After conducting an appeal hearing in Kleinmond, Essop issued a new Record of Decision (RoD) under section 22 of the Environment Conservation Act (Act 73 of 1989) after attaching strict conditionalities in the 17 page approval which will allow the development to commence.
Essop said that she had set aside the decision taken by the delegated officer because phase two of the estate 'could not be seen as precedent setting as it was being built in an existing developmental node and each application has to be considered on merit'.
After reviewing appeal hearing submissions made by parties for and against the original RoD, she said that the development 'was proposed on already disturbed areas' and that a key conditionality in her decision was that a management plan be compiled by the developer for the 310ha Rooisand Nature Reserve, to manage irreplaceable low land fynbos.
The EIA which included a number of specialist studies as well as an independent review of the application concluded that the development was appropriate but should include a mitigation plan.
MEC Essop said that she was 'quite satisfied with the specialist reports' and that she had afforded appellants the opportunity to respond to the findings at the appeal hearing. 'I remain convinced that this proposed development will not have a negative impact on the environment and that many socio-economic benefits will accrue to the surrounding communities, who were represented as the Arabella Community Trust at the hearing and these have been included as conditions in the ROD to ensure that the communities will realise these benefits', said Essop.
According to a specialist economic assessment report the proposed development, which includes an 18 hole golf course and academy, 350 residential erven, a nature conservation area and recreational sports facility, will result in 6,000 new jobs during the construction phase and 1,036 permanent jobs during the operational phase and represents an investment of over R1 billion into the economy.
As part of her conditionalities Essop requires that Arabella sat up an employment registration office and offer on-going skills training for all employees and construction workers as part of the overall BEE agreement.
It also emerged, from the appeal hearing, that the developer would contribute R5 million to the Arabella Community Trust for inclusionary housing, as adopted in the Western Cape Provincial Spatial Development Framework (PSDF), to support disadvantaged communities in the surrounding areas and Minister Essop has made this a condition of authorisation.
Essop said 'this development embraces the notion of a triple bottom line; the environment, people and the economy and it is a sustainable project. In many of the appeals that we have conducted parties seem to be opposed to each other and refuse to find the areas on which they agree. In approving this development we have found the win-win-win position'.
As part of the conditions of authorisation Essop has included a number of innovative conditionalities to mitigate potential environmental risks. These include the recycling and re-use of solid waste, water savings devices such as dual flush toilets and energy saving devices and technologies such as solar heating and the use of compact florescent lights.
Additional conditionalities imposed by Essop include the requirement to submit to her Department a Construction Phase Environmental Management Plan and the appointment of a suitable Environmental Control Officer during construction and an Environmental Management Programme for the entire property before any units could be occupied or construction of the golf course began.
Minister Essop also included a non-binding recommendation that Arabella engage with CapeNature and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on establishing a compatible buffer zone with the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.
Issued by:
Minister Tasneem Essop
Environment, Planning and Economic Development
Media Queries:
Nils Flaatten
Media and Strategic Policy Manager
Environment, Planning and Economic Development
Cell: 083 708 7119
