Residents demand rethink of Big Bay spatial plan

Residents and civic organisations across Big Bay, West Beach, and Table View are calling on the City of Cape Town to review, withdraw, or extend the public participation process for the Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) draft for Big Bay and its surrounding areas.

The plan, which will guide future land use, infrastructure, and environmental management, is open for public comment until Friday, December 12, with an open day set for Saturday, November 1, at the Bloubergstrand Hall and an online session on Thursday, November 13.

The City says the LSDF is a “community-driven” initiative that outlines a development vision for the area, including the government-owned Erf 1117, and will inform future council decisions once approved.

The Big Bay area stretches between the R27 and the Table View coastline, bordered by the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve, and includes the historic Blaauwbergstrand Village, known for its heritage buildings and coastal biodiversity.

The City's mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Eddie Andrews, said the revised draft reflects both community input and City policy.

 “Those who live and work in these areas have invaluable knowledge about their neighbourhoods. We want to tap into that to refine the framework so that we can reimagine and revitalise Big Bay while protecting our environmental assets,” he said.

The City said the LSDF began as a community-led initiative in 2022 when Sub-council 1 supported the Blaauwberg Spatial Association (BSA) in developing a local plan.

The association funded and appointed consultants to draft the initial version before submitting it to the City for review in December last year.

The revised plan now available for comment proposes ten sub-precincts, higher densities along transport routes, mixed-use nodes, and the possible development of Erf 1117, which the City says could provide a range of housing opportunities.

However, residents and civic leaders argue that the current draft strays far from the original community vision and threatens the area’s environmental and coastal character.

Bloubergstrand Residents’ Association (BRA) chairperson Jan Derksen said the process lacked transparency and inclusiveness. 

“Although this initiative has been funded entirely through community donations, the public participation process has not been properly followed. There is no defined process for evaluating and incorporating community input, which raises serious concerns about the integrity of this exercise,” he said.

Mr Derksen warned that proposed high-density housing and industrial development on Erf 1117 were “out of character” and posed serious environmental and safety risks.

 “Erf 1117 lies within the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station’s urgent protective action planning zone, where evacuation modelling and risk assessments are required before any population increase,” he said. 

“It also contains irreplaceable ecosystems within the City’s highest conservation category and forms part of the UNESCO Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve.”

He said the proposed high-density blocks of flats and retained industrial zoning ignore community objections. 

“We are strongly opposed to this. The land could be used for sustainable, medium- to low-density development that balances growth with conservation and safety,” he said.

Mr Derksen said the plan failed to address shortages of healthcare facilities, old-age homes, and social amenities.

He said that increased housing along Big Bay Boulevard could turn a key evacuation route into a traffic bottleneck.

 “This would transform Big Bay Boulevard into a congested corridor similar to Parklands Main Road - a serious and avoidable safety risk.”

The Greater Table View Action Forum (GTAF) also criticised the City’s approach, describing the LSDF’s title as “misleading” because it extends beyond Big Bay. 

GTAF planning portfolio head David Ayres said the City was pushing densification without adequate infrastructure or transport capacity. 

“You only need to drive past Milnerton Lagoon to see how the City has ignored environmental and infrastructure limits. They continue to promote densification with little consideration for services,” he said.

Mr Ayres said the MyCiTi bus service was already at capacity and unsuitable for the scale of development proposed.

“There are no high-level transport links to major employment areas like Bellville or Century City. Yet the City wants to densify Table View to higher levels than those areas - it makes no sense,” he said.

He also accused the City of disregarding its own sustainability and transport policies.

“The City talks about reducing private vehicle dependence, but approves developments that rely on cars. It signs international pledges on pollution reduction but ignores its own commitments,” said Mr Ayres.

Community Representation for Blaauwberg (CRB) chairperson Michelle Collins said the LSDF, in its current form, failed to comply with planning legislation and the City’s own by-laws.

“The Big Bay LSDF document now released for public participation is of poor quality and does not meet the standards of Section 12 of the Municipal Planning By-Laws,” she said.

“Several of the LSDF’s most critical components are still marked as ‘to follow,’ including infrastructure-capacity studies, detailed implementation plans, and updated evacuation and population-threshold modelling - the very studies that determine whether the plan is feasible or lawful.”

Ms Collins said asking residents to comment before this information was available undermined the purpose of public participation.

“Public input is meant to test a complete, evidence-based draft, not a partial one,” she said.

She said most of the project area fell within Koeberg’s 16 km urgent protective zone, where the population already exceeded international safety thresholds.

“Evacuation times already exceed the Nuclear Regulator’s 16-hour limit, even before considering the additional population proposed in this plan. The City cannot proceed with densification until those safety and environmental assessments are complete.”

Tabletalk has been inundated with comments from residents and civic organisations who argue that Erf 1117 should be incorporated into the Blaauwberg Nature Reserve to protect its wetlands and biodiversity.

Residents have formally requested that the City extend the public participation period to ensure a fair, transparent process that meaningfully includes local input before final decisions are made.

Comments and proposals can be submitted at www.capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay, via email to Blaauwberg.DistrictSDF@capetown.gov.za, or in person at the Big Bay Library and sub-council 1 office before Friday December 12.