The Umdloti community is furious that a petrol station is being built over a water source for the village – apparently without all the necessary approvals.

Insisting they were not notified of the intention to construct a petrol station, the Umdloti Coastal Conservancy wants the application to be restarted.

“We have not been notified of any petrol station on the site which has recently been levelled off opposite the Marine Walk Mall entrance. There has been no such notice received for any site on the Salta development,” said the conservancy’s Terry Rens.

Rens, who previously worked in eThekwini municipality’s town planning department, said the conservancy would have strongly objected had it been notified.

“The site is at the start of a wetland, which has recently been destroyed by the Salta developers. The conservancy is fairly certain this area has been delineated as wetland in the original planning stages.

“The wetland is the source of the Sweetwater Stream which is a water source for the village. It is unthinkable to place a petrol station above this source, especially given the forecourt, like many other tarred surfaces, will have significant runoff and possible spillage during loading of the underground storage tanks,” said Rens.

The Umdloti Smart Village (USV) agrees: “We feel strongly that, prior to commencement of building the petrol station, it’s critical that all environmental approvals and water use licenses are in place,” said USV chairman, Debbie Lee-Gaines.

Project managers Devmco Group disagree that any additional public participation is needed, saying it is within the current environmental authorisation (EA) approvals for the Sibaya development project.

While it is known that applications were made to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy by owners Salta Energy (Pty) Ltd and Salta Fuel Station (Pty) Ltd, for the retail and fuel station aspects of the filling station, approvals do not appear to have been given.

Furthermore, no approval has yet been given by the Department of Water and Sanitation. DWS spokesperson Wisane Mavasa said although there was an existing water use authorisation which permitted the earthworks activity within the regulated area, there was no submitted application or issued authorisation for construction of a petrol filling station.

DubeTradeport-based environmental attorney Janice Tooley feels strongly that the addition of a petrol station would have changed the original scope of work, increasing the risk category.

If it had not been included in the original approval, an amendment would require an assessment and public participation process.

Asked whether it was made clear to the relevant authorities that a petrol station was on the cards, Devmco was vague in their response.

“Yes, the authorities have also done site inspections and they do a thorough due diligence,” Devmco said.

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