MONDAY NOV 09, 2015
An intelligent and prudent political management will ensure that development is sensible, sensitive and sustainable. This bunch of DA led politicians, under de Lille in this case, are only interested in short-term gain for their developer buddies, which of course translates into party funding and who knows what else. Developers are profit-driven and will obviously cherry-pick juicy projects over the less profitable (but often very necessary infrastructural development required by a city) ones. It is the duty of the City to manage this process - but clearly the DA only has it’s own interests at heart.
Zille used her executive power to ensure that the CT Stadium went ahead - despite massive public opposition and clear financial and technical warnings that the stadium was unsustainable (as it inevitably proved to be) - simply to ensure that her construction industry buddies got a lot of work. And has her silence been deafening when the collusion between the big construction companies was uncovered….. Imagine that shrill voice if ANC benefactors had been caught with their collective fingers in the till !!!!
#deLilleMustFall
Chris Willemse
CBRRA
SUNDAY NOV 08, 2015
Why is Mr. Schulze unable to raise this point without resorting to the topic of race, or name-calling? Silly little catch-phrases like "whities" and "kill de Lille" are immature at best. They completely detract from what would otherwise be a valid point.
However, since Mr. Schulze has opted to raise the topic of race - perhaps, as a white Capetonian, he should perform a bit of self-reflection? It's easy to adopt an anti-development stance when you're perfectly comfortable with the status quo because it suits you. However, when you're poor and living on the outskirts of the city far away from most economic opportunity, this type of progress is exactly what the city needs.
A densification policy is vital to the city's future - not only from a sustainability perspective, but also in terms of inclusiveness. We simply cannot continue on our current trajectory of urban sprawl. Tracts of land in District 6 are but a small part of the solution to this problem. They're already earmarked for development and would only house a limited number of people to begin with.
Mr. Schulze needs to accept that the city is developing rapidly and is already struggling with housing issues and unemployment. We've become the most congested city in the country. Unless we start densifying, we will be paying for it in the years to come. We won't be able to afford to build/maintain bulk infrastructure, public transport, housing and the like. We will never become a truly inclusive, world-class city.
I'm pro-development, but completely agree that we need to protect our Heritage. We are capable of marrying these two concepts. There are plenty of examples of the preservation of our Heritage throughout the city, if one chooses to look at them. I could rattle off countless examples.
On a side note: if you think the Leinster Hall in Gardens would have received a provisional roof under an ANC-led local government, you're in for a surprise. Be careful what you wish for..
FRIDAY NOV 06, 2015
Cape Town's pro-property development stance questioned
What is happening in Cape Town? The City's ruthless pro-development stance is now clearly getting out of hand.
The Spelum rejection against the VOC warehouse proposal was simply overturned this week. So was Spelum's rejection of the Riverside Extension in Kommetjie.
Maiden's Cove is now put on tender, Bakoven's historic bungalow is set to be demolished, Highclere in Blouberg is under threat of demolition, and the Philippi farming area is to be developed. Next, it seems like the Arcadia House of the Winchester Mansions Hotel (corner Hall and Wisbeach roads in Sea Point) is going to be demolished for a 56-room highly contemporary addition. Perhaps, if we wait long enough, the Princess Vlei shopping mall proposal will again be revisited.
The DA is convinced it's got us white Capetonians by the short and curlies in that we're forced to vote for it to keep the ANC out. Well, it might just get a nasty surprise. My vote in next year's municipal elections will now definitely go to another party. This nonsense of Mayco overturning Spelum decisions, giving developers the goahead for those greed-driven proposals, proves the DA's self-indulgent (mis)behaviour against our builtheritage that is not only "white history", by the way.
Our old buildings wouldn't exist if it weren't for the labour and craftsmanship of our non-white citizens' forefathers. This goes for very old, but also our early 20th century Arts&Crafts (Revival) and Art Deco buildings being relentlessly demolished or contemporised to oblivion.
Unfortunately, the principle of distinction that is taken up in the approved City of Cape Town's Cultural Heritage Strategy (2005), which forms part of the Integrated Metropolitan Environmental Policy (IMEP), (Policy 3: Authenticity, which states, among other things, that the City will ensure that a distinction be made between the authentic fabric of a resource and later contemporary interventions), further causes the fast erosion of our heritage resources, rendering them more and more insignificant and therefore expendable.
This also gives the impression that non-approved contemporisations are acceptable, especially in that such illegalities can be approved retrospectively if anyone from the City even cares.
This distinctive approach appears overemphatically based on the authenticity concept of the 1964 Venice Charter, which again has it's roots in the 1931 Athens Charter that was essentially established to protect ancient Greek and Roman ruins. I, for one, object to these strict terms being placed on our relatively young built heritage, and feel that conjecture for the sake of some homogeneity in contextual areas - especially within Heritage Protection Overlay Zones - should be encouraged, if not enforced. This is also done in other countries despite those charters.
Another erosive factor is the City's densification policy, which I feel ought to be reviewed as long as District Six (and large parts of adjacent council land) lies vastly empty. With the present status quo, it will lie fallow for another 40 years.
In terms of built-heritage protection, the DA appears to be deliberately underfunding Heritage Western Cape (HWC), likely due to pressure from the vested interests of the construction industry. Three months ago, the entire upper floor of the 1850s Leinster Hall in Gardens was destroyed by a fire. HWC still hasn't got a provisional roof over the open building to protect it from further rainwater damage.
Some will argue that it is much worse in ANC-run cities - I beg to differ. Yes, many buildings may be considerably rundown there, but at least they're still standing. Once something is gone, it's gone, especially since above-mentioned "accepted heritage practices" don't allow conjecture in this city.
It seems we're in a catch-22 with our mayor, who has fought for democracy during the freedom struggle, but abolished it for a near dictatorship favouring developers and construction firms who appear to have funnelled enormous amounts of cash down the DA's throat.
Is this what conspiracy theorists call a corporatocracy? Big money running the show? De Lille and her inherent ID probably couldn't care less if the DA loses next year. Judging from past events she'll just split off the DA again, to form a coalition with whatever closest winning party. We're stuck, unless we politically "kill de Lille" at next years polls.
Heiko Schulze
Cape Times
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