec

ted th

at the

priva

cy of

land

owne

rs su

rroun

ding t

he de

velop

ment

would

be

affec

ted as

it is

desig

ned t

o attr

act la

rge n

umbe

rs of

peop

le.

Da

mage

to flo

ra an

d fau

na

Cl

earin

g for

est o

n Erf

4371

wou

ld dis

rupt

fauna

and r

esult

in er

osion

and

sedim

entat

ion of

the P

iesan

g Rive

r

Im

pact

on fo

rest

Th

e stud

y are

a fall

s with

in the

Gar

den R

oute

Natio

nal P

ark

Th

e dun

e are

as, a

nd fy

nbos

area

s adja

cent

to the

Pies

ang R

iver,

its m

outh

and e

stuar

y will

be ne

gativ

ely af

fected

– im

pact

of los

s of h

abita

t

Ve

getat

ion un

its on

site

includ

e: Ca

pe S

eash

ore V

egeta

tion,

Gard

en R

oute

Shale

Fyn

bos (

vulne

rable

and a

thre

atene

d eco

syste

m lis

ted in

term

s of

NEM:

BA, c

ontai

ning 8

thre

atene

d and

3 en

demi

c plan

t spe

cies),

and S

outh

Outen

iqua S

ands

tone F

ynbo

s. Cl

umps

of en

dang

ered

Wes

tern C

ape

Milkw

ood F

ores

t, a th

reate

ned e

cosy

stem,

also

prote

cted i

n the

For

est A

ct ar

e int

ersp

erse

d thr

ough

out th

e coa

stal fo

relan

d

Mo

st of

the pr

oper

ty is

a criti

cal b

iodive

rsity

area

or ec

ologic

al su

ppor

t are

a

Natur

al ve

getat

ion al

ong t

he co

astlin

e mus

t be r

etaine

d as a

func

tiona

l coa

stal

corri

dor t

owar

ds pr

otecti

on of

the e

xistin

g eco

logica

l infra

struc

ture

Noted

– a t

erre

strial

ecolo

gical

spec

ialist

will

be ap

point

ed. T

he T

erms

of R

efere

nce

for th

e stud

y are

as fo

llows

:

Desc

ribe t

erre

strial

biod

iversi

ty in

the ar

ea pr

opos

ed fo

r dev

elopm

ent

Lis

t flor

al an

d fau

nal s

pecie

s, an

d ind

icate

the po

sition

of th

reate

ned a

nd

prote

cted s

pecie

s. Su

ch lis

ts wi

ll be a

ugme

nted f

rom

the lit

eratu

re an

d in t

he

case

of th

e avif

auna

from

othe

r ava

ilable

sour

ces.

It is n

eces

sary

in the

case

of

the la

tter t

hat w

inter

and s

umme

r sur

veys

are u

nder

taken

to as

sess

the

impo

rtanc

e of th

e are

a to m

igran

t spe

cies d

uring

the l

atter

perio

d

Indica

te an

y eco

logica

l pro

cess

es an

d/or d

river

s nec

essa

ry for

terre

strial

bio

diver

sity p

ersis

tence

that

may b

e imp

acted

by th

e dev

elopm

ent

Pr

ovide

an en

viron

ment

sens

itivity

map

of th

e are

a

Identi

fy po

tentia

l impa

cts of

the d

evelo

pmen

t (co

nstru

ction

and o

pera

tion p

hase

s) on

terre

strial

biod

iversi

ty, an

d give

reco

mmen

datio

ns to

avoid

or m

itigate

thes

e

Im

pact

of the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt on

fish s

pecie

s usin

g the

Pies

ang

Estua

ry as

a nu

rsery

must

be as

sess

ed

St

udies

on ex

isting

bird

life in

the e

stuar

y and

the i

mpac

t of th

e pro

pose

d

Noted

, all t

hese

issu

es w

ill be

asse

ssed

in th

e EIA

and w

ill be

addr

esse

d in t

he

estua

rine s

pecia

list s

tudy.

