Deciding on the future of the Point

The Mercury

September 14, 2007 Edition 1
Greg Ardé
The Durban Point Development Company, an entity half-owned by ratepayers, is hoping that its controversial plans to build a signature waterfront will be approved in January.
If they are, the DPDC believes this will unlock upwards of R3.8 billion in property investments over three years.
If the plans are not approved, the company believes the Point will be ruined and that the more than R2 billion sunk into the area since 2000 will be at risk.
The jury is out on that decision. The passion of DPDC protagonists is matched only by the vociferousness of objectors anxious not to have a small craft harbour at Vetch's, the shallow reef designed for safe entrance into the harbour in the 1800s by Captain James Vetch.
The Point's future hinges on how the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs weighs up the pros and cons of reconfiguring the beach and reducing the water surface from 16ha to 9ha.
'Gain'
"There is a sacrifice to be had," said DPDC Project Director Neels Brink, "but you have to weigh that up against the wider gain for Durban. This is an iconic waterfront.
If we don't go ahead (with the small craft harbour), it will be a financial disaster for the Point and we'll end up with a few two-star hotels, some drab restaurants and a canal that looks like (Johannesburg's) Randburg Waterfront."
Brink has borne the brunt of criticism from watersport clubs, whose 5 000 members enjoy pride of place at Vetch's.
They believe the DPDC wants to privatise public land and alienate people from Vetch's. The skiboat club has legal opinion that the DPDC has no right to take ownership of the sea to build a hotel near the reef or residential flats alongside the new north pier, being constructed by the National Ports Authority (NPA).
Brink said the NPA had a legal opinion that it owned the sea.
The public will not be able to access about 10% of the total DPDC land around the residential sites built on land reclaimed alongside the new pier.
"Presently, the land doesn't exist, so nothing is taken away from anyone," said Brink.
By compromise with objectors and the city council, the DPDC had revised plans to increase Vetch's beach and to set buildings back from the sea, except the hotel that had moved inside the small craft harbour, Brink said. He argued that the history of the Point redevelopment was important.
It became a reality in about 2000, when the then head of the city's Economic Development Unit, Viv McMenamin, outlined Durban's vision of investing in economic generators such as the R750 million uShaka Marine World.
The Point was repackaged after a failed attempt to attract big Malaysian investment. Tongaat-Hulett Development agreed to manage the initiative in return for joint development of Riverhorse Business Park alongside the N2, which has attracted billions of rands in investment and opened up transport routes between the city centre and KwaMashu and Phoenix.
Back to the Point: sitting beside the city-funded marine theme park is the DPDC land, 55ha of prime real estate, the first phase of which was bought up by private developers in 2002-03.
The DPDC has since invested R160 million in canals, roads and infrastructure in the precinct, while just outside, the city has spent R300 million upgrading a substation, sewage works and roads, most notably Point and Shepstone streets.
In total, there is 575 000m2 of space in the precinct (that is a bulk figure and represents multistorey buildings). To date about 200 000m2 has been sold, and about 60% of that has been developed, which has lured investment of more than R1 billion, which has tripled property prices outside the precinct.
There are about 400 flats in various buildings in the DPDC, and if the developers have their way, many more are to come.
The average selling price of apartments is R12 000/m2, compared with between R16 000 and R18 000 in Umhlanga.
Brink believes the remaining 375 000m2 of bulk could be sold and developed by 2011, if the government gives the Point's small craft harbour the green light.
At a building cost of R10 000/m2 that means an investment of R3 billion, excluding the R800 million required for the marina and surrounding infrastructure.
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And, more importantly, argues Brink, the Point will do for Durban what Cape Town's waterfront did to transform that city's status internationally.
Harbour
But, much hinges on the small craft harbour.
DPDC design consultant Nathan Iyer says Durban's so-called Golden Mile is a 10km stretch of beach that is "pretty much the same". The DPDC proposes accommodating all watersports in a single 2 500m2 club area, although some members describe this as "cramped".
Iyer says the length of the beach below uShaka will be expanded from 153m to 234m and, by pulling inland, increased from 3 794m2 to 10 909m2. Public space, he says, will be increased from 1.5ha to 3.6ha.
"But it will be different and the sacrifice is that the water surface area of Vetch's will be reduced by more than a quarter," said Brink.
The DPDC says it has taken heed of environmental concerns and will not interfere with the reef at Vetch's. Instead, it will build a new reef running alongside the historic one.
The plans for the hotel at the southern point of Vetch's Reef envisage building up to the height of the Bluff headland (25 storeys/about 60m), with an underwater link to acres of basement parking beneath the mainland.
Pravin Amar, the consultant commissioned by the DPDC, said the National Environmental Management Act demanded that developments be people-centred, and take into account the "broader interests" of society. "There is a trade-off to be made with this development. The question is: Who accepts the trade-off?"
Brink says the development will be world-class and would open up a public space that was being commandeered, and in some instances fenced off, by a minority - the members of water sports clubs.
Chris Sutton, who started the Save Vetch's Campaign using the pen name the "Water Rat", said the Point could become an asset to Durban if the small craft harbour was placed inside the port.
Plans for the small craft harbour over Vetch's were: "Rubbish. If they build it they will kill paddleskiing, windsurfing and catamaran sailing.
'Bigger picture'
"The DPDC wants to reduce that beach. They are not looking at the bigger picture. The beach could be developed like Suncoast was, with grass and some huts," said Sutton.
According to an economic impact assessment study, the Point will contribute more than R1.2 billion a year to South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) if the small craft harbour is built and the area is adequately marketed to tourists.
The study says 5 600 construction jobs will be created and 6 300 permanent jobs, if sufficient tourists are attracted there.
"On economic grounds, the project should proceed promptly."
The study says the loss to existing watersports is "almost inconceivable".
The assessment says watersports contribute R490 million a year to GDP and are responsible for 3 800 jobs a year.
The study said the city might have to bail the Point out financially if the project did not go ahead in its entirety. It also recommended "extreme care" in the treatment of Vetch's Pier.
Ultimately, the provincial department will weigh up the arguments. Whatever the decision, there will be some unhappy people. Only time will tell what is in the best interests of the people of Durban. Another public meeting is scheduled for 9am on September 29.
Most of the information relating to the studies and the public process on the Point is available for download at www.pravinamar.com. A hard copy is available at the Durban Central Library.