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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:30 |
The techniques used by the development industry's sophisticated propaganda machine have been analyzed by the anthropologist A F Robertson. He highlights the language the industry uses to sell it's policies, and stresses that much of it's value rests in "its impression of meaning". He points out that the buzzwords it uses can be 'combined into almost infinite permutations and still "mean" something'.
Robertson illustrates his point by listing the 56 words that occured the most frequently in a planner's lexicon. These are arranged below in four different columns of 14 words. One word can be selected at random from each column to compose a typical four-word development phrase.
For example:
A3, B6, C9 and D12 make "systematically balanced cooperative action"
A12, B9, C6 and D3 construct another fine sounding phrase: "comprehensively mobilised rural participation"
None of these phrases mean anything, yet they are typical of the seductive language that fills the countless speeches, plans, project proposals and glossy pamphlets of the development industry.
Click on image for bigger image
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:30 |
20 March 2008
Source: www.businessday.co.za
Sibongakonke Shoba
Johannesburg
GAUTENG Premier Mbhazima Shilowa has been asked to institute an inquiry into the agriculture, conservation and environment department's approval of at least eight multimillion-rand developments.
The developments include a golf estate on Gary Player's farm.
The call was made by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The DA's Hendrika Kruger said: "These developments involve huge amounts of money that has probably made it very tempting to cut corners or even bribe people of influence."
She said the Blair Atholl golf estate was worth more than R800m with 329 stands at R2,3m-R9m each.
The Clearwater Estate in Boksburg and the Ebotse Golf Country Club in Benoni, where developers allegedly ignored development restrictions, were worth R300m and R500m respectively.
The DA said that agriculture, conservation and environment MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu overruled environmental decisions and advice from experts in his department against certain developments.
"We believe that a commission of inquiry chaired by a senior advocate or a judge is needed to examine all the allegations surrounding these developments, including specifically the role of MEC Mosunkutu and top department officials," Kruger said yesterday.
Department spokesman Sizwe Matshikiza said the DA had asked Shilowa for a commission of inquiry, and the department did not wish to pre-empt his response.
"We remain convinced that decisions taken by MEC Mosunkutu are guided by the constitution of the country, national policies and the Gauteng provincial government's strategic objectives," Matshikiza said.
Kruger said developers of the Blair Atholl golf estate, on Player's land in Fourways, got a positive record of decision in 2005 without the necessary support from experts, who were against the development. The developer began construction in 2004 without approval from local and provincial authorities.
The Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Conservation Association objected and appealed against the development, and wrote to Mosunkutu and Environment Affairs and Tourism M inister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, but to date nothing had happened.
In another case, a developer who allegedly got an illegal positive record of decision in 2005 to build a petrol station on a Boksburg wetland, said Mosunkutu gave him verbal permission to go on with construction as the department lost evidence against him during a fire, Kruger said.
She said that the department had investigated construction of the station after a public outcry, and applied to the Johannesburg High Court for an interdict against the developer to stop construction.
Court papers showed that the then departmental head, Trish Hanekom, gave a negative record of decision, but the developer managed to get a positive decision with Hanekom's forged signature. Kruger mentioned a number of developments where developers had ignored restrictions and had built "right at the floodline".
Concerned parties were ignored or had their appeals turned down when they raised their objections.
Source: www.businessday.co.za
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:29 |
Golf Projects May Leave Mexico Wildlife High and Dry
Eliza Barclay in Mexico City
for National Geographic News
August 24, 2007
Two planned tourism projects may leave a rare and richly diverse Mexican reserve high and dry, scientists say.
Jaguars, sea turtles, and other species in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve in northwestern Jalisco state may face a dire water shortage if developers move forward with their golf-oriented projects, warn researchers at Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM).
In fact, the work may irreversibly damage the area's rare tropical dry forest ecosystem, according to the experts. Unlike their rainy cousins, tropical dry forests have a sub-humid climate, limited water availability, and a dry season that lasts five to eight months.
"Every species in the reserve is sensitive to water availability, and if it becomes less accessible then the balance will be upset," said Alicia Castillo, a researcher with UNAM's Ecosystem Research Center.
