Proposed Gamma Kappa 2 765Kv Eskom Powerline
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PROPOSED GAMMA KAPPA 2ND 765KV ESKOM POWERLINE NORTHERN & WESTERN CAPE Draft report for Public Participation Heritage Impact Assessment specialist component Built Environment, Spatial History and Cultural Landscape SCOPING AND ASSESSMENT REPORT 07 FEBRUARY 2018 SAHRA Case ID: 165 HERITAGE WESTERN CAPE CASE NO: 17091210AS0919E NGWA-BOSWA YA KAPA BOKONE Case Number: Has not been received NEAS reference: DEA/EIA/0001267/2012 and DEA Reference 14/12/16/3/3/2/353 Prepared For Nzumbululo Heritage Solutions (Pty) Ltd. 4 Berger Road, Vorna Valley, Midrand 1686, South Africa Tel: +27 11 029 2555 SALLY TITLESTAD HERITAGE CONSULTANTS IN ASSOCIATION Mobile: 071 1090 900 Tel: +27 21 789 0222 Mobile: 072 212 8246 Tel 021 686 8124 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 10 FIRS AVENUE CLAREMONT CAPE TOWN 7708 SOUTH AFRICA 22 BIRKETT ROAD RONDEBOSCH 7700 CAPE TOWN SOUTH AFRICA ESKOM PROPOSED 2nd 765KV POWERLINES GAMMA KAPPA DRAFT SPECIALIST ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL HISTORY, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY AND DEFINITIONS 6 SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 INTRODUCTION 9 1.2 LEGAL REQUIREMENTS 9 1.3 TERMS OF REFERENCE 10 1.4 PROPOSED POWERLINES AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE 11 1.5 HIA BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPE SCOPE OF WORK 12 1.6 APPROACH TO THE SPECIALIST STUDY 13 1.7 STUDY METHODOLOGY 13 1.8 ASSUMPTIONS AND LIMITATIONS 17 1.8.1 Assumptions 17 1.8.2 Limitations 17 1.9 SPECIALIST TEAM AND DETAILS 18 1.10 DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 18 1.11 REPORT STRUCTURE 18 SECTION 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 19 2.1 INTRODUCTION 19 2.2 ALTERNATIVE ROUTES OPTIONS 19 2.3 PYLON TOWERS 20 SECTION 3 REGION AND SITES DESCRIPTION 23 3.1 INTRODUCTION 23 3.2 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW 23 3.3 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 24 3.4 BUILT ENVIRONMENT 30 SECTION 4 HERITAGE LEGISLATION & ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 31 4.1 INTRODUCTION 31 4.2 ADMINISTRATIVE CONTEXT AND STATUTORY FRAMEWORK 31 4.2.1 Overview 31 4.2.2 National Heritage Resources Act No. 25 of 1999 (NHRA) 31 4.2.5 Existing Heritage Studies 32 4.3 HERITAGE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 33 4.3.1 Definition of Cultural Significance and Criteria for the Assessment of Cultural Significance 33 4.3.2 Contextual/Experiential Significance 34 4.3.3 Assessments of Impacts 34 4.4 PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES 35 4.5 HERITAGE DESIGN INDICATORS AND THEIR APPLICATION 36 SECTION 5 IDENTIFIED HERITAGE RESOURCES & STATEMENTS OF HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE 49 5.1 INTRODUCTION 49 5.2 ROUTE OPTION 1 50 5.3 ROUTE OPTION 2 51 5.4 ROUTE OPTION 3 53 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ii BRIDGET O’DONOGHUE & SALLY TITLESTAD HERITAGE CONSULTANTS IN ASSOCIATION FEBRUARY 2018 ESKOM PROPOSED 2nd 765KV POWERLINES GAMMA KAPPA DRAFT SPECIALIST ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL HISTORY, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SECTION 6 IMPACT ASSESSMENT 55 6.1 Introduction 55 6.2 ZONES AND ROUTE OPTIONS 57 6.3 ASSESSMENT TABLES 58 6.3.1 Impact Assessment ROUTE OPTION 1 58 6.3.2 IMPACT ASSESSMENT ROUTE OPTION 2 65 6.3.3 IMPACT ASSESSMENT ROUTE OPTION 3 74 6.4 The Saaiplaas area: Recommended Grade II and heritage precinct no-go zone 81 6.5 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for Wind and Solar PV energy in South Africa (2015) 82 6.6 SUMMARY OF IMPACT ASSESSMENT ON BUILT ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL LANDSCAPES 83 SECTION 7 RECOMMENDATIONS OF SPECIALIST ASSESSMENT 85 SECTION 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SOURCES 86 ANNEXURES ANNEXURE 1: RECORDS OF DECISION APPLICABLE TO THE STUDY 91 ANNEXURE 2: BRIEF HISTORICAL TIMELINE FOR THE GREAT KAROO AND THE KOUP (NORTHERN AND WESTERN CAPE) 92 ANNEXURE 3: MAPPED CORRIDORS SHOWING BUILT STRUCTURES ASSESSED 105 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ iii BRIDGET O’DONOGHUE & SALLY TITLESTAD HERITAGE CONSULTANTS IN ASSOCIATION FEBRUARY 2018 ESKOM PROPOSED 2nd 765KV POWERLINES GAMMA KAPPA DRAFT SPECIALIST ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL HISTORY, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION TABLE OF FIGURES: Figure 1: Site location of proposal within South Africa (MetroGIS 2013) 11 Figure 2: Kappa Gamma 2nd 765kV powerlines corridors options 1 (green line), Option 2 (red line), Option 3 (blue line) in relation to landscape and existing environmental protected areas (EcoGIS, 2017) 20 Figure 3: Existing powerlines immediately south of Gamma substation, illustrating the difference in dimensions between 400kV self supporting suspension pylons and the 765kV Guyed-V suspension