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Supplied<\/p>\n
Artists impressions of the Point Waterfront Development.<\/p>\n
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Related Stories<\/p>\n
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Durban – Details of major changes to the original Point Waterfront Development in Durban, including a 33-storey skyscraper at the harbour entrance, became public on Thursday amid concerns about the limited time allowed for people to comment on the latest changes. <\/p>\n
The revised plans are a \u201cscaled-down\u201d version of the original plans which sparked a series of court cases and a bumper sticker campaign by opponents who feared that the popular Vetch\u2019s Pier and beach would be covered in concrete. <\/p>\n
Although the provincial government approved the controversial plans in 2009, the Durban Point Development Company was forced back to the drawing board and signed a \u201cceasefire\u201d settlement agreement late last year with the Save Vetch\u2019s Association and the Durban Paddle Ski Club. <\/p>\n
In terms of the compromise agreement, opponents agreed to drop legal action in return for supporting a scaled-down version that would not encroach on Vetch\u2019s Pier or the adjoining beach. <\/p>\n
This week, new details were published as part of amendments to the environmental authorisation process. <\/p>\n
While the Point Yacht Club has welcomed the new plans, the Durban Paddle Ski Club is to consult legal advisers to scrutinise whether they are consistent with the settlement plan. <\/p>\n
Point Yacht Club commodore Trevor Donald said the final plans would create a major new attraction for the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe think the water sports clubs will be getting one of most exciting clubs in South Africa, with a fantastic outlook on the sea, and so we are very enthusiastic.\u201d <\/p>\n
But Johnny Vassilaros, of the Durban Paddle Ski Club, who played a leading role in halting the original plans, said the new plans had raised some concerns. <\/p>\n
For example, there were plans for a new boardwalk passing directly through the launching area, as well as possible size restrictions to the original boat launching area. <\/p>\n
Di Dold of the Coastwatch group also objected to the new boardwalk, calling it a \u201cclear contravention\u201d of the settlement agreement. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the developers want to build a new promenade it must be located above the erosion line,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
There was also confusion about how much time remained for the public to comment. <\/p>\n
A notice, dated July 2, indicates a 14-day comment period – suggesting the deadline expires on Tuesday (July 16). <\/p>\n
Environmental consultant Pravin Amar agreed that amendments were sent out only on Saturday and that some people might have received documents only this week. <\/p>\n
When it was suggested that most people would have only a few days to comment, Amar insisted that the 14-day period was an instruction from the provincial Department of Environmental Affairs. <\/p>\n
The Durban Undersea Club has scheduled a report-back meeting for Monday at 6pm. <\/p>\n
According to a new 50-page motivation plan prepared by the Iyer Design Studio, some of the main features include a small \u201cwaterfront basin\u201d instead of the original yacht and small craft \u201charbour\u201d. <\/p>\n
Originally, an 18-storey hotel would have been built on top of Vetch\u2019s Pier. Now, a 20-storey \u201cfive or six-star iconic hotel\u201d would be built along the new north pier. Another new feature is a 33-storey tower block at the base of the north pier, likely to incorporate offices, shops and flats. <\/p>\n
The most significant change is that most office, flat and shop buildings will be significantly taller. <\/p>\n
This is because the settlement agreement specified that the developers would not reduce the original \u201cbulk\u201d in development. <\/p>\n
The Iyer Design proposal said the extra height of the new buildings would not create shadow problems on adjoining beaches. <\/p>\n
Shadow projections are based on existing city guidelines to avoid tall buildings blocking out sunlight on beaches before 3pm during winter. <\/p>\n
Neels Brink, project director for the Durban Point Development Company, said he could not comment on the 14-day comment period. He also declined to speculate when construction might begin. <\/p>\n
tony.carnie@inl.co.za <\/p>\n
The Mercury<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Supplied Artists impressions of the Point Waterfront Development. Related Stories New cruise terminal for Durban Point area at grimy standstill R1.5 bn city revamp proposed Durban – Details of major changes to the original Point Waterfront Development in Durban, including a 33-storey skyscraper at the harbour entrance, became public on Thursday amid concerns about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-21100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}