"This is not a place where golf courses should go," added Castillo, who is also a member of a technical panel that analyzed the proposed development projects.
Teeming Wildlife
The 32,473-acre (13,141-hectare) Chamela-Cuixmala reserve, located between the cities of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, is exceptionally rich in wildlife.
Some 1,200 plant species, 427 vertebrate species, and more than 2,000 insect species reside at the site, part of UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
Even though the new tourism projects are planned outside the reserve's limits, use of local groundwater will affect all those plants and animals along with nearby wetlands, Castillo said.
Scientists at the UNAM's Biology Institute in Mexico City noted in a recent study that the projects may cause the fragmentation of vegetation, the gradual loss of species, and the eventual disappearance of the egg-laying zones for sea turtles that are already at risk of extinction.
The developers counter that their projects will help maintain the region's ecological equilibrium—or even improve it.
Architect Ari Nieto Vélez, developer of the larger project, known as Tambora, said the site was designed with eco-tourists in mind.
Tambora would go up on a 1,684-acre (681-hectare) parcel of land that directly abuts the reserve. It includes a hotel with a hundred rooms, an 18-hole golf course, and residential lots.
According to Nieto Vélez, the project will require 390 million gallons (1.5 million cubic meters) of freshwater a year, but nearby water resources are ample, developers say.
In a study released in February, however, Castillo and other members of the technical panel noted that the local water resources are not sufficient to meet Tambora's needs.
"The Chamela Arroyo [creek] is the water source for various vertebrate species and constitutes a fundamental habitat for survival during the dry season," the study said. "The arroyo's affectation ... would have a strong impact on the integrity of the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve."
The other project, Careyitos, would sit less than a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the reserve.
The 634-acre (257-hectare) site—now home to mangroves and a section of beach where sea turtles nest—will include 198 homes and 255 hotel rooms and villas.
Jose Manuel Bosoms, the developer of Careyitos, also defended his project as a model of ecotourism.
As much as 88 percent of the site will be preserved for conservation purposes, Bosoms said, and his company will work to maintain biological corridors between the reserve and the ocean.
Bosoms also pointed out that a significant amount of habitat fragmentation has already occurred around the reserve from deforestation by local residents, and that his project will help preserve key habitat.
Both projects, though small compared to many luxury resorts under construction elsewhere along Mexico's coasts, follow a pattern of golf-oriented development that stretches up through Mexico's arid northwestern region into the Baja California Peninsula.
New Data
Despite the promises of environmental protection, the two projects have drawn a flurry of protest in Mexico.
The heirs of Sir James Goldsmith, a Franco-British tycoon, are among the sharpest critics of the planned developments. Goldsmith donated land in 1987 that, combined with gifts from other affluent landowners in the 1970s, ultimately led to the creation of the Chamela-Cuixmala reserve.
In July more than 700 academics and researchers affiliated with the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation called on the Mexican government to cancel the projects' permits and prohibit further tourism development in the area.
And scientists are urging Mexico's environment and natural resources secretariat, Semarnat, not to grant land use permits this month, even though the agency has signed off on environmental impact reports for the projects.
Developers will be unable to begin construction until they receive the permits.
Mauricio Limón Aguirre, the deputy director for environmental protection at Semarnat, said his agency is wrestling with new information provided by scientists on the potential impact of the developments on the reserve.
Semarnat authorized the projects' environmental impact reports late last year, and no formal objections to the projects had been submitted during the public comment period.
The technical panel's report arrived late in the process, but has the potential to affect the approval of the second set of permits, according to Limón Aguirre.
Water is a serious issue of concern, he said, but local water resources are threatened by more than just the developments.
"This is a water-stressed zone, but the local communities are also polluting and misusing the scarce water resources by throwing their wastes in the ocean and streams," he said.
"At least in a development you can impose restrictions. It's harder to do that in the local communities."
Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070824-mexico-reserve_2.html
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:28 |
ANOTHER GOLF ESTATE?
Have we gone completely mad? How are we going to save our inheritance and what kind of future will our children in the Southern Cape have? These are but some of the questions which beg to be answered as we read our local media.
