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Financial Year End |
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Another year has passed by in the life of Friends of
Rietvlei. This means two things: |
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its time to renew your membership and pay your fees
- for those members who are not life or
10-year members. Please find attached a membership
form with the fee details. We have not increased
them this year! Please do an EFT, or deposit at the
bank, send a cheque to our postal address, or pay
your fees at the AGM. |
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its time for the Annual General Meeting on
Thursday 7 May 2009 at 19h30 for 20h00 in the
Rietvlei Education Centre, off Sandpiper Road,
Flamingo Vlei. There will be the usual business of
Chairmans report, Treasurers report, Election of new
committee. Thereafter Koos Retief, Reserve Manager
will present the Management Plan for Rietvlei, and
Conette Koorts will introduce herself and update us
on her work at Rietvlei. |
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We look forward to you paying your fees and
attending the AGM. You are welcome to invite friends
and relatives who are interested in Rietvlei. |
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Environmental Education |
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Conette Koorts was appointed as the environmental
education intern at Rietvlei and started work on 1
March. She has already made an impact by sorting out
the accumulated mess in the Education Centre, and
has been active with various school groups. Conette
completed her Nature Conservation Diploma last year.
For her practical year she worked at Bracken Nature
Reserve in Brackenfell, so she is already familiar
with the City’s biodiversity management objectives.
We wish her well in her work at Rietvlei and look
forward to contact with her. |
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The Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) System |
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On 8 April we attended an information meeting in the
Blaauwberg Subcouncil Chamber on the Integrated
Rapid Transit (IRT) system that is being built on
the R27. City officials gave presentations on the
development of the phase covering our area, on the
infrastructure being established, and on the City’s
engagement with the mini-bus taxi industry. |
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Phase 1a of the City’s IRT system is aimed at
completion before the 2010 World Cup and includes
inner city services, airport services, and services
up the West Coast. The system comprises of trunk
routes which has exclusive dedicated bus transit
lanes for special 18-metre articulated buses, and
feeder routes where smaller 8m and 12m buses travel
in normal traffic transporting passengers to the
trunk routes. |
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The main trunk routes in our area in phase 1a will
be from Doornbach and Du Noon down Potsdam Rd, along
Blaauwberg Rd to Bayside; from Bayside the route is
along the R27 to Paarden Eiland from where it will
go along the old railway line corridor to Culemborg
where it goes along Old Marine Drive and onto
Hertzog Boulevard via Civic Lane, and then on to Sea
Point. Feeder routes from Bloubergstrand,
Parklands/Sunningdale, Gie Rd area, Flamingo Vlei,
Montague Gardens, etc, will provide access to the
trunk routes. Later in 2010 the trunk route will
also include Atlantis and Melkbosstrand, and there
will be trunk route from Century City via Bosmansdam
Rd and Koeberg Rd joining up with the R27 route at
Boundary Rd. Feeder routes will also be expanded to
include more areas. |
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The trunk routes will mostly be in the median of the
roadway, i.e. on either side of the central island
in the road. Stations will be built in the central
island near to pedestrian crossings where they will
be easily accessible for all. An important feature
of the whole infrastructure is that it will be
easily accessible for wheelchairs – buses have wide
doors which open level with the platforms, and there
will be ramps at all the stations. Access to the
system will be by smart card, these can be purchased
at the station, but will also be available at shops,
supermarkets and other outlets like corner stores,
etc. |
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In addition to the bus route, there will be a
two-way cycle route on all the main trunk routes.
Along the R27 this will be on the western side of
the road, separate from vehicular traffic; in
Blaauwberg Rd this will be in the wide central
island of the road between the bus lanes. Cyclists
will be able to cycle all the way into the city
centre on a safe cycle-way. |
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It was also interesting to learn that, contrary to
the impression we get from reports in the press,
most of the minibus taxi associations are on board
and co-operating with the City. They will become
major shareholders in the companies that are being
established to operate the system, and it is
envisaged that many of the drivers will become
drivers in the new system. However, it is true that
there is still some intimidation from taxi operators
who are refusing to participate in the process. |
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The environmental authorisation given by the
Provincial government for the construction of the
IRT routes in this area required that a Construction
Environmental Management Plan be compiled and that
the adherence to this CEMP by the contractors must
be monitored by an Environmental Site Officer. The
company Ecosense has been appointed in this role.