The t

erms

of re

feren

ce ar

e as f

ollow

s:

Desc

ribe t

he bi

otic a

nd ab

iotic

char

acter

istics

and t

he ge

nera

l eco

logica

l/hab

itat

status

of al

l wetl

ands

and t

he es

tuary

that m

ay be

impa

cted b

y the

deve

lopme

nt

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

78

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

deve

lopme

nt on

this

must

be as

sess

ed

An

chor

Env

ironm

ental

wer

e tas

ked w

ith as

sess

ing po

tentia

l impa

cts

asso

ciated

with

a re

verse

osmo

sis de

salin

ation

plan

t in P

letten

berg

Bay

. The

me

mora

ndum

on pr

elimi

nary

findin

gs an

d rec

omme

ndati

ons –

colla

ted by

Ba

rry C

larke

in S

eptem

ber 2

010–

had t

he fo

llowi

ng fin

dings

:

o “T

he P

iesan

g Estu

ary is

cons

idered

to be

an im

porta

nt es

tuary

from

a co

nserv

ation

persp

ectiv

e, an

d was

inclu

ded a

s part

of a

core

set o

f es

tuarie

s to b

e prio

ritize

d for

estua

rine p

rotec

ted ar

ea st

atus i

n the

rec

ent n

ation

al co

nserv

ation

plan

ning e

xerci

se en

titled

“Sou

th Af

rican

Na

tiona

l Prio

rity E

stuari

es fo

r Biod

iversi

ty Co

nserv

ation

and

Ecolo

gical

Susta

inabil

ity” (

part

of the

Nati

onal

Biodiv

ersity

As

sess

ment

2010

) (Tu

rpie e

t al. 2

012).

Data

colle

cted d

uring

the

recen

t field

surve

y con

firm an

d stro

ngly

supp

ort th

e perc

eived

high

im

porta

nce o

f the s

ystem

from

a con

serva

tion p

erspe

ctive

. The

es

tuary

supp

orts a

high

dive

rsity

of ab

unda

nce o

f fish

and b

irds,

and

is cle

arly a

n imp

ortan

t nurs

ery, fe

eding

, bree

ding a

nd ro

ostin

g area

for

man

y spe

cies.”

Th

e loc

al ec

ology

is ve

ry de

licate

and r

ecen

t stud

ies of

loca

l rive

rs ha

ve fo

und

this a

rea t

o be h

ome t

o var

ious n

ewly

disco

vere

d spe

cies -

and i

ndee

d hav

e do

cume

nted t

he lo

ss of

spec

ies du

e to i

ll adv

ised d

evelo

pmen

ts wi

th the

ir inc

reas

e in p

olluta

nts an

d was

te pr

oduc

ts

Ch

angin

g the

phys

ical to

pogr

aphy

of a

river

mou

th an

d ope

ning a

clos

ed riv

er

syste

m to

the se

a can

have

far-r

each

ing co

nseq

uenc

es fo

r the

river

syste

m fur

ther u

p the

river

. The

ecolo

gy of

the r

iver w

ill un

doub

tedly

be af

fected

and

Inv

estig

ate ec

ologic

al pr

oces

ses a

nd/or

drive

rs ne

cess

ary t

o main

tain a

healt

hy

functi

oning

estua

ry an

d wetl

ands

Prov

ide a

map o

f the a

rea,

wher

e sen

sitive

habit

ats no

t suit

ed fo

r dev

elopm

ent

are i

ndica

ted an

d lan

d use

guide

lines

are r

ecom

mend

ed

Ide

ntify

poten

tial im

pacts

of th

e dev

elopm

ent (

cons

tructi

on an

d ope

ratio

n pha

ses)

on es

tuarin

e and

wetl

and b

iodive

rsity

and f

uncti

oning

, and

give

reco

mmen

datio

ns

to av

oid or

mitig

ate th

ese.