The fact that we are even considering a whole lot more golf courses and estates (the proposed Knysna Sports Development, the Lagoon Bay in Glentana and the Lakes Eco in Sedgefield) is surely complete madness? Of all the uses one could put our precious land and water to, surely everyone would agree that we have enough golf courses and estates . Even for the
most ardent golf player, one already has one's pick of existing, beautiful and challenging golf courses in the Southern Cape.
However it is extremely difficult to find land and resources for other needs. When it comes to housing and homes the Southern Cape has little to offer the middle or low income earners. Houses in this area are simply unaffordable to new home owners with ordinary incomes. Despite the ongoing
development and building in the area, the poor continue to live in overcrowded townships and informal settlements with long waiting lists for housing. Not only is land unaffordable but building costs have sky-rocketed, because materials and labour are being used for second or
third holiday homes for foreigners or non-local South Africans; and to rub salt into the wound, most of these are unoccupied for most of the year.
Where do the average citizens of our region enjoy affordable holidays? The culture of camping at the nearest beach, building community bonds and exposing youth to family values and traditions has been snatched away as exclusive holiday homes, golf estates and now another Sports Development
privatise public spaces. The Southern Cape, and especially Knysna, has a tradition of sustainable living. People have always come to our region to practise sustainable lifestyles, grow food, produce crafts and live in balance with our precious resources. This has given our area the unique atmosphere which visitors are attracted to. Our water is also under threat (simply ask Pezula who were also to use recycled water but whose fairways are dying!). While golf estates are touted as being "environmentally-friendly" (such as within the proposed Knysna Sports Development) even these gobble up in excess of 600 000 litres per day, not to mention the thousands of litres of water residents of such developments use, there are townships and small farmers who do not have adequate water for drinking or to grow food. Are we truly going to allow this? Are we content that the Southern Cape becomes wall to wall elite developments and
golf estates? Is it worth the sacrifice of all that we value and stand for to benefit another already rich developer?
Building low or middle cost housing provides employment and homes for local people, rather than attracting still more people looking for work. Ensuring all have sufficient access to land and secure tenure challenges poverty. Enabling families to access and enjoy our beautiful natural resources forges ties and builds traditions. Using land for mall-scale
agriculture and grazing fosters sustainability. Picnic, fishing and walking areas give the public opportunities to learn and take pleasure from nature, building values and principles in our society.
The Southern Cape has enough golf courses and elite developments. Playgrounds abound for the rich. We plead with the authorities to recognise the other land needs in our region. The old adage, "Do not put all your eggs in one basket" makes economic, social and environmental sense. We have enough golf courses and estates! Let us be creative and
longsighted. Let us ensure we have land to satisfy other needs, to build community values, to foster security. The other option of wall to wall (mountain to sea) elite ghettos behind tall electrified fences while the rest of society scrabble for the scraps is too awful to contemplate.
Marylou Newdigate -
Guardians of the Garden Route
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:28 |
BY: Mr Ebrahim Rasool, Premier of the Western Cape
AT: Langa Sports Hall, Cape Town
13 December 2005
http://www.capegateway.gov.za/eng/pubs/speeches/2005/dec/120480
Today, the Provincial Cabinet had a special sitting in order to have more time to think through the Provincial Spatial Development Framework and to consider the Guidelines for Golf Course Estates Development, Polo fields and Polo Estates Developments. After lengthy discussions spanning two cabinet meetings, cabinet committee meetings and discussions in Cabinet Makgotla, Cabinet this morning supported and endorsed the Guidelines both for Golf and Polo Estate Developments as well as the Provincial Spatial Development Framework.
Minister Essop has, therefore, succeeded in fulfilling her promise to launch these before Christmas as part of our Krismis Box Deliverables. This ensures that the Western Cape is the first Province to respond to the National Spatial Development Plan and is the one Province that has subjected the development of Golf and Polo Estates to our overall objective of ensuring sustainability in everything we do in this Province.
This launch today represents a raft of interventions that send out one single message: Our environment is our core resource. It has to be sustained. It cannot be compromised at the altar of short term returns. It cannot be gambled with between spheres of government, at the hand of promises of jobs by developers, or held to ransom by gifts to officials and politicians.
