The Mercury 08 aug 07 ( Tony Carnie )

Sandcastles on the slopes of a volcano
August 08, 2007 Edition 1
POOR Pastor Ray McCauley seems to be caught somewhere between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Barely two years after retiring to a luxury beachfront villa in Durban for a well-earned rest, the cruel sea is eating away relentlessly at the rather sandy foundations of his home in Eastmoor Crescent, La Lucia.
His front boundary wall has toppled over. If the sea carries on misbehaving, the front lawn, swimming pool and possibly his very home could end up in the drink.
Were it not for the charity of his neighbour, Norman Reeves, Pastor Ray might be batting from a much stickier wicket.
Documents before Acting High Court Judge Nigel Hollis suggest the Rhema Church founder benefited indirectly from Reeves's sand-redistribution adventures, because quite a bit of the sand scooped up from the beach in front of the Oppenheimer residence in Forest Drive also landed in front of Pastor Ray's pozzie.
Mrs O, whose mansion is set quite a distance back from the beach, is less than charmed. Her family seems to have done quite a good job in preserving the indigenous vegetation and sand dune cordon in front of Milkwood House. She would prefer to keep it that way.
It's quite remarkable, in fact, to see just how much beach sand there is in front of Milkwood, compared to Eastmoor Crescent, where homes and several neatly manicured gardens are so much closer to the beach.
Crumbling
And now, to heap insult upon injury, poor Norm and Pastor Ray face a new legal obstacle in defending their homes. The new Integrated Coastal Management Bill, recently approved by the cabinet, will make it an offence for landowners to fortify their crumbling coastal boundaries when the high-tide mark shifts capriciously.
In short, the new Bill recognises that the coastline is a dynamic, unpredictable environment.
Rather than encouraging people to build houses on the slopes of a volcano, the state has a duty to ensure that property developers have respect for the forces of nature - including the very real risk of climate change and rising sea levels.
The new Bill has another purpose: to ensure that the coastline remains public property rather than just one more piece of prime real estate to be privatised and defaced by the wealthy or unscrupulous.
This phenomenon has been most noticeable along the Cape coastline, but one needs only to look towards Zimbali or Vetch's Pier to spot similar trends closer to home.
But should the state and taxpayers be obliged now to pick up the tab for such ill-considered development?
Yet the sea has sent us a timely reminder that it is not to be trifled with. Buyers need to think more carefully when they splash out on a new sandcastle.