No compliance, no building
Nov 19 2008 03:47:25:827PM  - (SA)  
Anneke du Toit

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The proposed Northgate development has been approved by the Northern Cape Department of Tourism, Environment and Conservation, but looking at the list of conditions and restrictions, building will probably not begin for another few years.

Northgate is the planned development by Group 1 to be built near Roodepan, next to Kamfersdam, where the biggest permanent population of lesser flamingos are breeding.

According to the record of decisions, there are no less than 70 conditions with which the developers will have to comply before construction can begin.

The department called a press conference last week to explain the process which would be followed.

Mr Julius Mutyorauta, director of environmental management, and Mr Sibonelo Mbanjwa, deputy director of impact management, were on hand to answer questions. They explained that interested and affected parties had access to the record of decision and had a chance to appeal any of the specific decisions taken in the document.

After the indication of an appeal, the appeal needs to be received by the office of the MEC within 30 days.

The MEC then takes the appeals into consideration and makes decisions accordingly.

Much controversy surrounds the upgrading of the Homevale Sewerage Works and when asked about this, Mbanjwa explained: “Under normal circumstances, when waiting for final approval, developers often go ahead at their own risk. But in this case, there is a clause requiring that the upgrade of the sewerage works be completed before the developers can even begin with earthmoving processes.”

Mbanjwa also said that a separate environmental impact assessment study needed to be conducted before the upgrade could begin and that the sewerage works fell under the Sol Plaatje Municipality.

The conditions:

There are 70 conditions with which the developers need to comply. Some of the conditions are: