Roads department plan for Hermanus disgraceful, desperate objections ignored
THEreport “Hermanus bypass proposal to revive its CBD” on July 14, by Lynette Johns, is a simplification of a serious and disgraceful proposal by the roads department of the provincial government as the financer, complicit with Hermanus Municipality, to squander over R300 million (which I have little doubt will result in double that) on a needless and undesirable 3km of provincial main road (R43) standard highway more than 25m wide on the boundary of the existing CBD.
This despite the desperate objections of the larger community of Hermanus, and even visitors.
It is admitted and accepted by the road authority that it will definitely impact on the sensitive environment by slicing through Fernkloof Nature Reserve (a declared Unesco protected area), through school playing fields and generally quiet areas such as the golf course wetlands – not to mention the wider impact of noise by the drone of heavy trucks.
Much of the road will in fact run close to dozens of residential homes on Mountain Road, which presently enjoy comparatively low levels of traffic and will suffer considerable diminishment of the value of those properties.
I hope the owners will bring a class action against the road authority for damages.
Even though I am not a permanent resident of Hermanus at this stage, my wife owns property in this town we love.
I do have my ear to the ground. I belong to several public and civil organisations and I have yet to hear anyone speak in favour of the road. I feel particularly sympathetic to the schools, who because their political bosses sit in the provincial government, side-by-side with roads department, dare not for the sake of their careers open their mouths.
At the recent “whitewash” public open house meeting held in – of all places – the high school hall, the wellpaid environmental consultants attempted to promote the economic benefits of the road and minimised the environmental impacts.
It was obvious by the reticence of the provincial and municipal officials that they were loath to allow questions.
This matter has been dealt with in haste – by both the provincial government and the municipality – going through the hoops to fulfil the legal process and a political commitment.
To register your interest and receive further information, communicate with Heyns SRK Consulting Telephone +27 21 659 3036, e-mail lheyns@srk.co.za Neil van der Spuy