The i

mpor

tance

of w

etlan

ds an

d the

estua

ry to

the

gene

ral e

colog

y and

biod

iversi

ty pe

rsiste

nce o

f the s

urro

undin

g coa

stal

envir

onme

nt mu

st be

cons

idere

d

Deter

mine

the i

mpac

ts of

clima

te ch

ange

, in pa

rticula

r stor

m su

rges

and s

ea-

level

rise,

in co

mbina

tion w

ith th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent a

ctivit

ies, a

nd ho

w the

se w

ill im

pact

on es

tuarin

e and

wetl

and e

colog

y and

persi

stenc

e

The s

tudy m

ust b

e don

e ove

r a sp

ring-

neap

tidal

cycle

, and

liter

ature

mus

t be

cons

ulted

to de

termi

ne se

ason

al dif

feren

ces

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

79

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

the in

creas

e in s

alt le

vels

in the

river

could

have

far-r

each

ing an

d unfo

rese

en

nega

tive i

mpac

ts on

plan

t and

anim

al life

furth

er up

strea

m

Int

erru

ption

of riv

er flo

w (P

iesan

g and

Klei

n Pies

ang)

and r

esult

ant p

roble

ms –

siltat

ion, d

esali

natio

n, ec

ology

W

hat d

esign

mea

sure

s will

the de

velop

er in

corp

orate

to en

sure

that

estua

ry re

mains

a fun

ction

al an

d pro

ducti

ve ec

osys

tem?

And i

f the s

ystem

is to

be

rend

ered

usele

ss, w

hat o

ffsets

is th

e dev

elope

r pre

pare

d to c

onsid

er to

prote

ct the

prod

uctiv

ity of

loca

l mar

ine an

d estu

arine

envir

onme

nts?

Er

osion

of riv

er ba

nks c

ause

d by t

he po

were

d boa

ts ma

y well

lead

to is

sues

wi

th the

bank

s of th

e Pies

ang r

iver.

This

could

very

well l

ead

to de

stabil

isatio

n of th

e new

deve

lopme

nts, w

hich w

ould

requ

ire un

sightl

y so

lution

s to s

tabilis

e the

river

bank

s. Th

is wo

uld on

ly lea

d to a

dditio

nal h

abita

t los

s for

the i

ntertid

al life

and f

urthe

r aes

thetic

issu

es al

ong w

hat is

a be

autifu

l ar

ea to

day

W

etlan

ds in

the a

rea h

ave a

lread

y bee

n sev

erely

encro

ache

d on b

y de

velop

ment

and t

he P

iesan

g vall

ey is

a pa

rticula

rly se

nsitiv

e par

t of th

is en

viron

ment

Th

is riv

er es

tuary

is alr

eady

in di

fficult

ies w

ith po

llutio

n, an

d our

sea-

horse

po

pulat

ion is

in da

nger

of ex

tincti

on

Th

e are

a fall

s with

in the

Oute

niqua

Sen

sitive

Coa

stal A

rea E

xpan

sion

boun

dary

and i

s the

refor

e sub

ject to

the O

uteniq

ua S

ensit

ive C

oasta

l Are

a Ex

pans

ion R

egula

tions

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

80

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

Th

e pro

pose

d dev

elopm

ent is

with

in the

estua

rine f

uncti

onal

zone

of th

e Pi

esan

g Rive

r estu

ary

Th

e Nati

onal

Fres

hwate

r Eco

syste

m Pr

iority

Are

a pro

ject h

as id

entifi

ed

strate

gic sp

atial

prior

ities f

or co

nser

ving S

A’s f

resh

water

ecos

ystem

s and

su

ppor

ting s

ustai

nable

use o

f wate

r res

ource

s. Th

e pro

perty

is si

tuated

with

in a r

iver F

EPA

and a

ssoc

iated

sub-

quate

rnar

y catc

hmen

t are

a, dr

aining

towa

rds

the La

rgely

Natu

ral K

eurb

ooms

Rive

r (pr

esen

t eco

logica

l clas

s stat

us B

)

