Paarl Waterfront development plans misleading 2009-01-22
THE glossy brochure included with our utilities accounts regarding the proposed Paarl Waterfront tells ratepayers that, in June 2010, Paarl will be hosting a world class soccer team at our new base camp/fan park who will be accommodated in a five star 120 room hotel surrounded by shops and boardwalks on the banks of the Berg River.
This promises glamour, entertainment and most importantly, jobs - something we all agree is needed in Paarl.
But the glossy brochure shows the people of Paarl less than half of the true picture. Left off completely is the second phase of the development, when the verdant green landscape surrounding the soccer field, will be totally covered by more than 25 two, three and four storey blocks of flats/offices.
The river bank will have to be raised by at least two metres to accommodate the 50-year floodline so that the buildings will be much higher than the plans indicate and will completely overwhelm the cultural landscape of the area. Try to picture this scene from the Market Street bridge.
The soccer field has no permanent stands and when it is handed back to the municipality after 2010, there are no plans as to what to do with it - situated as it is in the middle of an office park.
And has anyone done a viability study on a hotel with 120 rooms in Paarl?
Another major factor which is not taken into account, is the planned 600mm diameter sewer line that will be crossing the site from the Arboretum gate through the proposed soccer field/hotel complex to the current entrance on Market Street.
It will be constructed this year as an emergency measure to move sewage from Paarl South to the sewage works in Noorder- Paarl.
This pipe will require a servitude of several metres where nothing may be built, but it is not shown anywhere on the Waterfront plan.
There is also no provision for parking shown on the plans; not for the soccer field, the hotel, the sports centre or the flats. When the soccer field reverts to the municipality, where will the users park?
There is no plan indicating the trees on the site, many over 100 years old, and although there are undertakings to protect as many trees as possible, the sheer number of buildings means hardly a tree will be left standing. Of course, raising the ground level will kill off the trees anyway.
There has been a total disregard for the proper procedures required by Heritage Western Cape for such a huge development as the developers and their professional advisors have attempted to shortcut all procedures.
Thus far, Heritage Western Cape has rejected their incomplete and misleading plans.
All the people of Paarl have enjoyed the freedom to use the facilities of the current sport fields and in particular the river bank for sporting and social gatherings. It is vital that this freedom is guaranteed in the future.
The new Waterfront will undoubtedly control all access to the river banks in front of it.
Finally, the chances of the hotel and sports complex being completed by June 2010 are slim, considering that the rugby, cricket and squash clubs still have to be re-built (where?) before building can commence on the site.
So, the developers will blame concerned citizens for this, and then happily continue with their numerous blocks of flats/offices - which, let’s face, is the only part of the development they are really interested in. Cathy Raymond (Drakenstein Heritage Foundation)
