GEORGE NEWS - Is the full impact of the proposed Sallywood development east of the Garden Route Mall being foreseen? Two local town planners say the possible consequences for the environment, natural resources, infrastructure and employment opportunities should be investigated thoroughly before going ahead with the development.

They say the development on the outskirts of the city is contrary to the George planning department's strategy to bring about densification and optimisation of infrastructure usage.

Previously, Municipal Manager Trevor Botha explained that Destiny Africa, Sallywood's precursor that never got off the ground, was approved in 2009, years before the municipality finalised the Spatial Development Framework (SDF) that was approved in 2013. 

Therefore, the Destiny Africa development and its impact on the spatial structure of the city had been taken into consideration and is addressed in the SDF.

Sceptical
Two town planners who attended the 8 November meeting of the Southern Cape Development Forum (a platform for town planners to meet and discuss development issues), are concerned because the Sallywood developers who attended the meeting on invitation, were "vague" when questioned.

"The Destiny Africa approvals were very specific regarding what was allowed and where. If Sallywood wants to deviate, it will have to apply for amendments. I think even their environmental approvals could be required to be amended. Land use approvals in such developments must usually be indicated very specifically. How are these requirements being applied to Sallywood?" said one of the planners.

He said Sallywood must not be allowed to become "a Chinese destination and a springboard for the Chinese in the area".

"Will people be brought in artificially? All development should be advantageous for the city and the broader community, not only for the developers. For me, some red lights are flickering."

The second town planner questioned the viability of the large conference centre that is part of the proposed development. "Where will all the feet come from? A facility of this scale will necessitate a large international airport and I don't know if the George Airport will be able to expand to an extent that it will be able to cater for such large numbers. Also, services to Sallywood still have to be constructed, but service infrastructure in George is already under pressure. 

Another issue is job creation. One would like to see jobs go to locals and not people brought in by the developer. Also, there should be a time frame for the development to start."

Impact was considered
Fred Brown, project coordinator for Sallywood and Destiny Africa, said they are satisfied with the full scoping and environmental impact study done in 2006 for Destiny Africa, which had all the necessary approvals from the authorities. The impact studies included full public participation. 

"As this is a large-scale development, the impacts into the future were considered, which included water, sustainability and social impacts. Separate EIA processes and authorisation were obtained regarding bulk services such as water supply, wastewater and access."

He said when Destiny Africa was approved, one of the biggest droughts in history prevailed in this area. "For this development to be approved, we were told to first apply for bulk service environmental approvals. Among other things, we initiated and paid for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes for a wastewater purification plant and the piping to the source, the Garden Route Dam. This was approved, which exceeded the amount our development required, and was implemented by the George Municipality."