It is our environment that is the source of well-being and our sought-after lifestyle in this Province. It is our environment that leads to our agricultural output that employs so many in our Province. It is our environment that attracts tourists over long distances to our shores. It is our environment that makes us the custodian of 2/3 of our country's biodiversity.
Our Province launches our PSDF at a time when we are witnessing, unfortunately, the realization of many threats to our planet and our province which were identified many years ago. The reply at the time to those identifying the threats were that they were hippies ringing alarm bells or that they were simply privileged people who were now anti-development. These are matters we will continue to debate.
Yet, who can argue against the fact that the world's collective negligence has plunged the Western Cape into a 3 year drought cycle where we face both water scarcity and poor water quality. Is this not a wake-up call?
Who can argue against the fact that traffic congestion and air pollution is beginning to negate the positive advantages of living in the most scenic and beautiful piece of Earth imaginable? Is this not a call to commitment and planning?
Who can argue against the fact that already we have lost or destroyed some of our most fertile agricultural land, scenic landscapes and vast tracts of Earth containing some of the most unique and rich sources of biodiversity? Is this not a call to action?
We have to respond to all of these challenges, as well as the challenges posed by migration patterns, the pressures for housing land, the need for economic growth beyond the 6% target set by the President, and the need for racial, linguistic and cultural integration based on the spatial integration of the Province.
The main criticism we will face is that we are making it difficult to develop in the Western Cape. Cabinet will reply very succinctly that:
A predictable set of criteria for development within a set time frame for decision-making will always be preferable than long, drawn out decision-making based on arbitrary decisions by individuals, and the ability to bribe those decision-making individuals.
Even before an investor decides on a development, that investor is influenced by a map that predicts the degree of difficulty that will be encountered by the developer, alternatively by the degree of ease. This will save undue time and costs even in pitching for a particular development.
The result of today's launch of this raft of policy interventions will result in a consistency from National through Province to Local and will begin to mean that IDP's are in the image of PGDS's which will reflect the imperatives of the NSDP. This should result in a consistency of decision-making.
These I believe begin to make the Western Cape a Province that is fundamentally investor-friendly because it eliminates arbitrariness in decision-making, minimizes corruption from officials and developers, and ensures predictability in the development processes.
Another criticism that Cabinet anticipated is that Historically-Disadvantaged Businesses may complain that at the point at which they are ready to enter the lucrative golf and polo estate market, we are making it harder to enter.
Any black business that enters, cannot enter at the ethical levels of the apartheid era. We have to set new standards. Apartheid planned only until the end of Apartheid whereas we have to plan into a future without end. Therefore, our enduring ethic has to be sustainability.
Secondly, we can be green and black at the same time. In shutting down the era of wanton, unsustainable development, we recognize that in many of these developments, HDI's or blacks or "the community" have been appendages to the main deal. What we launch today, says that any approvals for developments - golf, polo, resort or any other kind of development - must be green ie sustainable and must be black ie empowering in fundamental ways.
Thirdly, in anticipation of a development levy, we begin to create the basis for incentives to win the rights to develop in the Province. No longer will we simply be fooled by the first developer who entices us with the promise of jobs, jobs, jobs, or win community support through a donation to the crèche. We need cross-subsidisation to areas of life in the Western Cape that have proven to be difficult - such as housing and land reform.
Today's launch invites developers to offset the housing backlogs in the Western Cape with the proceeds of the development.
Lastly, the PSDF also begins to overcome the spatial legacy of apartheid. We are still divided in the Province along racial lines. We are still fearful and suspicious of those who look, talk and pray differently. We rarely get to see the hearts and souls of our fellow citizens. All of this is so because we are physically separated. We are ghettoized as Coloureds, Africans, and Whites. The PSDF begins the hard process of reintegrating us, of ensuring that the Western Cape will become a Home for All.
In this Home for All, the PSDF is the fountainhead of all our Growth and Development Strategies. It will integrate us where we live. It must create possibilities for economic development. It must be the template for our infrastructure investment. It must drive our skills development. It must be underpinned by our Social Capital Strategy.
