After years of a damaged sea wall and deteriorated infrastructure at Small Bay Beach in Bloubergstrand, plans are in place for repairs.
The City of Cape Town’s coastal management team is in the final stages of the work that is required for the Small Bay sea wall upgrade tender.
The new sea wall is being built for a minimum design of a 50-year period and as such has to take sea level rise into consideration.
This is an emergency project that the City is doing to rebuild the collapsed sea wall at Small Bay. The road has been closed to the public for many years as a result of the collapsed wall.
According to the City’s Mayco member for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews, in addition the collapsing sea wall has the main sewer line encased within it and this is at risk of failure if it collapses any further.
“We have designed and are about to go to tender to rebuild the entire sea wall, upgrade and rebuild the collapsed road and realign/reposition the main sewer line. As part of this process we have had to apply for an ad hoc setback line. It is the comment on the set back line application that closed on 14 March,” he says.
However, there are some residents who are not happy about some of the upgrades taking place.
Resident Chris Derksen has voiced his concerns over the 1 m wall erection.
“The City of Cape town is apparently planning to build a 1 m high wall when they repair the sea wall at Small Bay. This will destroy the iconic views from this beautiful beach. We only had until 14 March to object or comment,” he says.
However, the City says although the upgraded sea wall will be built on the same existing footprint, construction activities will occur within 100 m of the high water mark.
“As such we have applied for an ad hoc development setback line as defined/adopted in terms of the National Environment Management Act and Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, and this only relates to the relevant listed activities triggered by the proposed development where the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning is the competent authority to grant authorisation,” he told TygerBurger.
In this case it relates to activities within 100 m of the high water mark specifically:. 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 of more than 5 cubic metres from –
(i) the seashore;
(ii) 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; or
(iii) the sea but excluding where such infilling, depositing, dredging, excavation, removal or moving will occur behind a development setback.
“In the case of Small Bay, given that the proposed works occur on an existing lawful footprint the competent authority, namely the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, confirmed that the City may apply for a setbackline to be adopted by competent authority to permit the deposition and excavation of material during the implementation of the proposed works,” Andrews says.
