Western bypass much too close for comfort

GEORGE NEWS - Landowners of some prime properties in the northern peri-urban and rural Blanco area whose land is located in the path of the proposed western bypass, are caught up in uncertainty as to how the future will play out when the road is built.

Since the environmental authorisation granted in 2010 and proclamation of the road in 2015, there was no further action or communication from authorities - until recently when some property owners were contacted by consulting engineering company Kantey & Templer.

According to associate director Pierre Barkhuizen, the company is confirming ownership of properties in order to update the database. "We are working on instruction from Province."

The bypass was proposed after the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works identified the need for an additional road to relieve traffic congestion in the centre of town by providing an alternative road where George is not the final destination.

The proposal was met with resistance from residents of Geelhoutboom and Blanco from the beginning, because it was thought that a busy road will disrupt their peaceful tourist environment and farming activities.

The road will cut some properties in half. Others will have the road running close to homesteads, leading to noise and air pollution in an area where properties are sought after for the tranquillity and natural beauty.

The value of some of the affected properties ranges upwards of R5-million and even over R15-million.

Greg Waters whose smallholding is home to Houtbosch Watershed Stables and Burnside Equestrian, says the vagueness surrounding the project and the exact delineation of the road are causing apprehension. The road will cut right through the middle of his land.

"Owners do not know if they should make improvements. I, for instance, want to drill a borehole near my house. There has never been a moratorium on development and building in the area. It would just be nice if there was some form of communication from the authorities," he says.

Highway past bedroom window

The road will also cut Nicole Hartig's property in half. They bought five years ago, aware of the proposed road, but built their house so that it would be far away from the road.

"On the new map it seems as if the road moved up towards our house and is now running literally past our bedroom window. There has not been any communication with us. If there is expropriation, will they compensate according to market value?"

Leon Sauermann says the road goes over a natural fountain on his property. "Recently, they wanted to access my property to peg the midline of the route. According to the 2016 plans, the road will take up 4 000m² of my property and will run about 30 metres from my house. The noise will completely destroy the serenity of the area."

Michelle Behrens complains that they have just built a boundary wall and are upgrading the entrance to their property, but the entrance will have to be moved if the road is built. "I understand that a road must be built, but if there had been better communication, we could at least have planned properly."

The western bypass north of Blanco is to reduce heavy traffic through the CBD of George.

'View on highway in the sky'

Another unhappy landowner, Neil Bacon, says he spent millions on his property. "Peaceful life as we know it, will be over. The road will cut off the bottom section of my farm and we will have a view of the fly-over - a highway in the sky - with noise pollution and a drop in property value on top of that. It would have made much more sense if the road had gone along Montagu Street where there are businesses that could have benefited from passing traffic."

Jandré Bakker, spokesperson for the Western Cape Department of Transport and Public Works, says the landowners were notified of the road as part of the road proclamation process.

The project will start once the appropriate resources and funding have been approved. The current works that have just started on the R404 are not part of the bypass project.

"With regard to expropriation, it will be done as per the prescribed legal process. The road is still in the prelim design phase and hence a detailed alignment is not available."

He did not respond to the question on how many properties are being directly affected.

Alignment of the road

The northern sector of the route goes through the farming and peri-urban area of Blanco to the north of the Geelhoutboom intersection, while the southern sector runs from the N2/Herold's Bay interchange past the airport to the Geelhoutboom intersection.

The approved route in the northern sector is known as the Gwaiing Blanco Alignment and the southern sector is known as the Quarry Alternative 3 Alignment. The Gwaiing Blanco Alignment was one of four possible routes considered during the environmental impact assessment phase.

The western bypass (yellow), which is intended to reduce heavy traffic through the CBD of George.