McGregor development under spotlight

A tribunal was to hear arguments today about a controversial retirement village development within the historically significant town of McGregor, given the nod earlier this year by the provincial heritage authority Heritage Western Cape (HWC).

The application to construct the retirement village on two erven known as the Kampterrein has involved some of the top heritage names in the province.

Arguments and allegations include that two of these heritage experts have flip-flopped in their views on protecting McGregor's heritage; that opposition to the development is driven by a relatively small number of middle-class residents who do not represent the view of the working-class majority in the town; and that the complex is clearly aimed at the rich, with claims of socio-economic advancement for needy locals merely a cynical ploy to get the development approved.

The tribunal was appointed by recently replaced Cultural Affairs and Sport MEC Sakkie Jenner.

Today's hearing follows the dismissal in February of an appeal by the McGregor Heritage Society, after HWC's Belcom (Built, Environment and Landscape) committee approved the 81-unit retirement village complex last year.

The society, the applicant in the tribunal hearing, is a small non-governmental group that aims to preserve and protect the unique heritage character of McGregor.

The respondent is developer The Conversion Trust, formed by private investment management company Prescient to identify and develop "destination retirement villages" in South Africa.

The members of the tribunal are Cape Town attorney and chairman Igsaan Higgins, structural engineer Henry Fagan and architect Trudie Groenewald.

The development was originally refused by Belcom in September 2008 on the grounds of density, but after several changes the application was approved last October.

The heritage society's appeal against this decision was dismissed in February, and so it made a further appeal to the MEC. The society says the development will be "totally inappropriate" to McGregor's unique and already threatened heritage character.

It quotes from a guidebook on vernacular architecture by leading heritage expert Hans Fransen - "McGregor is a true gem among Cape villages" - and from the 1993 McGregor Conservation Study, which states inter alia: "McGregor is widely recognised as unique among Western Cape towns because of its setting, its distinctive environmental character and the particular range of 19th-century building types it contains."

One of the authors of this conservation study is Emeritus Professor Fabio Todeschini, also a leading heritage expert and past director of UCT's School of Architecture and Planning.

Both Todeschini and Fransen have expressed support for the proposed development, leading to accusations from the heritage society that they have flip-flopped in their views.

But the developer dismisses this criticism, saying in response that the pair have both worked in the field of heritage conservation for decades, and are still active practitioners. It accuses the heritage society of "seeming to wish to discredit the authors (Fransen and Todeschini) for not remaining static in their approach to the evolving cultural landscape and their disciplines".

The society argues that "the imposition of a high-density retirement village akin to modern-day gated areas found in urban areas of South Africa is totally inappropriate".

But the developer says the retirement complex will not be gated, and that heritage legislation promotes conservation, not preservation. McGregor is a "living village" comprising a "complex, dynamic cultural landscape", it argues.

Cape Argus

Posted at 01:49PM Sep 21, 2010 by Editor in Cities and Towns  |  Comments[2]