Sea Point lobby group delighted at court ruling

Sea Point Pavilion developers On Track have failed in a bid to obtain leave to appeal against a Western Cape High Court decision earlier this year, which effectively halted the proposed development of the promenade.

That decision harshly criticised the government's approval of the development, which opponents argued would threaten the promenade as public open space.

Lobby group Seafront for All (Seafa), which has incurred legal costs of more than R2.2 million fighting the proposed development, expressed delight at yesterday's decision. But they warned that the battle might not be over if On Track decided to petition the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to take the matter further.

Seafa chairman Bennie Rabinowitz said it was "unforgivable that civil society should have to carry the burden of the associated costs". Had the original decisions of officials and politicians been correct, "none of this would be necessary".

Seafa vowed to continue to ensure the promenade remained public open space, despite legal costs.

The R60m proposed development comprised a multi-storey shopping centre and boutique hotel on the promenade.

Because the area would have been rezoned to allow for this, many more developments could have followed. The opponents said this could have effectively blocked Capetonians and visitors from the seafront.

Seafa approached the court for relief, arguing that the space should remain available and accessible to the public.

The provincial government had withdrawn its initial opposition to Seafa's application, while the City of Cape Town also abided by the decision.

Cape Argus

Posted at 01:50PM Sep 21, 2010 by Editor in Cities and Towns  |  Comments[5]