Legalbrief | your legal news hub Saturday 25 September 2021

Developers seek to appeal against Sea Point ruling

Sea Point Pavilion developer On Track has petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal against a Western Cape High Court ruling that halted the proposed development of the promenade and criticised the manner in which the provincial government approved the development.

A Cape Argus report says the R60m proposed development comprised a multi-storey shopping centre and boutique hotel. The plan was opposed by an organisation called Seafront for All (Seafa), who approached the High Court for relief, arguing that the space should remain accessible to all. In March Judges Siraj Desai and Burton Fourie set aside a record of decision granted by former Planning and Environment MEC Tasneem Essop that gave the development the nod. Now the developers have petitioned the President of the SCA. On Track's appeal includes a 72-page affidavit by On Track director and shareholder Serena Rosslind, who said the judges had made fundamental errors in fact and law that were of a 'gross and stark nature'. She alleged that they had selected only evidence favourable to Seafa and ignored or misconstrued that presented on behalf of On Track. Full Cape Argus report (subscription needed)

Staying with developmental matters, residents are furious after the Western Cape Government gave the environmental nod for a gated housing development on the slopes of the , next to the Sentinel. The Cape Argus notes that the Residents' Association of Hout Bay describes the housing plan as 'an upmarket elite development for the very wealthy' and says the approval by the provincial Environment and Planning Department last week is 'insensitive'. The issue of housing on the mountainside above the valley has become a political hot potato in the past two months after violent protests against efforts by the City of Cape Town to remove illegally constructed shacks on and beyond the firebreak on the slopes of and the Sentinel. The residents' association, which is formally appealing against the province's environmental approval, says the property lies outside the approved urban edge. It also points to its initial objection to the proposed development last year in which it noted that the erf was wholly within the proclaimed Protected Natural Environment where any development is allowed only by permit. Full Cape Argus report (subscription needed)