2022 03 Dam development: Why does the EIA process fail George residents?

Dam development: Why does the EIA process fail George residents?

Dam development: Why does the EIA process fail George residents?

Dear Mr Mayor,

We appreciate and fully support your efforts to restore clean city administration to George. Of the many poisoned chalices you inherited, the most toxic is undoubtedly the proposed developments at the Garden Route Dam.

Despite a flood of objections and a petition signed by thousands of residents and ratepayers during the first round of public participation, we were completely taken aback to note this Loch Ness monster resurfacing in the latest release of the draft Environment Impact Assessment.

Since the EIA kicked off in August 2020, the following sea change of cataclysmic events should render this project dead in the water.

• In the past 18 months, the water crisis in George has exploded exponentially. The major sewage spill in the Touw River says it all. We just need one such spill to put our drinking water at risk. As our most valuable and indispensable potable water source, the Garden Route Dam should be declared a NO GO area for any form of development. Why gamble away the family jewels for a bit of lunch money?

• With very few exceptions, waterfront developments in South Africa have turned out to be ecological, economic and planning disasters. Developers are not in it for the long term; they tend to sell their ‘products’ and then disappear, leaving the mess for others to sort out. Even the most successful, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town has problems beyond its financial success. Its acquisition by a London & Dubai consortium has renewed concerns about the ‘plasticisation’ of the precinct. Thesen Island, Bruma Lake, Centurion Lake and Brightwater Commons demonstrate how difficult it is to develop waterfronts sustainably if these are not located on a seafront where the ocean is perceived to be ’self cleaning’. • Post Covid, universities are switching over en masse to on-line tuition. This drastically reduces the need for actual physical campuses and student accommodation. Even pre Covid, the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) George precinct was severely under-utilised. The proposed tertiary institution thus runs the risk of becoming a white elephant which ultimately struggles to pay its rates and taxes.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE (MAIL & GUARDIAN)

• Student accommodation across SA is financed by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme. NSFAS is the body that mistakenly paid out R14 million to a student and only discovered the error months later. Yet another tertiary financial risk.

• This adds grist to the mill that the ‘tertiary education’ component of the development is merely a Trojan horse to push through approval for high density housing on the edge of George’s highly vulnerable potable water source.

• Even the flimsy mitigation measures contained in the latest scoping report are fatally flawed and dangerously dependent on the sustainability of future environmental management and maintenance plans. How can we possibly risk the permanent wellbeing of our raw water quality to the vicissitudes of dubious maintenance management systems and political pendulum swings?

• Has a thorough cost-benefit study been conducted regarding the projected income streams versus the cost to the municipality of on-going maintenance and mitigation? Since 2010, Cape Town has spent an average of R39 million per year on the upkeep of its World Cup stadium, against an annual income of only R9,5 million.

READ THE ARTICLE (Business Insider).

• And what guarantees do we have that the Garden Route Dam won’t suffer the same fate as the Hartebeespoort Dam which now decades later has become choked by water hyacinth and salvinia - aquatic weeds nourished by industry effluent and failing water treatment plants. https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/local-news/2954154/a-new-aquatic-weed-threatens-to-suffocate-hartbeespoort-dam/ Even the lakes in the Garden Route, specifically Island Lake, are fast becoming clogged up with weed and algae feeding off the nitrogen spill from upstream agriculture. Even without the Garden Route Dam development, George Municipality is unable to monitor and police existing water resources such as the Lakes, the Meul and Schaapkop rivers.

• When heavy rains in November 2021 caused a section of Madiba Drive to collapse, ALL staff and students were blocked from accessing the main route to the NMU George campus. Does the traffic impact report factor in the impact of future road collapses?

READ THE ARTICLE (GEORGE HERALD)

• There are so many more suitable sites for the creation of a multi-million rand futuristic education campus. Will it not make more sense to use the 30 hectares of disused land at the Old Sawmill site next to the Outeniqua Family Market with easy access to the N2?

• George cannot afford to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. As witnessed in the past 18 months, ‘semigrants’ are streaming to the area, attracted by its ‘sense of place’ and cultural heritage. The spectacular views and vistas of its mountains and foothills are what define the city of George.

We have tragically lost a lot of our built heritage over the past 30 years which makes it even more critical to safeguard the natural heritage and biodiversity of our area.

Mr Mayor, we urge you to listen to the people of George and to halt the loss of one its citizens’ favourite outdoor areas.

You have the power and the courage to wipe this travesty permanently off the municipal drawing board.
This will be the most significant legacy of outstanding mayoral leadership.

Read the Letter in the George Herald