ALL we need is a Prince Charming to fly into town in his trusty Lear jet, see that the shoe fits and the world will wake up to the fact that the Cinderella South Coast is ripe for the plucking.
Just a simple kiss of a few billion or so and we will shed our rags and transform into this beauty which, for some unknown reason, still plays second fiddle to our ‘ugly sisters’ further north.
However, dare we hope that this champion is on the way? Will we see a fairy tale ending?
Some say that he is and they seem to be banking on it, literally.
Shelly Centre, Southcoast Mall and the Scottburgh Mall, for example, have (or are) investing millions on extensions and upgrades, Cemair has introduced new flights to its schedule between Margate and Johannesburg, millions have been pumped into hotels like Wild Coast Sun, Margate’s new four-star Des Roches and the Blue Marlin in Scottburgh.
Plus a new ‘biggest water park’ in Africa is in the pipeline at Kelso.
Our Prince Charming might come in the form of an American named Toney Watkins who, palace spies inform us, has already acquired a 99-year lease on the property known as the ‘airport strip’ at Hibberdene. The plan is to build a ‘Music City’ geared to appeal to a world-wide market, not only South Africans. It’s not a done deal yet, but it is still a very real possibility.
This might just be the fillip that we need to make other dreams come true – like the development of the Port Shepstone beachfront/river mouth area which obviously has so much potential.
Umdoni Municipality is set to put its money where its mouth is and plans to develop the Scottburgh beachfront (new Wimpy and all). Hopefully they inspire their counterparts at the Hibiscus Municipality to do the same with Port Shepstone.
Stages Restaurant and Kapenta Bay Hotel would certainly welcome a few more classy neighbours.
But should we still be relying on the Hibiscus Coast Development Agency? Nobody quite knows what they do… or have done for years… (and their boss is currently suspended.)
Rather take a page out of Umdoni’s book and set up a non-political, public/private sector task team.
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