The Tswane metro’s proposed sale of 609 589m² of the farm Koedoespoort, housing the Colbyn wetland nature reserve, has sparked upset and resentment, with residents from the area and across Pretoria submitting letters of objection to the municipality. Siobhan Muller, councillor for the area and member of the metro council’s oversight committee for economic development and spatial planning, said she was surprised at how widespread and quick public reaction towards the proposed sale of the wetlands was. “Literally hundreds of angry nature lovers reacted in protest and many people addressed their objections to the municipality. The city is claiming they want to auction off 2.29ha known as the ‘circus ground’, whereas the full report speaks of auctioning off 609 589m² for the auction – a much bigger area,” she said.
“It would appear that someone randomly searched the city to find undeveloped land without considering why it had not been developed. The mayor recently signed the Durban Commitment, promising to protect our waterways and declaring that this municipality will address the management of natural areas and green spaces and even restore and rehabilitate degraded natural areas. The Colbyn wetlands was proclaimed as a national nature reserve earlier this year and therefore it is surprising that this ground has been put up for sale,” she said.
She said objections regarding the sale did not come solely from the public, but from various businesses and even state departments like the department of water and sanitation (DWS) as well.
“The department said municipalities should take stock of ecological infrastructures like Colbyn, which support important ecosystems. With the potential impacts associated with climate change, all wetlands and river systems, especially in urban settings, must be protected and even be enhanced and given more space to prevent disasters from occurring. It is highly unlikely that the DWS will entertain any development application on the wetland areas,” Muller said.
Peter Hawkes, a concerned nature lover, pointed out that the sale of the Colbyn wetland nature reserve would be illegal in terms of section 50(2) of the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act (Act 57 of 2003), under which the site was proclaimed on 25 June 2014 as a reserve.
“Section 50(2) of the act states that “An activity allowed may not negatively affect the survival of any species in, or significantly disrupt the integrity of the ecological systems of, the nature reserve or world heritage site”. Wholesale development of the site would obviously violate this clause; before Tshwane can sell the site for development, it would have to apply to have the reserve ‘deproclaimed’; this would require a public participation process and would be a lengthy process that would probably take years,” he said.
The Friends of Colbyn Valley forum has started a Facebook page where people are invited to voice their concerns and are shown how to go about filing an objection. The Moreletaspruit forum also indicated that they would definitely submit an objection against the proposed auction of the Colbyn wetland.
Tansyn Sherwill, secretary of the Colbyn Wetland forum, said that to date, posts on their Facebook page reached about 11 344 people. “It has been clicked on by 900 and liked, commented on, or shared by 511. We also sent out an email with instructions on how to appeal the decision on 14 November to our distribution list of just over 200 addresses. We have been copied on 47 letters of appeal sent to the city manager, including from university departments, environmental groups, neighbourhood associations and members of the public. Most have expressed shock at any possibility of development in the Colbyn wetland, and have emphasised the importance of having green and natural areas in the city. The concern and interest shown by the people of Pretoria has been truly heartening to anyone who has been involved in trying to protect the Colbyn wetland from the threats it has faced over the years. We are extremely grateful to everyone for their amazing response,” she concluded.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
Also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
Read: Tshwane ”selling off family jewels”
