BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT GONG-GONG ECO-CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL TOURISM DESTINATION, NEAR BARKLY WEST, NORTHERN CAPE DRAFT BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT DENC Reference: NC/BA/21/FB/DIK/GON1/2016 Prepared for: On behalf of: Tshani Consulting Frances Baard District Municipality Prepared by: EOH Coastal & Environmental Services EAST LONDON 25 Tecoma Street East London, 5201 043 726 7809 Also in Grahamstown, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Maputo www.cesnet.co.za | www.eoh.co.za August 2016 1 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Project applicant: Frances Baard District Municipality Business reg. no. /ID. no.: Contact person: Mamikie Bogatsu Postal address: Private Bag X6088, Kimberly, 8300 Telephone: 053 838 0911 Cell: E-mail: [email protected] Fax: 053 861 1538 Prepared by: Environmental Assessment EOH Coastal and Environmental Services Practitioner/Firm: Business reg. no. /ID. no.: 2012/151672/07 Contact person: Nande Suka Postal address: P.O Box 8145, Nahoon, 5210 Telephone: (043) 726 7809 Cell: E-mail: [email protected] Fax: (043) 726 8352 (For official use only) File Reference Number: Application Number: Date Received: 2 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Basic Assessment Report in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, promulgated in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998), as amended. Kindly note that: 1. This basic assessment report is a standard report that may be required by a competent authority in terms of the EIA Regulations, 2014 and is meant to streamline applications. Please make sure that it is the report used by the particular competent authority for the activity that is being applied for. 2. This report format is current as of 08 December 2014. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ascertain whether subsequent versions of the form have been published or produced by the competent authority 3. The report must be typed within the spaces provided in the form. The size of the spaces provided is not necessarily indicative of the amount of information to be provided. The report is in the form of a table that can extend itself as each space is filled with typing. 4. Where applicable tick the boxes that are applicable in the report. 5. An incomplete report may be returned to the applicant for revision. 6. The use of “not applicable” in the report must be done with circumspection because if it is used in respect of material information that is required by the competent authority for assessing the application, it may result in the rejection of the application as provided for in the regulations. 7. This report must be handed in at offices of the relevant competent authority as determined by each authority. 8. No faxed or e-mailed reports will be accepted. 9. The signature of the EAP on the report must be an original signature. 10. The report must be compiled by an independent environmental assessment practitioner. 11. Unless protected by law, all information in the report will become public information on receipt by the competent authority. Any interested and affected party should be provided with the information contained in this report on request, during any stage of the application process. 12. A competent authority may require that for specified types of activities in defined situations only parts of this report need to be completed. 13. Should a specialist report or report on a specialised process be submitted at any stage for any part of this application, the terms of reference for such report must also be submitted. 3 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT SECTION A: ACTIVITY INFORMATION Has a specialist been consulted to assist with the completion of this section? YES NO If YES, please complete the form entitled “Details of specialist and declaration of interest” for the specialist appointed and attach in Appendix I. 1. ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION a) Describe the project associated with the listed activities applied for The Frances Baard District Municipality (FBDM) proposes the development of the Gong-Gong Eco- Cultural and Historical Tourism Destination, on the banks of the Vaal River near Barkley West, in the Dikgatlong Local Municipality of the Northern Cape Province (Figure1.1). Figure 1: District locality plan from a regional perspective. 4 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Figure 2: Development area in relation to Local Municipalities of the Northern Cape province. Figure 3: The Gong-Gong Eco-Cultural and Historical Tourism Village development perimeter. 5 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT The area has a rich cultural and historical heritage coupled with the areas natural beauty and features such as the Vaal River, dancers cave and Gong-Gong falls. The proposed development is located on farms RE/281 (PNIEL), RE/371, Farm 372 (BAD HOPE), Farm 283 (GONG-GONG), Farm 284 and 1/284 and Farm 282. The project is divided into three phases of development (See Appendix C for site layout): Phase 1 activities: Swing Bridge Boardwalk along the river front Multi-purpose Facility Amphitheatre Erection of information boards Braai areas Cart rides Heritage sites Water activities Figure 4: Indication of the layout of activities relating to phase one developments. Phase 2 activities: 60 bed lodge Conference facility 6 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Restaurant Additional accommodation units (compact package infrastructure) Extend the protected area Figure 5: Indication of the layout of activities relating to phase two developments. Phase 3 activities: Trail development (represented by the blue dotted line on map 6) Adventure/teambuilding facility Backpackers facility 7 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT Figure 6: Indication of the layout of activities relating to phase three developments. b) Provide a detailed description of the listed activities associated with the project as applied for Listed activity as described in GN 734, 735 and Description of project activity 736 GN R 983 12(iii): The development of bridges A swing bridge of 300m2 spanning across the exceeding 100m2 within 32meters of a Vaal River is proposed. watercourse. GN R 983 12(x): The development of buildings A number of structures are proposed for the first exceeding 100m2 within 32 meters of a phase of development, including a multi-purpose watercourse. centre of 200m². GN R 983 12(xi): The development of structures Braai areas and other structures are proposed. exceeding 100m2 within 32 meters of a watercourse. GN R 983 12(xii): The development of A boardwalk of 920m² along the river is proposed. boardwalks exceeding 100m2 within 32 meters of a watercourse. GN R 983 19(i): The infilling or depositing of any Construction of the proposed swing bridge and 8 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT material of more than 5m³ into a watercourse. boardwalk may cause removal or deposition of material within the watercourse area. GN R 983 27: The clearance of 1 ha or more of The total combined clearance of indigenous indigenous vegetation. vegetation could exceed 1 hectare. GN R 983 67(i): Regarding phased The development will take place in a phased developments. manner. 2. FEASIBLE AND REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES “alternatives”, in relation to a proposed activity, means different means of meeting the general purpose and requirements of the activity, which may include alternatives to— (a) the property on which or location where it is proposed to undertake the activity; (b) the type of activity to be undertaken; (c) the design or layout of the activity; (d) the technology to be used in the activity; (e) the operational aspects of the activity; and (f) the option of not implementing the activity. Describe alternatives that are considered in this application as required by Appendix 1 (3) (h), Regulation 2014.Alternatives should include a consideration of all possible means by which the purpose and need of the proposed activity (NOT PROJECT) could be accomplished in the specific instance taking account of the interest of the applicant in the activity. The no-go alternative must in all cases be included in the assessment phase as the baseline against which the impacts of the other alternatives are assessed. The determination of whether site or activity (including different processes, etc.) or both is appropriate needs to be informed by the specific circumstances of the activity and its environment. After receipt of this report the, competent authority may also request the applicant to assess additional alternatives that could possibly accomplish the purpose and need of the proposed activity if it is clear that realistic alternatives have not been considered to a reasonable extent. Indicate the position of the activity using the latitude and longitude of the centre point of the site for each alternative site. The co-ordinates should be in degrees, minutes and seconds. The projection that must be used in all cases is the WGS84 spheroid in a national or local projection. a) Site alternatives Alternative 1 (preferred alternative) Description Lat (DDMMSS) Long (DDMMSS) The area proposed for the development of the Gong-Gong Eco- 28°30'45.67"S 24°23'36.11"E Cultural and Historical Tourism Destination is rich in natural beauty and heritage features, boasting the Gong-Gong waterfalls, dancers cave and San rock paintings to name a few. The site is located on land previously degraded by historical alluvial mining activities in the area, and later use for farming of 9 BASIC ASSESSMENT REPORT grazing animals. The development of the proposed site thus provides the perfect platform from which visitors can enjoy the many attractions of the area, while posing little threat to intact