Fu

el an

d oil l

eaks

from

boats

in ha

rbou

r and

refue

ling a

reas

will

impa

ct on

be

ache

s and

coas

tal w

ater q

uality

Pollu

tion l

evels

of th

e wate

r in th

e lag

oon w

ere a

t sho

cking

ly hig

h lev

els

Th

is is

an ex

treme

ly se

nsitiv

e are

a for

the p

rocre

ation

and b

irthing

pla

ce of

wha

les an

d dolp

hins

im

pact

on m

arine

mam

mals,

fish a

nd av

ian lif

e due

to in

creas

e in b

oat tr

affic

and p

olluti

on; a

nd on

the b

each

, dun

e and

wav

e dyn

amics

due t

o soli

d pe

rman

ent s

tructu

res m

ust b

e ass

esse

d

Re

dbait

, Jac

obs a

nd B

linde

rs Re

efs ar

e pop

ular w

ith lo

cal a

nd to

urist

dive

rs as

the

y are

easil

y acc

essib

le an

d abu

ndan

t with

mar

ine lif

e inc

luding

thre

e sha

rk sp

ecies

foun

d only

in S

outh

Afric

a

W

hat w

ill the

impa

ct be

on th

e ree

fs wh

ere t

he riv

er en

ters t

he se

a?

W

hat o

ngoin

g dre

dging

will

be re

quire

d and

whe

re w

ill thi

s be o

ffload

ed? W

hat

impa

ct is

expe

cted f

rom

this o

n the

know

n ree

fs an

d pan

sy sh

ell be

ds?

Noted

, all t

hese

issu

es w

ill be

asse

ssed

in th

e EIA

and w

ill be

addr

esse

d in t

he

marin

e spe

cialis

t stud

y. Th

e ter

ms of

refer

ence

are a

s foll

ows:

De

scrib

e the

bioti

c and

abiot

ic ch

arac

terist

ics of

the n

earsh

ore m

arine

en

viron

ment

that m

ay be

impa

cted b

y the

deve

lopme

nt, in

cludin

g fiel

d su

rveys

of:

o Int

ertid

al ma

crofau

na on

Cen

tral B

each

; o

Surf

zone

fish o

n Cen

tral B

each

; o

Avifa

una o

n Cen

tral B

each

, Rob

berg

Bea

ch an

d the

Bea

con I

sle;

o Ro

cky i

ntertid

al ma

crofua

na on

Bea

con I

sle

Inv

estig

ate ec

ologic

al pr

oces

ses a

nd/or

drive

rs ne

cess

ary t

o main

tain a

he

althy

func

tionin

g nea

rshor

e mar

ine en

viron

ment

Ide

ntify

poten

tial im

pacts

of th

e dev

elopm

ent (

cons

tructi

on an

d ope

ratio

n ph

ases

) on m

arine

ecolo

gy an

d pro

cess

es, a

nd gi

ve re

comm

enda

tions

to

avoid

or m

itigate

thes

e. Th

e imp

ortan

ce of

the p

otenti

ally e

ffecte

d mar

ine

area

to th

e gen

eral

ecolo

gy an

d biod

iversi

ty pe

rsiste

nce o

f the s

urro

undin

g

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

81

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

It i

s imp

ortan

t that

Plett

gains

and r

etains

its B

lue F

lag st

atus w

hich i

t lost

beca

use o

f the p

olluti

on ca

used

by th

e fish

ing bo

ats

W

hat w

ill the

impa

ct on

othe

r bea

ches

be (e

.g. K

eurb

ooms

/Look

out, R

obbe

rg)