pylons (765kV powerline right), BOD/ST 2013 22 Figure 4: The northern part of the Great Karoo landscape showing undulating features and the first 765kV power line crossing the National route (BOD & ST, 2013) 26 Figure 5: Merweville Dutch Reformed Church building, a Provincial Heritage site and raison d'etre for the creation of a settlement (BoD and ST 2013) 27 Figure 6: Roggeveld landscape approaching a farm node just north of Komsberg substation (FB & ST October 2017) 28 Figure 7: Double parallel powerlines approaching the substation at Komsberg in comparison to the undisturbed cultural landscape in the remainder of the region (FB & ST October 2017) 28 Figure 8: Cultural landscape regions occurring along the length of the alternate routes, (Total Design Maps 2017) 29 Figure 9: A 400kV and 765kV powerline running parallel just south of Kappa Substation in the Ceres Karoo. Kappa can be seen to the far left of the photograph and Toorberg to the far right. This area is the site of an approved wind energy facility. (FB&ST October 2017) 30 Figure 10: Diagram showing layout of mapping of built environment heritage resources combined with archaeological findings on detailed topocadastral 1:50 000 maps (Total Design Maps 2017) 40 Figure 11: Existing powerline infrastructure on N1 roadway 41 Figure 12: Images Laingsburg context 41 Figure 13: Klein Roggeveld cultural landscape area and its Heritage resources 42 Figure 14: Images of Merweville Context 44 Figure 15: Images Gamma Kappa 765kV Transmission line south Beaufort West 45 Figure 16: Images Karoo National Park, Provincial Heritage site 46 Figure 17: Images Beaufort West to Gamma Substation 47 Figure 18: Images Karoo Landscape Alternative Route 1 Corridor north of Laingsburg 48 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ iv BRIDGET O’DONOGHUE & SALLY TITLESTAD HERITAGE CONSULTANTS IN ASSOCIATION FEBRUARY 2018 ESKOM PROPOSED 2nd 765KV POWERLINES GAMMA KAPPA DRAFT SPECIALIST ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL HISTORY, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Figure 19: Proposed Gamma-Kappa 2nd 765kV powerlines corridors and cultural landscape areas - alternative 1 (green line), alternative 2 (red line), alternative 3 (blue line) Total Design Maps 2017 49 Figure 20: Gamma Kappa 2nd 765kV powerline alternatives: Cultural landscape zones identifying significant settlements along proposed routes, Total Design Maps 2017 56 Figure 21: Saaiplaas recommended heritage precinct (Total Design Maps 2017) 81 Figure 22: Saaiplaas recommended Heritage area (FB & ST 2017) 81 Figure 23: Dry-packed stone walled kraal on a neighbouring farm illustrating that the collection is more widespread than on a single farm (TB & ST 2017) 82 Figure 24: Renewable Energy Development Zones in South Africa, showing the area around Komsberg substation as one of the 8 identified zones. (CSIR, 2015) 82 Figure 25: Map of farm portions affected by renewable energy proposals across the Northern Cape- Western Cape border within the Komsberg area, adapted to depict Komsberg substation (ASHA Consulting 2017) 82 Figure 26: Diagrammatic representation of assessed impacts and areas where mitigation will reduce impact of the proposals to acceptable (Total Design Maps 2017) 83 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ v BRIDGET O’DONOGHUE & SALLY TITLESTAD HERITAGE CONSULTANTS IN ASSOCIATION FEBRUARY 2018 ESKOM PROPOSED 2nd 765KV POWERLINES GAMMA KAPPA DRAFT SPECIALIST ASSESSMENT OF SPATIAL HISTORY, CULTURAL LANDSCAPE AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GLOSSARY AND DEFINITIONS The approach to the definitions and application of the HIA is extracted from the National Heritage Resources Act, no 25 of 1999 and the ICOMOS Australian Burra Charter, revised in 1999. Associations The special connections that exist between people and a place. Significant associations between should be respected, retained and not obscured. Opportunities for interpretation, commemoration and celebration of these associations should be investigated and implemented. Archaeological resources Material remains resulting from human activities which are older than 100 years including artefacts, human and hominid remains and artificial features and structures which are in a state of disuse. They may also include rock art, marine shipwrecks and structures associated with military history (NHR Act). Authenticity That which is genuine or original and not in an altered or modified state. Authenticity may reside in the fabric itself with its evidence of workmanship and age, or in the design and layout of a place or in the integrity of traditions. It may reside in use, customs, appropriate technology and ownership associated most closely with the heritage resource (Kerr, modified). Compatible use Compatible use means a use that respects the cultural significance of a place. Such a use must have minimal or no impact on cultural significance. Context/Setting The area