The Western Cape is at a Crossroads. We cannot go back to familiar development paths. They are unsustainable. We cannot solve our problems at the hand of short-term gain. We cannot right the wrongs of the past with short-sighted relief. The wrongs will only re-emerge again. The government of the Western Cape invites you to join us on the hard, steep and difficult road of sustainable development. The rewards will be good, long term and ensure that the goose always lays her eggs.
Only then can we say that, indeed, the Sustainable Home for All is being built in the Western Cape.
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:27 |
Tough guidelines laid down for luxury estates
By Ben Maclennan - The Herald - http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n20_14122005.htm
Cape Town – THE golf estate industry became a whole new ball game yesterday when the Western Cape government released a demanding set of guidelines for prospective developments.
The 72-page document – approved only hours earlier by the provincial cabinet – calls on developers to provide low-income and “social” housing on their land.
The guidelines, which also deal with non-residential golf courses and with polo fields and estates, follow mounting concern at the proliferation of golf estates along the Southern Cape coast in particular.
Critics say the estates create gated high-income enclaves that contribute little to surrounding communities, and that they have a disproportionate impact on water resources, and often use up valuable agricultural land.
The document itself says in a preamble that golf estates outside of urban edges “could ruin what is left of this province’s socio-economic base”.
Environment and planning MEC Tasneem Essop said that the guidelines would lead to a “sustainable development” approach to decision-making about golf estates, taking account of ecological protection, economic development and social justice.
Chief director for planning in her department Rudi Ellis said the document was meant to aid provincial and municipal officials in evaluating applications, and developers in making those applications.
Though the guidelines were not law, they would result in much more thorough consideration of development proposals.
The document says all golf courses and estates and polo fields and estates “shall provide serviced land and top structures” for low- and middle-income housing, in addition to on-site housing for the estates’ own employees.
It sets a figure of 20 per cent for this, which the province’s overarching spatial development framework (SDF), also released yesterday, talks of as “a proportion of the total number of units and not area of land”.
“In instances where it is not appropriate for low-income or social housing to be located on the same site as the main project because of the principle of socio-economic gradient or other considerations, such housing should not be located further than walking distance,” the SDF says.
Premier Ebrahim Rasool said the environment was “our core resource” and had to be sustained.
“It cannot be compromised at the altar of short-term returns. It cannot be gambled with between spheres of government, at the hand of promises of jobs by developers, or held to ransom by gifts to officials and politicians,” he said. – Sapa
By Ben Maclennan - The Herald - http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/news/n20_14122005.htm
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:26 |
By Melanie Gosling - Dec 14,2005 Cape Times - http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=269&fArticleId=3034124
The Western Cape government launched four hard-hitting policy documents yesterday that are designed to ensure that future development in the province does not damage the natural environment by developers out to make a quick buck.
The documents, which focus on resorts, golf estates and putting a brake on urban sprawl, say development in the province must in future be both "green and black" - environmentally sustainable and empowering to the black community.
The Western Cape government convened a special cabinet meeting yesterday to approve the Western Cape Spatial Development Framework, the Provincial Urban Edge Guideline, Guidelines for Resort Developments and Guidelines for Golf and Polo Estates.
The policies stipulate certain "no-go" development areas and address urban sprawl.
Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool said at the launch that the documents sent out "one single message": that the environment was our core resource, which had to be protected and not "compromised on the altar of short-term returns".
He said the province was at a crossroads and could not continue on its current development path, which was environmentally unsustainable. We were already experiencing a shortage of water, traffic congestion, air pollution, the loss of agricultural land, the destruction of scenic landscapes and of "vast tracts of earth containing some of the most unique and rich sources of biodiversity".
Rasool said the policies would:
Provide a predictable set of development criteria within a set time for decision-making.
Provide a map that predicted the degree of difficulty or ease a developer would experience in different regions when applying for development approvals.
"Minimise" corruption among officials, politicians and developers.
Lay the foundation for a development levy that would cross-subsidise housing or land reform in the province.
Create a template for the province's infrastructural development.
Tasneem Essop, MEC for environment, planning and economic development, said yesterday if the province did not address "the way we develop, we are going to push the province into further crisis".
