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Garden Cities
allocates 462 ha
of land to
City’s
Blaauwberg
Conservation
Area |
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Ninety year-old
Cape residential
development
company, Garden
Cities, has
allocated 462 ha
of historic,
environmentally
important land,
which forms part
of its growing
West Coast
suburb,
Sunningdale, to
the City of Cape
Town, in order
to expand the
Blaauwberg
Conservation
Area (BCA). |
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An agreement
ratifying the
endowment of the
land was signed
on Tuesday 16
February 2010
between the CEO
of Garden
Cities, John
Matthews, and
the City of Cape
Town’s Director
of Environmental
Resource
Management,
Osman Asmal.
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“I thank the
Board of Garden
Cities for its
willingness to
engage with the
City and
contribute to
the conservation
and protection
of its natural
and historical
heritage,” Asmal
said. |
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“The transfer of
this important
stretch of land
to the people of
Cape Town is in
line with Garden
Cities’
dedication to
sustainable
development and
it underpins
this
commitment,”
said Matthews.
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The land, which
will be known as
the Sunningdale
Management Block
of the BCA,
comprises the
site of the
Battle of
Blaauwberg,
which was fought
in 1806, and
marked the end
of Dutch rule at
the Cape and the
start of the
second period of
British rule.
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Enhancing its
biological
importance is
the presence of
valuable Cape
Flats Sand
Fynbos – a
critically
endangered
vegetation type
that only occurs
in Cape Town –
of which less
than 1% has been
conserved. The
national
conservation
target of 30% is
unattainable as
only about 14%
of the original
land on which it
occurred,
remains. For
this reason the
Sunningdale
Management Block
is of extreme
conservation
significance. A
wetland, the
Blaauwbergsvlei,
also occurs on
the site. |
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The land will be
formally
proclaimed part
of the BCA,
which bestows
statutory
protection into
the future. The
addition of this
land brings the
publicly-owned
land in the BCA
to a total area
of 1 415 ha,
making it one of
the biggest
reserves managed
by the City of
Cape Town. |
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An active land
consolidation
programme is
being
implemented for
the BCA, and it
is planned that
it will
ultimately be
approximately 2
000 ha in
extent. |
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Councillor
Marian
Nieuwoudt, the
Mayoral
Committee Member
for Planning and
Environment,
said: “This is a
significant
agreement
between Garden
Cities and the
City of Cape
Town and is a
tribute to the
City’s
Biodiversity
Strategy and
Network. It also
secures a
critical part of
the City’s
cultural
heritage”. |