Ecosense together with a wetland specialist, Geordie
Radcliff, and landscape specialists from Planning
Partners, are paying particularly attention to the
edge of Milnerton Lagoon, the coastal area, and the
section near Dolphin Beach ponds. Due to the haste
with which construction is happening some of the
sensitive sections are being designed on site. |
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The IRT will be a great benefit to all of us living
in this area – it will provide us with an easily
accessible, safe and relatively low-cost public
transport system; not only for commuters to and from
the city, but also for transport locally to and from
the shopping and recreational areas. |
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Regional Waste Water Treatment Works |
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You are all aware that several years ago the City
appointed consultants to look at the waste water
treatment situation in the Blaauwberg area. Potsdam
and Melkbosstrand Waste Water Treatment Works both
have limited capacities, and will not be able to
cope with the expected increase in population in
this area, particularly if the area north of
Parklands/Sunningdale is all developed and
development starts creeping northwards into the
Morning Star area. |
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Early investigations excluded the possibility of
developing a new waste water treatment works, and
the present investigations basically involve
increasing the capacities of either Melkbosstrand,
Potsdam, or both. |
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During March the consultants compiling the
Environmental Impact Report on the proposed
extension and upgrading of waste water treatment
infrastructure in the Blaauwberg Area published
their draft Environmental Impact report for public
comment. The Friends of Rietvlei studied this report
and, although in parts it was a very thorough and
detailed report, we were disappointed to note that
key issues had not been addressed. |
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Our recommendation to the consultants was that no
decision on the important issue can be taken until
all the outstanding issues have been addressed and
included in the report. There are three major issues
that are not adequately addressed in the report: |
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The first is that while the report deals in detail
with various options for collecting, transporting
and treating sewage, it does not discuss the
disposal of effluent from the treatment works in any
detail – it takes it for granted that the effluent
will be dumped in the nearest river, in this case
either the Sout River at Melkbosstrand or the Diep
River at Rietvlei. Dumping more effluent in these
will have serious negative impacts as both rivers
are already under severe strain from pollution. We
feel that other disposal options like piped marine
discharge, aquifer recharging, or re-use should be
considered in more detail. |
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A second, and important, shortcoming in the report
is that it does not in any way discuss the economic
implications of the various proposed options. The
direct financial costs are mentioned, but medium to
long term economic effects on local communities,
recreational activities, property values, etc, are
not discussed. It is thus difficult for us to
understand how decision-makers can make a considered
decision without the necessary information on medium
to long term economic implications. |
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Thirdly the report does not address the
all-important effects of climate change on their
proposals. Potsdam is situated at and just above the
100-year floodline, and is thus very vulnerable to
climate change, both from rising sea levels and from
more severe flood events. |
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There are other issues in the report that also needs
expanding, and we can only hope that all outstanding
issues will be adequately addressed before the
authorities make any final decision. |
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Rietvlei Visitor Facility Upgrading |
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At last the braai/picnic places at the recreation
area near the education centre have been upgraded.
Koos Retief waited many months for the materials to
be delivered and installed, but they are finally in
place. This work was undertaken with R 100 000 that
was allocated from Cllr Berry’s capital ward
allocation. The request for this money was done by
Friends of Rietvlei, so we are proud to be the
instigators for these new facilities. |
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Previous Walks & Talks |
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The evening talk on 26 February
by Simon Lielcock on Rock Art
along the West Coast and in the
Cedarberg was well attended by
an appreciative audience. Most
of us are not too familiar with
the subject and found Simon’s
presentation interesting and
informative. |
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The walk at Zoarvlei on 8 March
was less well attended, the
strong south easter probably
discouraged many from joining
us. The small group walked north
along the western shore of the
vlei, then crossed to the
eastern side and walked back to
the historical homestead, Klein
Zoar, where we crossed back to
where we had parked. There we
had a look at the work being
done on the Integrated Rapid
Transit system where the route
enters the old Paarden Eiland
railway line. |
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| Thanks go to Chevron Refinery for
sponsoring envelopes for the posted newsletter. |
