The Table View Ratepayers’ Association has welcomed a proposed revamp of the Bayside Canal to prevent it overflowing.
Suburb developer Garden Cities appointed SLR Consulting, which has applied to the City of Cape Town to upgrade the canal system. SLR’s proposal was unveiled to the public at an open day at the Table Bay Nature Reserve’s Rietvlei Boma, on Tuesday September 12.
The plan calls for the widening of a section of canal, a system of three reed ponds and two sedimentation ponds to screen litter and debris and the building of a bypass channel to discharge stormwater into Rietvlei during big storms.
Suzette Little, mayoral committee member for area north, said it was premature to give cost estimates or timelines for the plan as it would be linked to the roll-out of future infrastructure by Garden Cities, the developers of Sunningdale and Parklands.
The plan is open to a 30-day public comment and registration period. Comments can be sent to SLR Consulting by no later than Monday October 2.
An environmental impact assessment has yet to be done.
The Table View Ratepayers’ Association (TVRA) called the plan a “critical necessity”.
The association’s spokeswoman, Mandy Da Matta, said: “We need to take care of our environment because if we don’t the future generation will be the one that will suffer. I understand that this is just the beginning phase and is open for public participation, but I think the upgrade should go on as planned.”
The plan calls for the five ponds to be cleaned of waste and debris regularly.
Two of the five ponds will have a diversion system, where if one is clogged, water can be diverted to the other while the clogged one is cleaned.
Residents can play their part by stopping waste and debris from their properties washing into the stormwater system.
