CAMPS BAY IN THE CROSSHAIRS AND AT THE CROSSROADS…

CAMPS BAY IN THE CROSSHAIRS AND AT THE CROSSROADS…

We, the residents and property owners of Camps Bay, find ourselves at a critical juncture in our lives and the future of our suburb - and we need the community's help now!

This is no overstatement!

The unfortunate judgement out of the High Court, now currently under appeal, which seemingly found that neither the community, nor directly affected property owners, have any right to challenge planning decisions, which are way beyond those allowed by regulation, has emboldened an already predatory City.

Your property values are now no longer determined by market forces and well-regulated town planning rules: The City will decide if a developer can erect a 5-storey block of flats next to your single dwelling house, or allow 4 separate units. Guess what that will do to the value of your house…

And don’t bother in individually defending your legal and constitutional rights – the City will use ratepayers tax money to fight you all the way. And so what if it loses, it used someone else’s’ money. It will fight every challenge because it has an army of litigators and will simply litigate individual owners out of Court. We require a well-funded CBCRA which can best represent our community.

And, if the new planning bylaw amendments are implemented, the City will challenge your right to even begin legal action, as it forces you to exhaust your administrative options within its bureaucratic control, whilst allowing developers to complete buildings in the meantime.

More on the Planning Bylaw amendments in the coming week – but they are scary! 

We are well aware of pending planning applications on the beachfront and have prepared the likely scenario for what that will look like, given what the City has allowed for the hotel.

To those who believe that the beachfront hotel is not representative of their experience as a Camps Bay property owner or resident, large developers now own property in the middle to upper reaches of our suburb and will be very keen to apply to the City  to show the same largesse as was extended to the hotel developer.

The rights and property values of every homeowner in Camps Bay are now in the balance.

So, what to do?

The CBCRA must be properly funded to complete the hotel appeal and use any positive findings to prevent the City from ever trying to trample our rights and destroy our suburb again.

The CBCRA must be able to continue the fight against the City’s planning department who regularly ignore (or change planning decisions) when approving building plans.

This community must support the CBCRA and the almost 30 other ratepayer groupings from around the City in ensuring that the draconian amendments to the Planning Bylaw never see the light of day. 

Please support those who voluntarily fight for your rights and the millions of rand of your property value that are currently under threat from this City administration.

Banking details are:   

CBCRA

First National Bank (201809)

63066186206

Together we can – and will – make a difference.

Chris Willemse

Weekend Argus article on Beachfront Hotel appeal

An artist impression of the new hotel set for Victoria Road in Camps Bay

15 September 2024

Ratepayers appeal court’s decision to allow a hotel to be built in Camps Bay

Cape Town - The Camps Bay and Clifton Ratepayers Association (CBCRA) is sticking to its guns that a five-star hotel which is expected to be built along Victoria Road will make their beachfront resemble a concrete jungle.

The association has applied for leave to appeal a decision by he Western Cape High Court which allows for the hotel to be built on Erf 3349, which used to be the home of the Place of the Bay Hotel.

A total of 90 residents logged personal objections to the City’s planners and felt that their pleas were being ignored following the decision last month.

The hotel was designed by Scott and Partners and hotel group Novis Hotel.

Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, said the application had no irregularities and that they were happy with the court’s decision.

“The application was assessed in terms of the requirements of the Municipal Planning By-Law and relevant City policies and was accordingly recommended for approval,” he said.

CBCRA chairperson Chris Willemse said the community of Camps Bay was overwhelmingly against the development due to it taking away from the area’s natural beauty.

Willemse shared copies of their court application with Weekend Argus.

“Not because it is a hotel but because of the excessive departures and concessions that the developer received from the City,” he said.

“Camps Bay has a strict Special Area rule to prevent the beachfront from becoming like Sea Point, or any other high-rise area - no more than three floors and not higher than 10m.

“The City granted planning permission for five floors and a 15 metre height. The lack of parking was also a major concern.

“This is clearly unacceptable and appears to indicate the extremely close relationship between the City and the development industry, whilst sidelining the ratepayers and residents of Cape Town.”

Willemse said they felt as though their voices were not being heard.

“We are obviously very disappointed with the judgment, which simply accepted the City’s version of events - even to agreeing that ratepayer organisations and affected property owners have no say over what the City decides to allow in their neighbourhoods in which they pay rates and taxes. Not even if the planning permission far exceeds what is allowed by the planning by-laws,” he said.

“This simply cannot be right and the dictatorial approach of the City must be challenged for the sake of every area and property owner in the metropolitan area.

“If this is allowed to stand, then the natural beauty of the Camps Bay beachfront will be lost to a concrete jungle. This beachfront attracts hundreds of thousands of local and foreign visitors, who enjoy the synergy between the natural environment and the relatively low level built environment,” Willemse said.

According to a recent media publication, Developers Scott and Partners said all plans were compliant and approved by the City while Novis said the development would boost the area financially.

genevieve.serra@inl.co.za

https://www.iol.co.za/weekend-argus/news/ratepayers-appeal-courts-decision-to-allow-a-hotel-to-be-built-in-camps-bay-95d27961-9f7c-4973-8acf-abd8d168ea3a

CCT Deadline for Amendments to Municipal Planning By-law (MPLB)

 

CAPE TOWN BY-LAW AMENDMENTS: CITY NEEDS A POLICY TO ENSURE MEANINGFUL PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

GOOD Statement by Suzette Little,
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor & Caucus Chairperson

13 September 2024

The GOOD party calls on the City of Cape Town to ensure meaningful public participation processes by adopting a standardized policy to guide this. 

Currently, public participation is a mere tick-box in the City processes despite the fact that by-laws and their amendments directly affect residents. 

This week the City extended the commenting period on the proposed revised Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL) by a month, to 25 October 2024, after GOOD highlighted the importance. 

The City further committed to hosting in-person public and online meetings where residents, interested and affected parties, and stakeholders can engage with City officials. 

However, in other cases, this has not been the case. The City’s Supply Chain amendments only received seven comments, despite having a direct impact on the economy of the city and its communities. 

GOOD encourages communities to read these by-laws and engage with the proposed amendments to ensure the City is acting within their best interests and addressing crucial issues such as apartheid spatial planning.

Most importantly, the City needs to draft, adopt and implement a clear Public Participation policy to give effect to the provisions of the Constitutions, Municipal Systems Act and The Municipal Structures Act.

Media Enquiries:

Suzette Little, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
Cell: 073 321 5036
Email: suzettel@forgood.org.za
 
Janke Tolmay, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za

Tags: HOUSING, SPATIAL