A R400-million film and residential project called Dreamworld is turning into a conservationist’s nightmare.
Headed by film mogul Anant Singh, and backed by the Western Cape government, the project aims to attract millions of celluloid rands to Cape Town and create 8 300 jobs.
But it also poses what a draft environmental impact assessment (EIA), prepared for the province, describes as a “high to medium” risk to a unique wetland ecology.
The 198ha site at Vergenoegd farm is part of a biodiversity corridor stretching across the Cape Flats’s floral kingdom. It is recognised by the Cape Town council and conservation bodies as a priority for protection.
Construction on Dreamworld Film City — which, among other things, will offer a film studio, post- production facilities, sound stages and skills training — is running three months behind schedule after developers altered its layout to accommodate conservationists.
The Western Cape government and Cape Town City have pledged R60-million to this private-public partnership.
The EIA calls for “Alternative 5” — slashing the number of residential units by more than half, to 750, with a reserved conservation area. However, even if the EIA’s proposal is accepted by Provincial Minister of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Tasneem Essop it will still mean the loss of 6ha of “critically endangered vegetation”, primarily renosterveld.
Touted as a major job creator for resi-dents of Khayelitsha and Eerste River, Dreamworld has been embroiled in controversy from the start.
Additional reporting by Leonie Joubert