The department of environmental affairs has granted the Schoenmakerskop Ratepayers & Residents’ Association 20 days’ extension to the deadline for appeals against the approval of a proposed sand mine just outside the village.
The association e-mailed the department on July 12, calling for the July 18 deadline to be extended by 30 days.
Correspondence viewed by The Herald shows Mmatsatsi Maboko in the department’s appeals and legal review division responded the next day – rejecting the request.
But after an e-mail from the association, she responded on Tuesday that, while 30 days could not be granted, 20 days was approved, meaning the deadline was now August 1.
Schoenmakers Mining, a holding company of Glendore Sand & Stone, wants to mine the sand to supply building projects.
The site is a 5ha piece of land on the west side of Victoria Drive just off the road and 1km out of Schoenmakerskop.
The project was approved by the department of mineral resources on June 26 despite objections lodged by the residents’ association.
This ruling was conveyed to the association via Algoa Mining Consulting Engineers, consultants to the applicant mining firm, on June 28.
In its appeal for an extension, the association told the environment department it had received no substantive response from the mineral resources to the objections and it needed time to consult legal and environmental experts to allow it to properly formulate its appeal.
This was related partly to the “Undetermined” zoning of the site in question and the August 29 2017 ruling in the Port Elizabeth High Court, related to a similar dispute in Lake Farm, that mining could only take place on land zoned Industrial 3.
The metro, which owns the land, has said the site falls within the Open Space System, and development had been limited because of environmental sensitivity.
The metro had said it would appeal against the department’s approval of the project.
Besides the zoning issue, the residents’ association has objected that a historic World War 2 lookout post on the summit of a dune on the site will be destabilised if mining goes ahead.
The association also has concerns regarding heavy-truck traffic on Victoria Drive from the mining site, a negative effect of mining on fynbos and wildlife in the area, and an end to the economy-boosting Ironman event in the Bay.