One man is an island
A DREAM home meant to showcase an upmarket development on the edge of the Knysna estuary has literally landed a property developer in deep water.
Occasional flooding of the waterfront section of Alan Doggett’s Lake Brenton resort has prompted a development row amid speculation the sea level may be rising.
Doggett has applied for permission to extend the height of a grass berm (wall) to prevent unusually high water from swamping the affected properties, including the show house dubbed “Noah’s Ark” by some locals since major floods in August 2014.
Australia-based Doggett claims the berm is just a precautionary measure to stop unusually high storm surges, such as the one that turned his show house into a temporary island.
But disgruntled locals say the flooding on the property is a regular occurrence, sometimes coinciding with a normal spring tide. They claim the sea level in the area has risen over the past few years, and that development so close to the water’s edge should never have been allowed.
They also allege Doggett has, in effect, privatised a piece of commonage.
Doggett, meanwhile, says residents are unfairly targeting him because he recently began preventing them from straying onto his property when walking along the estuary.
Ironically, the original development was not supposed to be at the water’s edge but in a thicket of coastal forest — once a famous caravan site. Amid concerns about potential damage to the forest, and after a request from the Department of Forestry, Doggett and his team agreed to an alternative plan.
But environmental watchdogs, such as neighbour Susan Campbell, say that the original development approval in 2005 never made provision for building below the flood line.
She has asked the Department of Environment Affairs to investigate possible transgressions of the National Environmental Management Act.
“There has never been an environmental impact assessment that considered the construction of houses and infrastructure in the flood plain area,” said Campbell. The department has confirmed it is investigating Campbell’s complaint.
Doggett agrees there was no initial approval to develop on the lowest portion of his property, but insists the move was later agreed to by all parties in the interests of saving the pocket of indigenous forest — which was in a degraded state after being used as a campsite.
“This new layout was then formally approved thereafter, with all of these parties present together with the council approving and signing off the new layout. This is indisputable and was disclosed in the presence of officials from the Department on two subsequent occasions,” said Doggett.
Peet Joubert, former South African National Parks manager for the Knysna lake area, said it was possible that officials had not had sufficient information about the flood line when approving Doggett’s development. But, he said, the matter could be remedied by raising the affected houses above the water — as had been done in many other water-affected sites.
“If I was in an authority position I would forget all structures on the ground, including the grass berm, put the houses on piles and let the water come underneath. Then acknowledge that the guy has property rights and protect the environment from pollution — and the houses from damage.”
Joubert said the berm would simply cause water to dam up on the landward site and would probably do more harm than good. Garages would also have to be raised to ensure floodwater did not become contaminated with oil.
Doggett said these plans were already in place.
This new layout was formally approved . . . with all of these parties present