Student village may be under flood threat
JON HOUZET
A PROPOSED development to accommodate hundreds of Stenden South African students will not be able to go ahead unless the municipality resolves stormwater and sewerage problems, the developers have admitted.Port Alfred geologist Dawie van Wyk raised concerns over the proposed Anchor Village in the valley between Muller Drive and Hards Street after seeing how the area was affected by last month’s floods.
Van Wyk used a contour map and photographs to estimate the valley had been flooded with 181-million litres of rainwater at the 13m mark above sea level – the height of the flood. It covered a 17.2ha area and affected more than 20 homes.He expressed concern about the proposed Anchor Village development still being advertised as a "viable investment”.
He contacted the marketing agents, Sotheby’s, and told them it was "unethical to advertise a development that’s under water”.Amanda Broom of the developers, Wize Up Deals, and her development and marketing team met with Van Wyk over his concerns on Tuesday.
Riaan Moller, the consulting engineer for Anchor Village, denied that the developers were "unethical or irresponsible”.He said Wize Up Deals had come up with contingency plans, such as a retaining wall and raising the level of the entire development to one metre higher than the flood level.
Broom said two of the 12-unit three-storey blocks would be relocated so they would not be affected by flooding.They had already sold 18 units and none of their buyers had pulled out, she said.
"We’ve all learnt from this,” said Moller.But he and Broom acknowledged that a permanent solution was needed for stormwater problems.
"We’re not going to develop until we know the municipality is going to resolve the sewerage and stormwater problems at the base of the valley,” said Broom.But she said they could not afford to stop marketing the development in the meantime.
"We can’t scrap the development because we say the municipality is not going to do something,” said Moller.He said he had offered his expertise to the municipality free of charge and acknowledged the stormwater solution proposed by Stewart Scott consulting engineers nine years ago needed to be implemented.
"If it means we must put pressure on the municipality to accept these offers of advice and help, then we must do it,” said Moller."We’re confident that with the shock they’ve had, the municipality will somehow come up with a plan,” said Broom.
"We will not lose confidence in our local authority,” added Moller."This flood is like divine intervention,” said Van Wyk. "What people have been concerned about they (the developers) can now see with their own eyes.
Municipal spokesman Cecil Mbolekwa did not respond to queries about how the municipality would handle the proposed development.
