22 July 2020
5
www.thevillagenews.co.za
Untangling the gridlock on the long-suffering Hermanus Bypass Writer Elaine Davie
M
ention the bypass to the average Joe or Jane on the streets of Hermanus and you’re likely to see their eyes glaze over. Their response might well be something like: “For goodness sake (or stronger words to that effect), what is wrong with these people? I thought it had all gone away.” Well, it seems it hasn’t; it’s back to haunt us. So this is an attempt at Bypass 101 or Bypass for Dummies aimed at engaging Jane and Joe in the Struggle for Freedom from the Bypass.
In a nutshell, what we have here is a titanic wrestling match between the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEA&DP – sjoe!) and the environmentally aware residents of Hermanus, or, in broader strokes, authoritarianism versus democracy, with Overstrand Municipality (OM) apparently flip-flopping between the two, like a fish out of water. During a webinar organised by Whale Coast Conservation (WCC) last week, which was attended by over 90 people, the convoluted facts were laid bare – yet again – and updated, by two of the top Eco-Warriors, Pat Miller and Rob Fryer. And what a saga it has been, starting 12 years ago, in 2008. It seems the DEA&DP has become inexplicably obsessed with diverting drive-through traffic to the outskirts of Hermanus on the R43, instead of through the heart of the town. Because Hermanus is firmly wedged between the mountains and the sea, this was never going to be an easy exercise. Whatever options they suggested (now whittled down to two), something would have to give. And unsurprisingly, that turned out to be the beautiful and biodiverse green lung of Hermanus, Fernkloof Nature Reserve, which was meant to remain the legal preserve of the citizens of Hermanus in perpetuity. Well, you can see why uphill is all they could expect to get. You would have thought Overstrand Municipal-
ity, in the interests of its citizenry, would simply have stamped its foot at the province with a firm No. Unfortunately, it, too, was stuck between a rock and a hard place, because pressure was being placed on it by the business community of the town’s CBD to pedestrianise some of its inner streets to attract more tourists. Cleverly, the province played into the municipality’s dilemma by suggesting that the bypass would remove some of the traffic from the CBD, thereby making this development less problematic. But wait! What has the province and especially its Environmental Affairs Department got to do with the internal reconfiguration of the town’s streets? Absolutely nothing, as the Eco-Warriors point out. Furthermore, in its recently released Final Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report, it admits that its other argument that the travelling time for motorists wishing to bypass Hermanus would be significantly shortened, has fallen firmly on its head. It turns out that the time saved will be no more than – wait for it – two minutes! In any case, its prediction that in the years to come, the volume of traffic wishing to bypass the town would be likely to escalate beyond human imagination, also defies comprehension. (Excuse me? To or from where will it be headed? Stanford, Gansbaai, or for the really intrepid adventurers, Napier or Bredasdorp?)
in the Onrus River catchment area… for five years.” It omits to mention that the piece of Fernkloof it wants amounts to approximately the size of five rugby fields, with considerable collateral damage likely on either side of the road, or that it happens to include some of the most biodiverse fauna and flora in the reserve, according to the environmentalists. It also apparently ignores the fact that approximately 75% of the Onrus catchment area is in the hands of private owners and clearance of the balance is already the responsibility of the municipality. Notwithstanding all these caveats and challenges, the DEA&DP is determined to forge ahead with one of its two proposals and to do so immediately. If it delays, it maintains, the window of opportunity will be irrevocably closed, to be forever regretted in the face of future traffic congestion. Given the total disruption to life as we knew it by the Coronavirus, it’s a brave government indeed which purports to predict the future with any confidence. Finally, the Executive Mayor, Ald Dudley Coetzee entered the fray with a media statement on 6 July which stated in part: “The completed EIA for the suggested Hermanus Bypass Road has been published for public comment. This follows after the original EIA was referred back to the Environmental Consultants to rework certain sections of the document.
Nevertheless, the province has clearly got the bit between its teeth and is determined not to take seriously the 19 380 signatures from the people of Hermanus submitted in two separate petitions, or their 155 written comments, of which only 5 supported the bypass. Neither is it prepared to give credence to the suggestion by the environmentalists that the so-called Relief Road simply be upgraded (Royal Street from the first circle at the western end of the CBD up to and around the circle at Checkers and down to the first circle on the eastern (Woolworths) side of the CBD).
“I wish to once again stress that the view of the Overstrand Council remains unchanged. Namely, that the traffic congestion on the R43 leading into and out of Hermanus, from both the Hawston side as well as the Stanford side, must first be addressed before consideration is given to a possible road being built to allow through traffic to bypass the town.” He went on to add: “Only once this work is also completed should consideration be given to the possible need for a bypass road, and the most suitable route that such a road should follow.”
Instead, it has resorted to bargaining: “If you give us a piece of Fernkloof, we’ll clear the aliens
The Eco-warriors for their part, repeatedly emphasised during the webinar that they were all
for supporting development in Hermanus and agreed that traffic control may well be one such challenge, but under no circumstances should Fernkloof be sacrificed. So the question remains, who trumps whom in this bypass gridlock? Who will finally get things moving again? This Joe, this Jane, is where you come in. If we have learnt anything at all from COVID-19, it is how urgently our planet needs protection, even this small portion in the Overstrand. If you are tired of being pushed around by faceless bureaucrats, with no personal stake in this community, if you never want to hear the word ‘bypass’ again, then, as Pat Miller says, “It’s time to shout, to shout louder and to keep on shouting.” This, says the province, is Hermanus’s last chance to comment on or offer objections to their plan. The Eco-watch team of WCC will be preparing a comprehensive document with just this in mind by 31 July. Now, they state, is when as many individuals and civil society organisations as possible should urgently join their voices to the clamour for common sense to prevail, once and for all. For further information, contact Anina Lee at anina.wcc@gmail.com. A recording of the full webinar is available on WCC’s Facebook and YouTube platforms.
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