Thumbs up for Bluff beaches upgrade
MOST residents on the Bluff have given the upgrade of its beaches the thumbs up.
Plans to spruce up Cuttings, Treasure, Brighton and Ansteys received “enthusiastic endorsement” at a public meeting held at the Bluff Golf Club on Thursday.
The only issue of concern was the reopening of Strand Road which leads to the dune from Airlie Road, all the way down to Brighton Beach. In 1946 the road was de-proclaimed, but it’s re-designation as a municipal road will improve public access significantly. As a result, it is anticipated that more local economic and tourism opportunities will arise from public amenities to restaurants.
But ward councillor Duncan du Bois and outgoing Bluff Ratepayers chairman Ivor Aylward are unhappy with the proposal. They would prefer Airlie Road be made an access road.
Du Bois said: “It is not feasi- ble to contemplate putting a major thoroughfare through this quiet, built-up neighbourhood. Not only would the cost of expropriation prove prohibitively expensive, but the narrowness of Airlie Road rules out any increase in traffic volumes.”
Du
Bois
praised
the “emphasis in the proposals on the maintenance and showcasing of the aesthetic beauty of the Bluff peninsula beaches”.
eThekwini Metro’s local economic development deputy head, Themba Msomi, said affected communities in Merebank and Merewent were “warm” to the plans, and that consultative public meetings in these two areas were held before the Bluff considerations.
He said the city agreed with general sentiments that the beach had to be made safer and that all key amenities needed better urban management.
The municipality is working on a plan to develop the Bluff coastal belt, promote public access to the beach, create economic opportunities and advance eco-friendly sustainable socio-economic development. Focus is on the 800m section between Ansteys and Brighton beaches, seen as lacking destination value and is grossly underutilised in its current form as mainly an access road to Brighton.
The plan seeks to turn the Bluff ’s pristine beaches into a sustainable tourism and beachsport hub. Also envisaged are activities that include triathlons, angling and spear fishing competitions at Cuttings, environmental runs from Anstey’s to Cuttings, as well as a whale and sardine run festival.
Architect Ian van Biljon told the meeting that the Bluff had “the most beautiful and pristine sand dunes in Durban” and were a major asset for tourism. “We see the Bluff beach as something with great potential and very lively. We have reefs with fish life that rivals Mauritius.”
Van Biljon said it was timely for eThekwini to commit to saving the Bluff and urged the community to seize the opportunity as beach area upgrades are made once in 30 years. Unbecoming behaviour by some visitors, vagrants and drug addicts had made people less inclined to use the beach as they had 10 or 15 years ago, was the sentiment from locals.