Proposed church plan divides Scottburgh
Questions around the need for a third church in the Scottburgh South area have been raised by some, while others have suggested that it would be welcome and may even assist in reducing crime.
SCOTTBURGH is divided over the proposed construction of a church in the south of the town.
Several notices of intent were recently displayed at the site, and Interested and Affected Parties (I&APs) were encouraged to register. Those living in the vicinity of the proposed development site, ERF 402 in Minerva Avenue, explained that they were taken by surprise at the proposal as the site, which was believed to belong to Umdoni Municipality, had been zoned as a ‘passive open space’.
This is a designated area or zoning district or overlay where development is limited or controlled to create undeveloped areas of land or water within a community. The site has a major stream running all the way from the golf course along David Road and is home to a variety of indigenous trees.
According to information at hand, the New Covenant Church in Scottburgh approached the owner of the property with an offer to purchase.
The two parties – New Covenant Church and Glen Anil Investments – entered into an agreement of sale, subject to the successful rezoning of the land in question.
Currently, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is underway as part of the rezoning requirements. Only once the EIA is complete and the land is found suitable for construction will parties be able to comment on the rezoning application.
Anyone who considers themselves an I&AP is advised to register at admin@green-scene.co.za in order to receive information on the proposal as well as to comment on the EIA.
Questions around the need for a third church in the Scottburgh South area have been raised by some, while others have suggested that it would be welcome and may even assist in reducing crime.
There is an NG Church and a Church Alive directly opposite the site.
This is not the first time the site has been the subject of religious controversy. In October 2006, a request was made for the construction of a Hindu temple by the Scottburgh Hindu Association (SHA), which faced a similar problem with the land having been found unsuitable for construction.
The SHA had approached the municipality in the hopes that the land would be donated to them. The following day, the proposed temple was placed before the Executive Committee (ExCo) of Umdoni Municipality by the then municipal manager DD Niadoo. ExCo was urged to consider this request favourably.
If approved, the municipality would have donated land which it had never owned.
Ironically, the only way to establish definitively how the property had not come into the ownership of the municipality, says ward councillor, Shara Singh, would be for the municipality to liaise with the surveyor general’s office and obtain the original agreement with the initial developers of Scottburgh South, in this case, the owner of ERF 402, Glen Anil Investments.
Meanwhile, in a Background Information Document (BID) compiled by Green-Scene Environmental’s environmental consultant, Felicity Swanepoel, it is highlighted that the proposed development would include the church structure, associated buildings, and a parking area. The buildings would have a floor area of 1295m2.
It also came to light in the report from Green-Scene Environmental that the stream running through the property was in fact not a natural stream but was a drainage feature.
“This is an old watercourse that has been severely transformed through extensive excavations and erosion to form part of the stormwater management system of the surrounding residential areas to the north, northwest and south of the property,” read the report.
“Storm water from the surrounding built-up areas is discharged into the drainage channel and then into the sea. The banks of the drainage feature have been stabilised in a number of places by the construction of stone-packed gabion baskets and other stabilisation methods, and upstream of the site the channel is completely cemented in some areas. This has resulted in the channel becoming more of a stormwater conduit than a natural feature,” the report added.
The report also pointed out however that “the integrity and the function of the channel must not be compromised by the development – the development has also been set as far away as possible from the channel in order to retain its function and as much of the Riparian vegetation as possible.”
The report mentioned that there were no areas within the boundaries of the property which met the criteria of a wetland.
Pastors from the New Covenant Church indicated the growing need for a new property as a result of now limited space at its current venue, Scottburgh High, which had accommodated them for the past 30 years. “We’ve been renting at the school for many years but the school’s governing body can end this at any time,” said pastor Stuart Kilmarten.
“We have been looking for new premises for the past 15 years. Every measure is being taken to ensure that we comply fully with the EIA. If it is unsuccessful, we will keep searching.”
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