Op

ening

up th

e bay

for e

xploi

tation

: the p

rimar

y rea

son P

lett is

still

Plett

is th

at on

ly the

hard

y can

brea

ch th

e bea

ch w

ith th

eir cr

aft. It

offer

s a na

tural

boun

dary

which

limits

the u

se of

the b

ay an

d its

reso

urce

s. Th

ere a

re bu

t a

hand

ful of

comm

ercia

l ope

rator

s wor

king o

ff the

beac

h pre

cisely

beca

use o

f thi

s. A

harb

our w

hich g

ives a

cces

s to a

ll and

sund

ry wi

ll cha

nge t

his fo

reve

r

Th

e are

a fall

s with

in the

Oute

niqua

Sen

sitive

Coa

stal A

rea E

xpan

sion

boun

dary

and i

s the

refor

e sub

ject to

the O

uteniq

ua S

ensit

ive C

oasta

l Are

a Ex

pans

ion R

egula

tions

Th

e poll

ution

from

the s

mall b

oat h

arbo

ur w

ill als

o affe

ct Ro

bber

g Bea

ch

Blue

Flag

statu

s, the

cora

l reefs

arou

nd th

e BI a

nd Lo

okou

t Roc

ks

coas

tal en

viron

ment

must

be co

nside

red

De

termi

ne th

e imp

acts

of cli

mate

chan

ge, in

partic

ular s

torm

surg

es an

d sea

-lev

el ris

e, in

comb

inatio

n with

the p

ropo

sed d

evelo

pmen

t acti

vities

, and

how

these

will

impa

ct on

mar

ine ec

ology

and p

roce

sses

The s

tudy m

ust b

e don

e ove

r a sp

ring-

neap

tidal

cycle

, and

liter

ature

mus

t be

cons

ulted

to de

termi

ne se

ason

al dif

feren

ces

Impa

ct on

beac

hes w

ill be

inve

stiga

ted by

the c

oasta

l eng

ineer

s

Hi

gh ris

e buil

dings

(4 to

7 sto

reys

) are

unac

cepta

ble an

d will

block

view

s

Vi

sual

effec

t of v

iew on

entire

hills

ide ab

ove c

entra

l bea

ch on

to the

rear

of 4

to 7 s

torey

build

ings a

long b

each

front

Vi

sual

impa

ct of

brea

kwate

r mus

t be c

onsid

ered

An

y dev

elopm

ent o

n erf

237 w

ill im

pact

on E

rf 19

78. T

he er

f was

origi

nally

pu

rchas

ed pr

ecise

ly as

a fro

nt ro

w er

f with

unim

pede

d view

s and

it co

uld ne

ver

have

been

reas

onab

ly as

sume

d tha

t mult

i-stor

ey de

velop

ment

would

be

perm

itted o

n the

Stat

e lan

d betw

een t

he fr

ont r

ow of

erve

n and

the s

ea. I

refer

yo

u to P

aola

v Jee

va N

O &

Othe

rs Ca

se N

o. 47

5/200

2 in t

he S

upre

me C

ourt

Noted

– the

se ite

ms w

ill be

addr

esse

d by t

he V

isual

Impa

ct As

sess

ment.

Ter

ms of

re

feren

ce ar

e as f

ollow

s:

Calcu

late v

iewsh

eds f

or va

rious

elem

ents

of the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt. T

he

views

heds

prov

ide th

e bas

is for

iden

tifying

princ

ipal v

iewpo

ints a

nd se

nsitiv

e vis

ual re

cepto

rs, as

well

as th

e foc

us fo

r ass

essin

g the

poten

tial v

isual

impa

ct on

the

se re

cepto

rs

Do a

lands

cape

asse

ssme

nt to

deter

mine

the c

urre

nt sta

te an

d cha

racte

r of th

e lan

dsca

pe. T

he la

ndsc

ape c

hara

cter is

dete

rmine

d by a

nalys

ing la

nd co

ver,

land

use,

vege

tation

, und

erlyi

ng ge

ology

and t

opog

raph

y usin

g a G

IS an

d ava

ilable

da

ta. T

he la

ndsc

ape b

aseli

ne pr

ovide

s the

basis

for a

sses

sing t

he cu

rrent

visua

l qu

ality

of the

area

by lo

oking

at in

dicato

rs su

ch as

vivid

ness

, intac

tness

and u

nity

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

82

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

of Ap

peal.

