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Rob Munro
Posts:39
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| 09/13/2007 11:13 AM |
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To: 'gilbert@gustmag.com'
Cc: 'Janet Lightbody'
Subject: Letter to the Editor!!
Hi Gilbert,
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2 weeks back I sat on the hill at shark bay with 3 generations of my family. My Mom who with my late father in the early 70’s came along the dusty white road to Langebaan, a road some of us take and remember forever and through their vision gave myself, our family and friends a golden legacy of a childhood in Eden, my wife Samantha who has come to love Langebaan as much as anybody and my daughter Hannah who at 5 months loves it already.. I looked down over the beach and the lagoon, where the fynbos and flowers blend with the biosphere and watched the pelicans and flamingos somehow get distracted by the kaleidoscope of color that signals spring, the return of the wind and that timeless sense of anticipation for the season ahead.
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I also thought about the land we sat on and I guess Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, whether they be green eyes of personal gain or eyes that reflect a soul aligned with a special place and an open heart.
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The developer’s version of the facts have been partially documented in your last issue as to what is legally potentially possible. The other side of the facts are on the save shark bay website, www.savesharkbay.org and I would urge all interested parties to be informed. There is way too much catalyst in the resin, with people in windsurfing and kiting that are on both sides of a grand canyon on the issue, with others hedging their position more than our friends watching the JSE right now, however in any situation emotions bend facts more than land bends the wind. I find this position a strange paradox, the sports we all love and draw us together are a synergistic harmony with the wind and the water yet that ethos does not always purvey to the rest of people’s lives.
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For myself any decision needs to be taken on a balanced score card and as such needs to be reviewed on every level.
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Legally there are always two sides and then the truth. At a community, parks board and related party level the sentiments against the development are clear. The area in question is governed as a Ramsar sight, is a pristine natural heritage site, but that aside the law/rules merely guide us, it is up to us as responsible individuals to do the best we can on a balanced score card within those parameters.
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The world expands and with that the associated economic pressures,, that aside 40% plus of Langebaan is zoned and undeveloped(over 3000 plots), hence there is still opportunity before we commit urban sprawl, this along with the pressure on water and sewerage can be debated, but as with anything they will go up, more development just accelerates that, however all this aside at a very pure level there needs to be a line in the sand, the very reason we come to Langebaan is the very essence we need to maintain and protect. The trees we plant are not really for us, rather our children and how we are adhere to our moral compass on matters like this is an individuals choice, however largely determines the legacy we leave.
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It seems safer to smoke at an old gas station or maybe even sort the Gaza strip than tackle this one.
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If we are to take a long term view would it not make sense to incorporate this land in the park, move the gate to the top of the hill. As such the flow of people, could be managed, be they walkers, environmentalists, bait collectors, fishermen, kite surfers etc. The parks board would get incremental access revenue and as such could maintain and manage the area for everyone’s greater benefit.
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The potential developer was aware of the issues when they acquired the land “voetstoots”, however they have the right to one residence, that aside they could form a working group with the park and other related parties and jointly build a few ecologically sensitive log cabins or such.
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It is easy to say simply no way to any developement, however if the land was incorporated in the park, this could be seen to be progressive compromise.
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In life there is a simplicity when we live by the greater rules and knowing that we leave the world a little better for each of our passing, when we think about Andrew J and the those that have passed, what we can’t see of a persona as their essence remains. I would always want to know that there will be a place with no speed limit(even for Hennie) where life will always be free and our future generations can sample somewhere we have been privileged to know as Eden..
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Regards
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John vd Vyver
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