Hout Bay residents are furious about a R54 million office development along Chapman’s Peak that will be used by Entilini, the company that operates the Chapman’s Peak toll road. It goes without saying that the development would be one of the most exclusive offices to work at in the country, but is it legal?

The development, which will be built alongside the proposed four-lane toll plaza on Chapman’s Peak Drive, has been dubbed a “control building” by Entilini.

But Hout Bay residents say the 500 square meter building, intended to accommodate 60 staff members, is more than that.

This is where the real legal issue arises, according to the Cape Times:

National parks are protected by tough laws and only a resolution by Parliament can withdraw any section of one. In this case, the Western Cape government changed the boundary of the Chapman’s Peak Drive road reserve to include over 2 000m2 of Table Mountain National Park. The office will be built on part of this land – rubber-stamped by SanParks.

Lawyers acting for residents have written to authorities to say that national parks are protected at the highest level by the National Environment Management: Protected Areas Act, that a resolution of the National Assembly is required to withdraw any portion of land from a national park and that, because this has not happened, the proposed construction is unlawful.

The proposed budget for the development doesn’t look much better, with the public set to incur nearly half of the building costs.

Hout Bay Residents’ Association chairman, Len Swimmer:

It’s massive. They’ve got an HR office and a boardroom and an auditor’s office – what for? And why do we need four lanes for the toll? This isn’t Las Vegas. The existing toll booths are entirely adequate and should be left as is.

They’re building this office for their own aggrandisement. Nobody can build in a national park, but they’ve been handed it on a platter. It’s on public land and the benefit to the public is zilch.

There is plenty of vacant office space in Hout Bay they can occupy. Few people have seen these plans and when they do they will be shocked.

Freek van Renssen, who as part of another project that sought national park land to upgrade Hospital Bend on De Waal Drive, had the following to say about his endeavours:

We tried to get it, but the Table Mountain National Park is protected by two acts of Parliament, and to get just one square metre of national park land you have to go to Parliament and change two acts. So we abandoned that.

The Western Cape Premier’s Office said it was obtaining legal advice, while SanParks legal manager, Sibusiso Nyembe, was “looking at the issues.”

[Source: CapeTimes]