I pr

esum

e tha

t this

will b

e rele

vant

to all

the p

rope

rties i

n the

area

wi

th a v

iew of

the s

ea, th

e Tsit

sikam

ma M

ounta

ins or

Rob

bebe

rg

W

e hav

e hug

e stor

ms an

d to p

rotec

t all o

f this

will r

equir

e equ

ally m

assiv

e pr

otecti

ve co

ncre

te str

uctur

es w

hich w

ill be

ugly

W

e live

oppo

site C

entra

l bea

ch an

d lov

e watc

hing t

he ch

angin

g tide

s and

sh

ape o

f the l

agoo

n, the

sunr

ises a

nd su

nsets

and t

he bi

rdlife

. If th

is de

velop

ment

were

to ha

ppen

we w

ould

look o

nto hi

gh-ri

se bu

ilding

s, sh

ops e

tc wh

ich w

ould

totall

y des

troy o

ur cu

rrent

wond

erful

view

Visu

al Im

pact

on M

ilkwo

od C

entre

on H

opwo

od S

treet

of the

land

scap

e. Th

e lan

dsca

pe ch

arac

ter se

nsitiv

ity pr

ovide

s a m

easu

re of

its

abilit

y to a

bsor

b cha

nge f

rom

the pr

opos

ed de

velop

ment

witho

ut ch

angin

g ch

arac

ter

A

photo

grap

hic su

rvey o

f the s

tudy a

rea f

rom

which

the l

ands

cape

and v

isual

base

lines

can b

e pre

pare

d will

be do

ne. V

iewpo

ints i

denti

fied d

uring

preli

mina

ry vis

ibility

analy

ses w

ithin

the st

udy a

rea w

ill be

visit

ed du

ring t

his su

rvey

Th

e pote

ntial

impa

ct on

the l

ands

cape

and o

n sen

sitive

view

ers w

ill be

asse

ssed

an

d pos

sible

mitig

ation

mea

sure

s to r

educ

e or a

void

nega

tive i

mpac

t will

be

discu

ssed

. The

repo

rt wi

ll ass

ess t

he im

pacts

in te

rm s

of Sp

atial

Deve

lopme

nt Fr

amew

orks

and o

ther la

nd us

e plan

ning d

ocum

entat

ion th

at ma

y be r

eleva

nt to

the de

velop

ment

Th

ere a

re al

so se

vera

l arte

facts

from

when

Bea

con I

sland

was

a wh

aling

sta

tion w

hich p

rovid

e fur

ther in

teres

t to di

vers

which

wou

ld be

lost

if the

ha

rbou

r is bu

ilt

Is

the ar

ea no

t an a

rcheo

logica

l her

itage

site?

The

re is

a bo

at bu

ried u

nder

the

sand

on th

e bea

ch

My la

te pa

rents

, Clar

e & P

at St

orra

r, we

re co

mmitte

d to t

he pr

eser

vatio

n of th

e bea

uty

and u

nique

histo

ry of

Plett

enbe

rg B

ay an

d sur

roun

dings

. See

their

accla

imed

book

s: "G

eorg

e Rex

, Dea

th of

a Leg

end"

, "Pa

radis

e Coa

st", "

Portr

ait of

Plet

tenbe

rg B

ay",

"A

Colos

sus o

f Roa

ds",

"Dra

ma at

Pon

ta De

lgada

" and

"A V

ista a

nd a

Visio

n" by

Patr

icia

Stor

rar;

and "

Sewe

ll, Th

e Diar

y of a

Har

bor M

aster

" and

"The

Fou

r Fac

es of

Fo

urca

de" b

y Clar

e Stor

rar.

Pat S

torra

r was

also

instr

umen

tal in

gettin

g The

Old

Timbe

r She

d and

the R

edbo

urne

Chu

rch in

Pies

ang v

alley

reco

gnize

d as h

istor

ical

place

s. Th

ey al

so op

pose

d an e

arlie

r atte

mpt to

build

a sm

all bo

at ha

rbor

in th

e hoo

k

Noted

. An a

rchae

ologic

al/he

ritage

spec

ialist

will

be ap

point

ed. T

erms

of re

feren

ce:

He

ritage

(Pro

vincia

l Her

itage

Res

ource

s Auth

ority

). Th

is tas

k will

broa

dly

estab

lish t

he ra

nge a

nd im

porta

nce o

f the h

erita

ge si

tes th

at ma

y be i

mpac

ted by

the

prop

osed

deve

lopme

nt (cu

ltura

l, hist

oric

– inc

luding

shipw

reck

s, an

d ar

chae

ologic

al). Id

entify

poten

tial re

d flag

issu

es. H

WS

will i

denti

fy in

their

comm

ent w

hat s

pecia

list s

tudies

are r

equir

ed fo

r the

Her

itage

Impa

ct As

sess

ment.

