And they said it could not be done!

When we got back from our holiday recently I had a good laugh as we drove past the Mount Road Police station and saw all this scaffolding in place.

When the moves were still afoot to build the 10111 call centre at Richmond Park, the developers vehemently rejected all our suggestions to convert part of the police station into the call centre. There were many "good" reasons for this, which suddenly dissipated when the development was stopped at Richmond Hill. It just goes to show that you can never trust the spin.

This is only a temporary measure to gear up for the 2010 World Cup Soccer and until the new centre is built on the site in Korsten.

Never give up

On the 13 December 2008 I first wrote about the objections of the Richmond Hill community to the proposed development a four storey call centre and the erection of a 50 metre high lattice mast in our area and I kept a link to various articles and letters on the subject in my side bar.

This view across the park from our home would have been lost forever

I am now delighted to report that the developers have finally got the message and have decided to move this project to another site. We have heard many rumours of this over the past month that this was going to happen and it was finally confirmed in the Herald on Friday, that "Police Call Centre to go up in Korsten instead". Needless to say that community has received no official confirmation of this.

The SA Police Service and the National Department of Public Works thought they were in for an easy ride when tried to push the development through, with a minimal and flawed public participation process, somewhat remiscent of the the old apartheid regime. Their intention was to start building in January this year, so as to have the call centre completed in time for the 2010 World Cup Soccer event.

Proposed building site with the public participation notices in the foreground - after the excavations were covered

They were the only people who did not think that the siting of the call centre and the mast was ill conceived and dismissed our objections as emotive. Our objections were based on:

• Quality of life - a 24/7 operation (call centre and workshop) in a residential area will never be welcomed with open arms
• Property values - a loss of a sea view means a loss of up to 15% of the value of ones property
• Character of the neighbourhood - a hideous modern 4 storey building and a 40 metre high lattice mast will do nothing to enhance the characrer of the neighbourhood
• Impact on heritage - Richmond Hill has a lot of beautiful historical buildings and does not need another eyesore, especially between two historical monuments.
• Health concerns - there are world wide concerns about having radio masts in one's back yard
• Impact on the historical Mfengu burial ground

Believe it or not, they wanted to erect the building on a historical burial site, of the Mfengu community that dates back to the 1800's. The Mfengu community was forcibly removed in 1903 and their old cemetary eventually lost its identity through neglect and the actions of previous oppressive regimes. Our feeling was that this was an important part of our heritage that should not be lost.

If it had not been for the community objections they would have proceeded with the project and obliterated the graveyard.

Since December last year the process got bogged down in a Historical Impact assessment. This eventually culminated in archeologists digging up parts of the site with a backhoe on 15 April and the unearthing a number of graves. On the same day they started another enviromental impact assessment, as they had decided to put the mast on a differest site - this unleashed another wave of protest.

Backhoe at work unearthing the graves - not a very sensitive approach

Two weeks ago Suzi-k got E-TV to do a slot on the development. Even though the new site had already been secured, one of the prime movers on the development still seemed to have a problem with the truth, by claiming that the development was going ahead regardless.

This view of the Erica Building from St Phillips Street would have been blocked by the new building

What this process has highlighted is that we do not have to accept the crap fed to us by the bureaucrats. It is one of the advantages of liviving in a country with a liberal constitution - i we take a strong enough stand with well reasoned and factual arguments we can win the day.

It does oncern me though is that the public participation process was followed merely to satisfy a legal requirement, rather that to listen to the concerns of those who were directly affected by the development. What eventually tipped the scales for us was the discovery of human remains on the site - all our other concerns were previously dismissed as emotive.

The reality is that we persevered and we won the day.

To be or not to be #2 - Keep it green

From about the mid 1800's until 1903, when they were forcibly removed from the area, the Mfengu people lived in Richmond Hill, in an area that was known as the Strangers Location. These were people who worlded predominantly on offloading ships that arrived in the Bay. The Strangers Location was established by an act of Parliament, which meant that there was security of tenure. That is until the bubonic plague broke out and as a result of sweeping powers that were granted to get rid of the plague, the Strangers Location was burned to the groound and the residents were moved to New Brighton.

