The R3 billion Beachwood development in Durban has been given the green light by the eThekwini Municipality.
This comes after an appeal lodged by residents against the development was dismissed.
EThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said the city approved the Beachwood development on July 24, and the matter was taken on appeal.
Sisilana said that the appeal was heard and dismissed on November 21.
“The decision was based on sound planning grounds and specialist work provided by the developer,” she said.
Beachwood Investments director, Gavin Strydom, said the company was pleased the project had received the go-ahead. He said the development would create significant benefits for the metro and the province.
“This includes providing a significant boost to the eThekwini economy, including creating 1500 direct jobs at a time when the province’s expanded unemployment rate sits above 50%.
“The footprint of all buildings, roads and pavements to be developed cover approximately 23% of the current 430000m2 property signifying a low-density development.”
He added that the company was looking forward to turning their focus towards delivering this “world-class development“.
“Beachwood Investment is extremely proud of the final approved development plans, which incorporated the many inputs received from interested and affected parties and which will not only dramatically enhance the ecological value of the site, but will also attract investment and create significant employment opportunities.”
He added that millions of rand will be spent on the construction of a new stormwater management system, which will resolve the occasional flooding that takes place on parts of the golf course during torrential rains.
“Surrounding communities will also benefit from the infrastructure upgrades included in the development plans, including the upgrading and widening of the surrounding roads which will ease congestion in the area.
“Critically, once complete, the development will also increase public safety as a result of it being fully fenced and manned by 24-hour security.”
According to the developer the project would also see the extensive rehabilitation of the ecological assets on the site, which had become severely degraded over the past few years.
This included the contamination of the mangroves by the polluted stormwater running off the M4 highway, the severe erosion of the sand dunes and the thinning out of the dune forests as a result of unmonitored public parking and illegal dwellers on the property.
“As part of the development plans, millions of rand has been allocated to rehabilitating these unique natural landscapes.”
Dennis Theron, from the Friends of Beachwood, said they believed that the development was unlawful.
He said there were 1000 objections, 3000 petition signatures and the results of a poll with over 1000 respondents revealed that 98% of people strongly disapproved of the development.
“We the Friends of Beachwood are going to be the people who take this into the high court and that’s why we are launching a fundraising campaign to fund all the legal costs,” he said.
The Mercury