She said some of the objectives of the spatial development framework were to remove the apartheid structure in urban settlements, reduce spatial inefficiencies, promote public and non-motorised transport, invest scarce public money where it generated the highest return, support land reform, protect biodiversity and agricultural land and minimise the consumption of natural resources.
She said current urban development was like a doughnut with a "hole" in the centre where there was little development and residents had moved out.
It should be like a cupcake, where residents are attracted back to the urban centre.
One of the central themes of the policy on resorts is that the authorities must not allow resort developments to become "vehicles for covert, permanently inhabited township establishments".
Resort zoning was intended to allow holiday housing for temporary occupation, outside the normal township development, in sought-after natural areas.
The spatial development framework says towns and cities must densify to combat urban sprawl.
Strict guidelines for golf and polo estates include a compulsory specialist study on water resources to determine whether the amount of water the golf course would need could be sustained over 20 years. Golf courses use an average of 2 million litres of water a day.
Public access to beaches or other resources may not be cutoff by golf estates. All golf course and polo developments will have to provide serviced land and houses to an approved subsidised housing scheme or alternatively to a fund set up for social housing.
An economic assessment will be required, and any predictions of job creation will have to include a breakdown of the number of permanent and temporary jobs and the duration of jobs.
No golf course or polo fields will be allowed in nature reserves, critically endangered habitats or river corridors.
By Melanie Gosling - Cape Times - http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=269&fArticleId=3034124
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:25 |
The tyranny of the golf-playing fraternity
The Herald - http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/2005/12/12/news/n18_12122005.htm
I AM a member of a discriminated against minority. No, I am not talking race, nor am I really on about gender issues (although gender does sometimes have a bearing). What I am talking about is the fact that I’m part of management, but I don’t play golf.
So because I do not play the little white ball or wish to, on any of South Africa’s hundreds of golf courses (apparently there are at least 544 in Africa as a whole), I cannot simply disappear from the office on Wednesday afternoons.
It also means that I am excluded from an important network within the company, much like the non-smokers.
What brought this unofficial superstatus of golf home to me recently were some answers from the Merafong municipality in Gauteng on the issue of “the Merafong City Mayoral Golf Initiative”. It stoutly defended its decision to subsidise senior management’s membership of the local golf club out of the council’s publicity expenditure.
Such membership was good “stress release” for senior management and would “engage the current Merafong business community . . . in order to ensure that their business remains in Merafong City”. I presume the Merafong ratepayers are happy with this arrangement.
I would not be pleased, however, if I were to find out I was paying for council employees’ membership of a golf club. And what if they don’t play golf, but want to belong to a tennis club, or a healing yoga class? Will those fees also be paid?
It was when I first began working in companies that I discovered the Wednesday afternoon phenomenon. Somewhat amazed, I watched our managers exit on Wednesdays, along with our rare – in those days – black sales manager, who was equally golf-struck.
They did not have to fill in slips of paper or get permission. It was simply accepted that if you were playing golf, it was OK to be out of the office.
Golf knows no race divide in South Africa today. The black power elite is out on the courses of Africa and the world, steadfastly ignoring the colonial past of the game.
They are just as capable as their white counterparts were in the past of boring non-golfers with their stories and the irony of the fact that some of the championships are called Masters seems to pass them by.
It is also not a gender thing. Females are just as eager to get on to the manicured greens and Femina magazine is making the most of this trend. It’s partnering the second Women’s World Cup of Golf at Sun City in January, and bringing out a special golf and lifestyle magazine to go with it.
Like King Canute, I’m fighting a tide that will not turn back. Soon every day will be marked by a corporate golf day.
I have searched through Fortune 500 and Forbes, also the Financial Mail and Finweek, but so far I have not seen any quantification of the deals concluded while on a golf course.
The physical benefits of walking relatively slowly along the course, while someone carries the heavy stuff, then indulging in some hard tack afterwards, also escape me. The golfers I come across certainly cannot be called athletes.
So why can ties no longer be forged and deals made in the traditional way – over lunch at a restaurant? The long lunch is something we can all do if we have an entertainment allowance.
Golf also looms when I think about my life after work. Where will I live when I am retired?
Are there any secure estates being built that come without verdant greens as far as the eye can see and the ever-present threat of a white ball through the living room window?
