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Tuesday 15 March 2011
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Government cleans up on Chappies contract erator, but also amongst residents who use the road on a regular basis. LOSURE of the scenic ChapIn September 2009, a group of man’s Peak Drive will no about 200 people marched to the longer be decided on only by the closed gate of Chapman’s Peak to road’s operator, Entilini, but in demand that the road be opened afpartnership with the Provincial ter it had been closed for almost a Government (PGWC) of the year, due to extensive repairs (“ReWestern Cape roads authority. open Chappies now”, People’s Post, 1 September 2009). ResiThe new dents’ assocontract alciations lows the from Hout province to Bay and insist on the Noordhoek road remainhave largeing open if it ly welis convinced comed this that the new resolurisks of dotion, but ing so do not some also pose a dansay Chapger to road man’s Peak users. should not SCENIC ROUTE: An aerial shot of Chapman’s The PGremain a Peak Drive shows some of the catchment WC will take toll road. nets used to shield the road from rock slides. responsibilA new Photo: www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za ity for the contract berisks associtween Entilini and the Provincial ated with closing the road. Department of Transport and PubLen Swimmer, chairperson of the lic Works was signed on Tuesday 8 Residents’ and Ratepayers’ AssociMarch, following 12 months of ation of Hout Bay, says the departlengthy negotiations. Chapman’s ment “did well” with the new conPeak has not been closed in 2011, ex- tract. He says that if the authorities cept for the weekend’s Pick n Pay are true to their word, the road will Cape Argus Cycle Tour. only be closed for short amounts of Although the scenic toll road has time when maintenance is being not yet been closed in 2011, closures done. have been a controversial matter He says the department will no and contested in the past, not only longer pay Entilini when Chapbetween the Department and the op- man’s Peak is closed, which was the DALEEN FOUCHÉ
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AU NATUREL: Cape Town was one of 50 sites around the world to participate in a cheeky protest against oil dependency and the car culture on Saturday March 12 by celebrating the bicycle and the power and individuality of the human body. To symbolise the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic, many cyclists were semiclad as they rode down the Fan Walk in Green Point. Photo: Nasief Manie/Foto 24
case in the previous contract. Rory Sales, chairperson of the Noordhoek Conservancy, also welcomes the decision that road closures must be agreed upon by both the department and Entilini. He says the previous agreement stated that if there is only a “vague chance” of a rock fall, the operator should close the road. Sales says incidents in which people are injured or killed during a rock fall are “very rare”. The negotiations for the revised agreement were triggered by Robin Carlisle, Western Cape MEC for Transport and Public Works, who was concerned that the previous contract was not favourable to the provincial government as large stipends had to be paid to Entilini, even when the road was not in use but closed for repairs. Under the new contract, the two parties have agreed to construct a permanent toll plaza to replace the current, temporary one at the Hout Bay end of Chapman’s Peak Drive. This will cost R53 million, of which the provincial government will pay R25 million.
Entilini retains the right under the new contract to construct a permanent plaza at Noordhoek should this be deemed necessary in future. The previous contract also included plans for a toll plaza at the Noordhoek side of the road, but this was met by a legal challenge by Cape Point Vineyards owner Sybrand van der Spuy, as one of his properties borders Chapman’s Peak Road. Van der Spuy has now suspended the review in light of the department’s decision to not build a Noordhoek toll plaza for the time being. Sales welcomes the decision by Entilini and government not to build a toll plaza at the Noordhoek side of the road. He says the slopes and mountainside on the Noordhoek side of the road would have to be flattened for construction to take place, and says that introducing a toll plaza here would not be “viable”. While Van der Spuy does not object to the planned Hout Bay toll plaza, he is “surprised” at the R53 million budgeted for its construction, believing it is excessive. He says the
current toll plaza is adequate for its purpose. Swimmer agrees that it is “crazy, mad and appalling” to spend R53 million on a toll plaza. “There is no reason why we cannot continue using the current toll plaza,” he says. Swimmer maintains that a toll is not needed on Chapman’s Peak. He argues that very few people use the toll road any way. “People are avoiding it by driving over Ou Kaapse Weg,” he says. Swimmer says the toll contributions are not significant enough to contribute to the upkeep of the road. He says he has discussed the toll with Carlisle, who was “adamant” that the facility will remain. Sales recognises the need for a toll, but says the charges to drivers are too high. If the charges were more reasonable, he says, more people would use Chapman’s Peak Road, taking pressure off Ou Kaapse Weg. He says that both Noordhoek and Hout Bay residents who travel on Chapman’s Peak on a frequent basis have been asking for a discount on the toll road, but with no success.
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