Developers of a multimillion-rand luxury residential resort in the Cape winelands may have to go back to the drawing board as a result of a protection order issued by the South African Heritage Resource Agency (Sahra) to preserve the cultural history of the region between Stellenbosch and Paarl.
There could be significant changes in the initial design plans at the exclusive Boschendal estate. The protection order, in place since the start of the month, already curtails sub- division and construction without permission. If at a later stage the region in which the estate falls is declared a heritage site, as Sahra plans, all developments must be approved by the national and provincial heritage authorities.
This week both Sahra and Boschendal developers said they were working towards finding an appropriate and heritage-sensitive resolution. An independent investigation into the viability of the Cape winelands cultural landscape heritage site for the Dwarsrivier Valley, where the estate development is situated, is expected early next year.
Anglo American Farms sold the historic winery late last year for R323-million to a consortium of overseas investors with a 30% domestic black economic empowerment component led by former African National Congress leader Chris Nissan and Youth Leaguer Lunga Ncwana. At the time of the announcement of the lavish residential development it emerged that many high-flyers, including Gary Player, had reserved places there.
Caught between economic gains and the benefits of national cultural protection are the communities of Lanquedoc, where Sir Herbert Baker built workers’ cottages in the 1890s, Kylemore, Johannesdal and Pniel, the historic mission station established by emancipated slaves after 1838, which last month applied for national heritage status.
”We don’t want the character of what people are used to, like access to the mountain, to change. The development must respect that,” said Reverend Leon Klate of Pniel Congregational Church. ”We are in dialogue with the developers … We need to manage this constructively.”
Amid concerns about whether ”people from the outside” would respect local beauty and ”the culture of indigenous people”, as one valley resident put it, the development has already affected the 7 000 residents.
As farmworker families leave Boschendal for new homes financed by the developer in surrounding communities, tensions between residents and newcomers have arisen. News of potential jobs has attracted migrants; the first ever informal settlement has sprung up. Two people were stabbed there last month.
One Valley resident said there was ambivalence about the development; many people knew of the ”grand” symbolic key handover, but few knew of the details. Another old-timer insisted on the recognition of local historical significance: ”We have the political freedom of [Nelson] Mandela here with his release from Victor Verster [prison]. We’ve got freedom of language with the Afrikaans Language Monument. We have the freedom of the slaves. We have religious freedom, with the French Huguenots coming into the valley.”
Steps are now under way to issue the required Government Gazette notice to extend protection for two years and to allow the probe by a panel of independent experts. The neighbouring Idas Valley has just been declared a national heritage site, pending the approval of a conservation management plan.
The protection of the 22 000ha Dwarsrivier Valley started in July. Sahra acted after Stellenbosch municipality’s planning department nominated the area for national heritage status. At about the same time, the area was also proposed as a potential World Heritage Site.
”It is emphatically not the policy or intention to inhibit economic development in the Cape winelands … The nominee is concerned that the development will ultimately create an estate reserved for the very wealthy, remove the farming community from the land and limit the farming potential in a particularly fertile region,” the council planners said in their motivation.
A supporting statement by the Vernacular Architectural Society of South Africa raised concern about ”many and varied rumours about Boschendal since its sale”. It has ”tried to verify some of the more startling reports but this merely results in either more alarmist news or in pacification”.
But Sahra Western Cape manager Beverley Crouts said she was confident of an amicable resolution, saying the ”extreme historic value of the area demands a hands-on approach”.
The Boschendal development — it includes a retirement village and boutique hotel, but no golf course — is in its initial stages. No planning or subdivision applications have yet been made.
Its CEO, Clive Venning, pledged full cooperation with heritage authorities to obtain development approval. ”We will comply,” he said. ”We know the government’s objectives over the next 10 years and we meet them today.”
The planned housing estates would fit into the landscape. There is also significant community empowerment, including a development trust, funded by 5% of the sale of each house and 0,5% of future sales, community housing, land ownership and 2 500 sustainable jobs.
Golf courses under fire
Golf estates can negatively affect rural communities, undermine agricultural land use and threaten water supplies, because these factors are frequently not considered in the narrow site- specific environmental impact assessments commissioned ahead of approval, writes Marianne Merten.
A review document released this week by the Western Cape environmental affairs department found the potential harm of golf estates ”could equally apply to other forms of large- scale, low-density residential developments outside existing urbanised areas”.
It recommends a moratorium on golf developments until socio-economic impact factors are included in new approval policy guidelines. These will be developed after public consultations early next year.
”The development of a high- income golf estate in an area characterised by low levels of income, lack of housing and basic services could further increase income inequality and add to [the] marginalisation of the poor,” the Rapid Review of Golf Course and Polo Field Developments draft report says.
Rural residents are often ill-equipped to participate in public consultation processes on proposed developments, the review finds. It adds that using farm land for non-agricultural purposes can displace already vulnerable farm workers, and that migrants searching for jobs can spark further insecurity.
Another recommendation is that action should be taken against the advertising of such developments before approval, because it may influence decision-makers to approve and communities not to object.
The practice of pre-sales is already illegal if the development is scheduled on agricultural land, as this must be rezoned.
The report recommends a memorandum of understanding with banks not to finance developments ahead of approval.