Several months ago President Thabo Mbeki criticised golfing estates for occupying the best land while the poor were pushed to the far-flung fringes of our cities.
My anti-golf estates stance is less worthy and socially democratic and more selfish, but I do think it is just as valid.
While Mbeki criticises gated golf estates, however, his Tourism Minister, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, is gleefully anticipating an upswing in golfing tourism and Pimville in Soweto is building a new course. In full view, presumably of the very poor Mbeki feels are being sidelined.
It is probably the wrong time of year to have written this tirade. After all you are probably looking forward to endless days of playing golf or watching golf on television.
Since I’m not going to see any downturn in golf mania in my lifetime – kids aged three to 12 are now taking up the sport and holding their own championships – I should simply take strength in the fact that my own home and family is a golf-free zone.
Of course, with the rate the sport is growing, there’s the strong prospect that the girl my son brings home for dinner one day will be a golfer. But until then, I‘ll hang on to my prejudice.
The Herald - http://www.theherald.co.za/herald/2005/12/12/news/n18_12122005.htm
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Posted by Enviroadmin
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:25 |
Golf estates will increase anger of the poor and unemployed
December 12, 2005 - Cape Times - http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=273&fArticleId=3031080
The Executive Mayoral Committee of George has taken a decision which will have extremely serious consequences on all who live in this beautiful region...From Angela Conway, The Southern Cape Land Committee, George
By approving the Lakes Eco Golf Development and Lagoon Bay Lifestyle Resort, apparently without referring to the full environmental impact report, the George Council has invited violent reaction from emerging small-scale farmers who will be further prevented from accessing land.
Cattle are impounded in the townships of George, Pacaltsdorp, Great Brak and Sedgefield and people are becoming increasingly poor, yet the council approved more than 2 000ha being removed from agricultural use to provide pleasure to an elite few.
Farmers will not be pacified for long. There is a growing anger which will spill over, especially as people watch our natural heritage of land and resources further removed and placed in the hands of a rich few.
George and some surrounding towns have had water restrictions imposed within the last month. Ironically, these restrictions do not apply to golf courses.
Seaside resorts are wondering how they will survive the holiday season. Yet the George municipality, in its wisdom, approved these two developments which have multiple golf courses.
It is worth noting that George uses around 28 megalitres of water per day, which is equivalent to the amount nine golf courses use in a day. Can this already water-short and golf-rich area really afford more golf estates?
Unemployment levels in George have risen despite the development and expansion of golf estates. It is simply untrue that these developments address unemployment. What is true is that more people will move to the area, and unemployment will continue to grow.
George council must surely recognise the need for a fresh approach to the inequalities of wealth. We need to prioritise land redistribution, sustainable livelihoods and human settlements to begin to address poverty.
As the affluent flaunt their wealth in the form of exclusive developments, so the frustration and anger of the poor must grow.
The developers and their clients will hide behind huge fences while ordinary residents will be faced with growing poverty and unrest.
Both of these developments fly in the face of the guidelines contained in the Provincial Spatial Development Plan. If decision-makers are not prepared to adhere to rules and guidelines, the rape of the environment will continue.
Let us, the people of the Garden Route, demand that our resources are protected to benefit all.
Angela Conway
The Southern Cape
Land Committee
George
December 12, 2005 - Cape Times - http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=273&fArticleId=3031080
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Posted by INGELA RICHARDSON
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Monday, 24 May 2010 18:24 |
Dear Editor
Anyone who walks past a golf course will have seen the inevitable sprinklers watering the greens. As the expression goes, "spending money like water". South Africa is a predominantly dry nation - part desert in fact. But no one who reads the advertising for proposed golfing developments such as the 18 hole "golfing estate" planned for Gonubie would believe it. Where does the water come from? Port Elizabeth has had water restrictions due to low dam levels and lack of water supplies. East London is just next door. And yet water-wasting industries continue to be planned. Who is going to pay the bills in the end? Not the industries who make deals for preferrential treatment in the form of cheap electricity and water. It is the general consumer who will be restricted in water usage and charged for the privilege.
Yours faithfully
INGELA RICHARDSON
GONUBIE
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