'Blaauwberg Marina' proposal

There has been considerable concern among many of our members and the public about the proposal to develop a yacht harbour and marina in the Dolphin Beach ponds west of the R27. The proposal includes a harbour entrance to the sea just north of the Dolphin Beach development, a yacht harbour in the ponds, and what appears to be marina development in the reedbeds on the northern shore of North Lake. The proposal is rather vague and very generalised at this stage, but some of the initial statements made by the proposers are incorrect and may create the wrong impression. While not expressing an opinion on the proposals as such, we must correct some of the facts that are presented on the proposers' website. On their webpage the following statements need correction or clarification:

"The existing water and wetland areas west of the R27 (Otto Du Plessis / West Coast Arterial) are not included in the protected and proclaimed Rietvlei Wetland Reserve ...." The fact is that while these wetland areas are not included in the Rietvlei Protected Natural Environment, they will be included in the Rietvlei Wetland Reserve when that is proclaimed in terms of the Protected Areas Act in the near future. Those wetlands, together with the coastal area south of Dolphin Beach were transfered to the City Council for conservation purposes by the previous owners and will thus be included in the proclaimed nature reserve. The previous owners could raise serious objections if the City were now to alienate this land for private development. "The Cape Metropolitan Council is collaborating with the affected groups and communities to identify a solution to manage this area during all seasons." The Cape Metropolitan Council no longer exists, the area is now under the control of the City of Cape Town. The City has commissioned three important studies to look at some of the problems in Rietvlei and the Diep River estuary. Click here to read more about these. "The Rietvlei and Flamingo Vlei areas are also reaching critical levels of pollution from the Bayside Canel (sic) feeding the urban run-off into one the city’s most precious natural environments." While it is true that the levels of pollution in the Bayside canal is a major source of concern, it is also true that the extensive reedbeds on the northern shore of North Lake into which the canal runs, is very effectively filtering the water before it enters Rietvlei. In fact it appears that surface run-off from streets and other stormwater discharges into Rietvlei probably has a greater polluting effect than Bayside canal. Levels of nutrients in Rietvlei are by no means reaching critical levels; in fact the vlei is ecologically in a very healthy state. See our Rietvlei Water Quality page. "The scientific and environmental experts seems to be at idem (sic) that the only solution would be to re-open Rietvlei to the sea in order to establish a natural system of exchange between the ocean and the wetland area." This statement is by no means true. There has been suggestions that pumping seawater into Rietvlei will solve some of the problems relating to blue-green algal blooms and the dust on the central pan, but this would need considerable study before the scientists will be willing to commit themselves to this as a "solution" to these problems. There are several other alternatives which must also be considered when possible solutions to the problems are investigated. It must also be taken into account that the water level in North and South Lake is higher than mean sea level. At the end of summer it is just under 1 meter above sea level, but during the wet season in winter it can rise to 2.5 m above mean sea level. A direct connection to the sea will result in the mean water level in Rietvlei dropping, thus exposing more areas. It must be realised that Rietvlei evolved from a purely aquatic system into a typical estuarine lake system over a period of about 2000 years. During this period the Diep River entered the sea at several different places, one was possibly the area just north of the Dolphin Beach development. A plan of the area dated 1888 shows an opening to the sea where Sunset Links is now - more or less opposite the Milnerton Playhouse. At some stage the river also entered the sea in the area just north of the old wooden bridge;  and it also opened to the sea via the Paarden Island wetland system, through Zoarvlei and what were wetlands surrounding the Salt River estuary. The gradual transition from a marine/estuarine to a freshwater/estuarine system is a natural evolution that occurs in all estuarine systems world-wide. Introducing sea water directly into Rietvlei will have far-reaching effects on the environment and would in fact change the whole ecological regime, it would require considerable and detailed studies before any final decision on such a move could be taken. Not least is the impact this would have on the vast numbers of waders that use Rietvlei annually. "The proposed Blaauwberg Marina and housing development is currently in the preparation stages with some careful environmental and planning studies being conducted." We would welcome more information about these environmental and planning studies. There are a number of environmental issues that must be addressed, but the proposers of this project has not provided any information about who is carrying out the studies they mention, and what these studies entail.

We would like to assure our members and the public that at this stage these are just proposals by private individuals not in any way connected to the City of Cape Town. Should these proposals ever be taken further, there is an established public participation process that must be followed in terms of existing legislation. The first step would be advertising the proposals in the press and inviting all those interested in participating in the process to register as interested and affected parties (known as IAP's). These IAP's (and the Friends of Rietvlei would certainly register; and any of our members or the public could register in their private capacities if they so wish) would be able to comment on any impact and environmental studies being carried out. After all the studies have been completed, there will be a further opportunity for public participation when the results of the studies must be presented to all role-players and other interested parties; at this stage any organisation or member of the public could comment even if they had not registered as an IAP in the initial stages. In conclusion, there is still a long way to go before anything concrete materialises out of this proposal.