The park in Richmond Hill was originally the cemetary of the Mfengu resident and is recorded as such on the early maps of the city. Over the years the cemetary became public open space and eventually a park. Part of it was integrated as a playground for the old Erica School.

The old Erica School Play ground, which is marked on the old maps as part of the cemetary, looking towards the St Phillips Church, which was established in 1884 to serve the community.

The National Department of Public Works and the SA Police service now want to build a 1011 call centre and a 50 metre lattice mast on part of the cemetary, but before they can do so they have to comply with with the heritage laws. This requires that the NPWD and the SAPS have to follow a lengthy public participation process before they can even consider building on the site. Hopefully the reaction of the Mfengu people and the duration of this process will throw a spanner in the works and they will rethink their blighted strategy.

Notice required by the developers to locate persons with an interest in the cemetary. The fact that this should be in the official languages of the province, does not seem to have occurred to the developers.

We certainly do not want an ugly four storey admin building dumped on the edge of our park and will continue with our protest action. We feel that this should remain a green area and that a small monument should be erected on the site, in memory of the contribution of the Mfengu, to the early development of the city.

To be or not to be - Part 1

The activist in me has re-emerged after lying dormant for many years, so here goes.......time to vent my spleen.

The community of Richmond Hill, Port Elizabeth is up in arms over the the intention of the National Department of Public Works and the SA Police to build a four story call centre, with a 50 metre high radio tower, in the heart of our historic suburb.

They propose to build this ugly, ill conceived and poorly planned edifice alongside the old Erica School building, which is one of the historic landmarks of the City. Not only that, it will front right onto the park and also take away the afternoon sun from the residents in St Phillips Street. Oh, and let's not forget that the view of the Erica Building will be obscured from many directions.

As people who are at the forefront of fighting crime in our neighbourhood, we are fully supportive of the need to upgrade the 10111 call centre, with the latest technology, but not at the expense of our quality of life, or the negative effect this will have on our heritage or the value of our properties.

Despite strong opposition, which has been dismissed as emotive, the bureaucratics have decided to push ahead with the project. The community has decided to fight it with equal, if not greater determination. The authorities still need to go through a process of public participation and do an environmental impact assessment on the radio mast, and a Heritage Impact Assessment on the old burial site, so we have a while to go.

Why many of us are emotive, is not surprising, as the authorities have applied the mushroom principle with us, by keeping us in the dark and feeding us crap. We have arranged all the public participation meetings. It was through our efforts that it finally emerged that it was not a two storey building, but a four storey building that was to be built. It was us who pointed out to them that they were about to start building on an old Mfengu burial site. The tender process started before the public participation process..........I could go on, but will not.

As far as the SAP is concerned they will play it by the book and as long as the project fulfills all the legal requirements, it will go ahead. We say, it may be legal but that does not make it right.
It is very easy to dismiss as emotive, the views of the community, but the reality is that we live here. We will have to live with the building blocking our views. We will have to live with the impact of a 15 month building project on our doorstep. We will have to live with the disruption of the comings and goings of shift workers at all times of the day and night, on our already crowded roads.

Accoring to the consultants, "there are no panoramic or excellent views that will be impaired to such an extent as to significantly deminish the market value of any of the adjoining or neighbouring properties." We beg to differ!

The way we see it is that the SAP have been tardy in their planning and now want to push through the project, without a Plan B, because the upgraded call centre is one of the requirements for the 2010 World Cup Soccer. Time is running out and this is the quickest way to solve their problem. We do not believe that the fabric of our community should be sacrified for the short term expedency of four days of soccer. There are alternative sites, which will be better suited to this project.

If anyone from the community wants to join the protest I will be happy to send you a copy of our 24 page submission.