It is

expe

cted t

hat th

e foll

owing

asse

ssme

nts w

ill be

requ

ired:

Arch

aeolo

gical

Impa

ct As

sess

ment

(pre

colon

ial an

d hist

orica

l site

s),

Palae

ontol

ogica

l Impa

ct As

sess

ment

and a

Visu

al Im

pact

Asse

ssme

nt.

Comm

ents

from

a pala

eonto

logist

and a

n und

erwa

ter ar

chae

ologis

t will

be

requ

ested

at th

is tim

e to m

ake a

ppro

priat

e rec

omme

ndati

ons.

Unde

rtake

an A

rchae

ologic

al Im

pact

Asse

ssme

nt to

includ

e a si

te vis

it and

field

asse

ssme

nt of

poss

ible a

rchae

ologic

al he

ritage

sites

in th

e are

a pro

pose

d for

de

velop

ment,

estab

lishin

g the

rang

e and

impo

rtanc

e of h

erita

ge si

tes (c

ultur

al,

histor

ic – i

nclud

ing sh

ipwre

cks,

and a

rchae

ologic

al), d

eterm

ining

the p

otenti

al

Dra

ft Sc

opin

g R

epor

t for

the

Prop

osed

Con

stru

ctio

n an

d O

pera

tion

of s

mal

l-boa

t har

bour

and

land

side

dev

elop

men

t in

Plet

tenb

erg

Bay

in th

e W

este

rn C

ape

83

Com

men

t EA

P/Sp

ecial

ist re

spon

se

of Ro

bber

g im

pact

of the

deve

lopme

nt on

arch

aeolo

gical

herita

ge si

tes (o

n lan

d), m

ake

reco

mmen

datio

ns to

mini

mise

poss

ible d

amag

e to t

hese

sites

. Sho

uld an

un

derw

ater s

urve

y of s

hipwr

ecks

be re

quire

d by t

he au

thoriti

es, a

suita

ble

spec

ialist

will

prep

are a

sepa

rate

prop

osal

for th

is.

Pr

epar

e an I

ntegr

ated H

erita

ge Im

pact

Asse

ssme

nt for

subm

ission

to th

e He

ritage

Wes

tern C

ape (

HWC)

for c

omme

nt. T

he H

IA w

ill su

mmar

ise th

e find

ings

of an

y/all s

pecia

list h

erita

ge st

udies

requ

ested

by H

WC.


84 8

Way Forward

This Draft Scoping Report has identified potential impacts associated with the

proposed construction and operation of a small-boat harbour and adjacent landside

development in and around the Piesang estuary. All identified stakeholders have

been notified and asked to participate in the environmental process. This Draft

Scoping report have been submitted to DEA&DP. All registered parties have been

sent an electronic copy of the Executive Summary and notified of the importance of

commenting and identifying any issue which CEN IEM Unit may have overlooked and

which they feel needs to be addressed in the EIA, and have been invited to a public

open day on 18 May 2013 in Plettenberg Bay to discuss the Draft Scoping Report. A

full copy of the Draft Scoping Report will be made available in electronic format to all

those that request it. Once the stakeholder comments have been received and the

period for stakeholder comment has expired, the issues raised by the parties will be

recorded in a final Scoping Report for submission to the competent authority.

All comments on this scoping report should be forwarded to:

Michael Cohen

CEN IEM Unit

36 River Road

Walmer

Port Elizabeth

6070

Comments can be emailed / faxed to:

[email protected] / 086 504 2549

Structure of the Report

Chapter 1 of the report presents a background to the Scoping procedure. Chapter 2

describes the proposed development property. Chapter 3 describes and explains the

project proposal and places it in context with relevant planning guidelines. Chapter 4

CEN Integrated Environmental Management Unit


85

describes the receiving environment and details relevant environmental planning

guidelines. Chapter 5 identifies and describes project alternatives. Chapter 6

describes the methodology that will be followed in deriving and assessing impacts

and alternatives, and ensuring the report is in compliance the relevant legislation,

regulations and guidelines. Chapter 7 lists and describes potential environmental

issues and impacts that will be considered further in the EIR. Chapter 8 presents a

Plan of Study for EIA. Chapter 9 details the public participation phase up to the

Scoping Phase. Chapter 10 is a reference list.