Durbanville – The final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report and supporting documentation was submitted to the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA and DP) on 11 July, concluding the public-participation period for the Cape Winelands Airport outside Durbanville.
This came after the fourth and intended final round of public consultation on the proposed expansion of the Cape Winelands Airport was held in May.
Cape Winelands Airport, formerly known as Fisantekraal Air Field, was acquired in November 2020 by the applicant. The site is located approximately 10,5 km north-east of Durbanville on the R312 and approximately 6 km north of Joostenberg Vlakte on the R304. The current airport site is 155 ha in size.
The proposed project entails the expansion of the existing airport in a phased-development approach, which includes the realignment of a primary runway with a length of 3,5 km, according to an executive summary for the final EIA report.
Landside and air-side infrastructure will also be phased based on market demand.
Landside infrastructure will include, but not be limited to, passenger and cargo terminals, hotel, aircraft hangars and services, airport facilities, a bulk fuel-storage facility, internal and external road infrastructure, potable water and sewage-treatment infrastructure, a petrol filling station, a biodigester, solar PV and stormwater-management infrastructure.
Infrastructure
Airside infrastructure will include, but not be limited to, runways, taxiways, taxi lanes, aircraft parking aprons, service roads as well as approach lights and navigational aids needed for safe operations in all weather conditions.
The runway solution also includes drainage, pavement structures, paint markings and earthworks along with considerations for aircraft tracking, jet-blast impact mitigation and hydroseeding requirements, according to the executive summary.
In the first phase the airport will comprise one runway, which will be at an orientation of 01-19 and a length of 3,5 km and will be constructed to serve up to Code 4F instrument operations. This runway will be shared by all operators, including scheduled commercial as well as general aviation, where intersection take-off points will be introduced on the runway to improve efficiency for general aviation operations.
In the second phase the airport development strategy is based on the continued development of the various precincts with the main runway shared by all operators, including scheduled commercial as well as general aviation. After the implementation of the first phase the second phase will evolve based on market demand.
The final EIA report, water-use licence technical report, waste-management plan, maintenance-management plan and supporting documents is available at https://phsconsulting.co.za/proposed-expansion-of-cape-winelands-airport/. A hard copy is available at the Fisantekraal Public Library for the duration of the authorisation period.
