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DEVELOPMENT plans for the old Marine Oil Refinery site in Glencairn include the construction of 785 residential units. These, together with a commercial component of up to 6000 m2, as well as a possible hotel, are all planned for the 6,4 hectare site.

When the site was sold and became the subject of a new development in 2004, Stephen Birch, a shareholder in the current develo?per Southern Palace Investments, told People's Post that while the plans for the site were still to be finalised, the envisaged number of residential units was 139.

The company's development application, advertised for public comment in the Cape Town daily press on Friday, proposes 785 residential units.

Southern Palace Investments is behind the application, which divides the site into a business zone (closest to the Main Road), a general residential zone (middle of site) and a currently undesignated zone (top of the site).

The old municipal depot is also on the site, taking up 0,35ha. The developers are currently negotia?ting its purchase.

The residential zone takes up 3,585ha of the site. In the proposal, apartment blocks will be built around open courtyards, apparently creating what the developers call "a village feel". The blocks will reach a maximum height of 16 metres.

Residential units are proposed for the upper storeys of the retail units, with businesses trading from the ground floors. Underground parking is planned.

A hotel is also planned, but deve?lopers have not finalised its size or location.

The undesignated top zone at the old municipal dump does not form part of the application as it contains spill-over from the municipal dump as well as waste from the marine oil refinery itself. Tests are under way to evaluate this as well as the geotechnical suitability of this zone for development. The developers say the closure of the dump site has been approved officially, but under conditions, one of which is the creation of a 200 m buffer zone. They say they are currently negotiating the removal of this condition.

Birch, a former majority stakeholder in the development, is now against the project, owing to environmental concerns: "I haven't seen the full application yet, but I find it difficult to understand how permission can be granted when it is situated between two dump sites. Until the environmental issues can be dealt with, I don't see how the application can be accepted," he says.

In the application, the developers maintain that most of the lower portions of the site are clear of contamination. They say small sections at the centre-top of the site contain nickel, but that remediation plans will soon be implemented.

The application is available for inspection from 08:00 to 14:30 on week days at the city offices at 3 Victoria Road, Plumstead. Objections to the development must be made in writing, before 19 May, to the District Manager, Strategy and Planning, private Bag X5, Plumstead 7801.

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