New electrical depot ‘will disturb fruit-pollinating bees’ – farmer

A THIRD-generation bee-keeper whose hives are used to pollinate the crops of fruit and vegetable farmers across the Western Cape, is concerned about the impact a City of Cape Town development will have on his bees.

The city is planning to move the Muizenberg electrical depot to the last remaining section of the Oude Raapkraal bee farm, on the corner of Westlake and Steenberg drives.

But Brendan Ashley Cooper, whose grandparents first started keeping bees on the farm in 1946/47, said bees were very sensitive and negatively affected by pollution, so an electricity depot on their doorstep would have a negative impact.

The proposal includes 25 undercover parking bays, 16 garages and 10 truck ports.

Ashley Cooper said bees were vital for food security. There was a need for the number of hives to double over the next 10 years, but the challenge was that there was not sufficient food for them.

He said they had planted a huge amount of forage to provide for their bees over the years.

“We grow queen bees to put in our hives. We select the most productive and docile. Our whole property has been set up for this.”

Surrounding residents are also concerned about the depot which they claim will increase noise and light pollution, be a potential crime hotspot for cable thieves and pose a risk throughthe storing of oil and flammable material. There was also a concern about spills into the groundwater which could feed into the sensitive Zandvlei wetland.

Nicky Schmidt of Stonehurst Estate said there did not appear to have been a proper environmental impact assessment (EIA) or public participation process.

She said traffic congestion on Westlake and Steenberg drives was already significant and accidents occurred on a regular basis at the intersection.

“The addition of a 24/7 depot, involving small and large utility vehicles, will make things even worse.”

Schmidt said the land was zoned agricultural and, as the last remaining section of the original farm, held significant heritage value.

“The farmhouse itself has heritage status and the land surrounding it operates as a working bee farm (that has several employees), with hives that pollinate the vast majority of the Cape fruit and berry producers.”

Ernest Sonnenberg, mayco member for Utility Services, said the South Peninsula was experiencing steady population growth and the existing site was now too small to accommodate the staff and equipment required to facilitate efficient service delivery.

He said the site in question was the only city land available that was centrally situated for optimum response times.

Sonnenberg said it was unlikely the depot activities would have an influence on the bee-farming as the depot would only occupy one-third of the city land.

He added residents had been consulted and all comments had been submitted to the Planning and Building Development Management Department.