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Rob Munro
Posts:27
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| 12/05/2007 1:06 PM |
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There was a great letter to the Westlander recently
"I read your comment on the development of Shark Bay in Langebaan in the 11th October 2007 issue of the Weslander. I'm surprised how biased your comments are, especially considering the wide opposition to this project. Moreover, some of the facts you state are actually wrong or incomplete.
I won’t spend time rewriting the facts again. You can also check this and many more facts in the Sharkbay website, or directly consulting with DEAT or Saldhana municipality.
<< The location of this development by Properties 391 (Pty) Ltd plans to build an excess of 100 elite residential houses in the buffer zone to the south of Stompneusrots between the town and the West Coast National Park and on the south eastern shore of Langebaan Lagoon - a Ramsar site of international conservation significance. This land is currently reflected in the proposed local 2007 Zoning Scheme as agricultural land and in the 2004 Spatial Development Framework still current as buffer conservation land category 2. Prior similar proposals in respect of the same land on the part of earlier developers have been opposed and interdicted by Order of Court. >>
<< The present proposal has already met with significant opposition from residents, the West Coast National Park and the National Parks Trust. With approximately 50% of the available erven in Langebaan town vacant, and a large tract of vacant and disused agricultural land within the urban edge within the centre of Langebaan, the development would mean the expansion southward of the urban edge into a sensitive area when other less environmentally and aesthetically sensitive options exist, most notably to the north and east of the town should the need arise. >>
You say we must talk realistically, when what I sense in the tone of your letter is one of resignation and plain admitted defeat. What it's realistic is that allowing the Baja Sardinia development to take place will increase many fold the pressure over the National Park, bulldogze and destroy forever the damaged but recoverable actual piece of land, causing unrepairable visual impact. During the day this means damaging what you describe as ‘the breath-taking view of the aquamarine waters of the Lagoon upon topping the hill’; and during the night, being the first permanent lights ever to pollute the otherwise well-conserved lagoon.
To believe than the impact of a new development in a natural area is contained to that area alone is what it is highly unrealistic: more people means more pressure, more sewage, more habitat lost for waders, strandveld birds and insects, flowering plants and bushes. And this time just on the door step of a sensitive and well-preserved ecosystem. Both the Strandveld and the waters of the Lagoon are highly vulnerable to human pressure, as it is common to semi-desertic landscapes and the delicate trophic chains of marshes and wetlands, and that is the reason they enjoy both national and international protection (National Park, Ramsar site, Biosphere Reserve and Marine Protected Area).
One of the main functions of a National Park is to provide a place where people can enjoy the unharmed beauty of nature, which is of high spiritual value for many. Please it’s up to all of us not to allow this sort of irreparable damage to happen. It will affect all of us,… and our children’s children."
Marta PONTE MACHADO
ED - Chck out the gorgeous photos (NOT) of the Sardinian Development Mr Scappalini is talking about within the photo section! http://savesharkbay.org/Photos/tabid/1208/AlbumID/2096-234/Default.aspx
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