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Back in the day, Michael and Ralf Schumacher would go head to head in some of the world’s most powerful racing cars.

Now, Michael Schumacher’s health is a topic of much discussion (he’s “different, but here” according to wife Corinna) and Ralf finds himself involved in a nasty spat with Constantia residents.

The 46-year-old younger brother of the seven-time F1 world champion co-owns Schumacher Real Estate. The Sunday Times reports that last year, Schumacher Real Estate bought a piece of land adjoining a greenbelt for R20 million.

I’m sure you can guess where this is going:

Now his plans to develop the site have angered residents who insist most of it is public open space — and that the German appears to have lost his way with the law.

The property bordering the Pagasvlei stream, popular with runners and dog-walkers, was fenced off last month.

Schumacher, who told the paper he was surprised by the “aggression” of some of the neighbours, has claimed that the development “would be in keeping with the residential area”.

“It is a beautiful piece of land. I do not have an interest at all to make a 10-storey. It will be nice. If the neighbours have any concerns maybe they can buy some of it.”

That’s an interesting marketing technique.

As for being surprised by the aggression bit, he’s clearly never crossed paths with a Constantia man in a sports car, slap bang in the middle of a mid-life crisis, having a bad day.

(Or woman – it happens to everyone.)

The proposed development would see 13 double-storey homes built, along with a clubhouse, with the buildings taking up close to 90% of the property.

However, two-thirds of the site is currently zoned for ‘public-open-space’.

Schumacher’s sales pitch appears to be struggling to win anybody over:

“It changes the whole character of what this place is,” said Richard Fienberg, whose home adjoins the site. “There has also been no attempt to engage residents about this.”

…Two others raised concerns about further densification of Constantia’s dwindling greenbelt corridors that are home to a range of endangered species, such as the western leopard toad.

Image: Jaclyn Cattell Architects

“None of us is against development, but this is completely out of step with other homes in the area, which are mostly single-storey,” said another neighbour, Angie Montandon.

She went on to call the proposed development “an elite playground for the rich coming in from overseas”.

Schumacher has rejected the current public-open-space zoning (as did the last owner), calling it “an error”, but will need to win over the City of Cape Town in order for any rezoning to take place.

That appears unlikely, given the comments from Cape Town mayoral committee member for spatial planning & environment, Eddie Andrews:

He said there was no evidence that the zoning status was a mistake and confirmed that the previous owner had been advised to apply for a rezoning, not for a zoning “correction”. “The file was closed at that point in time as no further information was forthcoming,” Andrews said.

Looks like it’s Constantia residents one, Schumacher zero.

Still a good few laps to go in this one, though.

[source:sundaytimes]