Case Decision - 197801

The Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage (MUCH) unit at the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) would like to thank you for submitting the Background Information Document (BID) in terms of Section 38(8) of the National Heritage Resources Act (No. 25 of 1999) (NHRA) for the proposed bank stabilisation on Portion 12 of the Farm Vetmaak Vlakte No. 312, Colchester, within the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality in the Eastern Cape province.
The project entails stabilising the Sundays River bank along an approximately 0.1km2 area between Colchester and Cannonvale on the north-eastern side of the river. This is to prevent further slumping and property loss as well as to minimise risks on future development plans in the area as per a mixed-use development that received Environmental Authorisation on the 15th December 2017. This stabilisation attempt will include the use of partially submerged reno mattresses, series of gabion walls, vegetated terraces, slope levelling, reinforcement with retaining structures such as timber poles, geofabrics, soil fill, suitable vegetation cover, and other design alternatives presented by the project engineer.
The BID identifies the activities triggered as per the National Environmental Management Act (No. 107 of 1998, as amended) (NEMA) and that a Basic Assessment (BA) process will be undertaken in terms of NEMA and the relevant regulations. The BID further identifies impacts that will be addressed during the BA process, with no heritage impacts being listed, although some of the listed impacts could affect potential tangible and intangible heritage resources, such as the generation of construction waste and sedimentation of the river. Once the BA Report has been produced, the potential for heritage impacts can be assessed properly. SAHRA looks forward to commenting on the BA Report once it has been uploaded to SAHRIS to assess whether the underwater portion of the development might affect any tangible or intangible forms of heritage.
Please note that all updates and/or changes to the project, supporting documentation, correspondence, reports, or any other work relating to the project must be uploaded to the case on SAHRIS to provide SAHRA with the opportunity to comment. SAHRA does not accept emailed documents or hard-copy documents received via post.