Erf 1117 protest: Residents voice concerns over nuclear safety and environmental risks

Around 40 residents from Table View and nearby suburbs gathered at Erf 1117 on Saturday, December 6, protesting what they describe as the City of Cape Town’s unlawful and unsafe push to advance the Big Bay Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF).

Demonstrators held placards along Big Bay Boulevard, raising concerns about nuclear safety risks, environmental damage, and what they say is a flawed and poorly handled public participation process.

The protest was organised by the Community Representation for Blaauwberg (CRB), which has formally challenged the City’s planning process.

CRB chairperson Michelle Collins said residents had been forced to escalate the matter.

“We have taken this much further on behalf of the community. We have sought legal advice, set the legal foundations, and we are now addressing the City Manager and the National Nuclear Regulator. We are taking the matter to the Public Protector,” she said. “We are fighting for a lawful LSDF – one that is safety-led, transparent, and appropriately scaled to fit into existing communities.”

In a statement released on Sunday, November 30, the CRB accused the City of “bulldozing ahead” with the LSDF while refusing to release vital information relating to evacuation and emergency planning within the Koeberg Nuclear Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ).

The group said it had submitted objections on Monday, November 10, and again on November 11, warning that densifying the area without disclosure of the Koeberg Traffic Evacuation Model or proof of evacuation feasibility was unlawful. The first submission called for the LSDF to be suspended until independent experts could assess emergency capabilities.

It also argued that the framework failed to integrate disaster-risk assessments, ignored item 158 of the Municipal Planning By-law and promoted development over Critical Biodiversity Areas and Ecological Support Areas within the UNESCO-recognised West Coast Biosphere Reserve. The second submission expanded on these issues, arguing that the LSDF was incomplete, contradictory and failed to meet statutory requirements.

According to the CRB, the City dismissed the first submission as “premature” and ignored the second, which the organisation says amounts to maladministration.

The draft LSDF proposes placing between 10,000 and 25,000 new residents within the Koeberg Urgent Protective Action Zone, a move the CRB calls reckless given what it argues are overstretched evacuation routes and emergency response limitations.

“Housing does not trump safety, the law, the environment, tourism, liveability, or the rights of the people who already call these neighbourhoods home,” said Ms Collins.

Concerns about the public participation process have also grown, with the CRB saying about 85% of residents who submitted comments received no acknowledgement or reference number.

The organisation has launched a change.org petition calling for the LSDF to be suspended and redrafted, warning that similar processes in other parts of Cape Town show the same pattern of inadequate engagement.

Resident Alana Welsch said she hoped objectors’ voices would be taken seriously. She argued that Erf 1117 contains endangered fauna and questioned why residents are expected to protect sensitive land elsewhere while this site is earmarked for development.

Resident JP Steyn said many people remained unaware of the nuclear safety implications.

He argued that the City should not move forward without direct engagement from the National Nuclear Regulator. “We do not have proper evacuation routes, not enough emergency services, and no adequate infrastructure. We are already overpopulated,” he said.

Community activist Des Palm said Erf 1117 had been disputed for years and accused the City of ignoring its proximity to Koeberg and the site’s ecological sensitivity.

Mayco for Spatial Planning and Environment Alderman Eddie Andrews dismissed the CRB’s claims as incorrect. He said the LSDF was “only a draft” proposing a spatial vision for Big Bay and emphasised that residents have until Friday, December 12, to submit objections or counter-proposals. Any future development, he said, would still require detailed applications, impact studies and full compliance with planning and environmental laws.

He rejected claims that the City was pushing low-cost housing for 25,000 people, saying most proposed development in Big Bay was market-related. Erf 1117, he said, belongs to the National Department of Public Works and has been earmarked for mixed-income housing, but no development application exists. The draft LSDF proposes roughly 3,600 residential units on the site if development eventually proceeds.

Mr Andrews said any development would need to comply with Koeberg Urgent Protection Zone requirements and be phased according to expanded road capacity for emergency evacuation. He added that the City, Eskom and the National Nuclear Regulator were “in full compliance with the law” regarding emergency planning at Koeberg.

With public comments closing on Friday, December 12, residents are urged to send objections to blaauwberg.districtsdf@capetown.gov.za and erf1117comments@gmail.com.

Eskom did not respond to queries before publication.