Proposed Sage Expansion and Self Storage Facilities on Portion 257(of 161) of the Farm Lot 71 No.1524 Salt Rock.

The project is situated in Ward 22 of the KwaDukuza Local Municipality, Ilembe District Municipality. The project area is on the northwestern edge of Salt Rock town at co-ordinates 29°29'3.01"S and 31°13'34.77"E on the properties Portions 244 and 257 of the Farm Lot 71 No. 1524. The existing Sage Centre covers an area of approximately 0.6ha while the proposed expansion site covers an area of approximately 1ha.
Foxhill Properties propose the expansion of the existing Sage Facilities on Portion 257, comprising gravel parking expansion, retail huts, a pre-school and the construction of 3 narrow rectangular self storage facilities on Portion 257 (of 161). The site area is 12 165m2, and the development proposal has a coverage of 2267m2. The development footprint comprises Parking expansion of 575m2, a Pre-school of 60,5m2, Retail-hut 1 of 50,2m2, Retail Hut 2 of 43.2m2, Self Storage Facility Block 1 of 728m2, Self Storage Facility Block 2 of 751m2, and Self Storage Facility Block 3 of 635m2. Building facilities will be single storey and will be serviced by existing access road points. A temporary parking area exists on the western side of the property, and a wooden walkway traverses the wetland to the existing Sage Centre.

At present, the municipal waterborne sewerage system does not have sufficient capacity to service the proposed expansion, as such the developer proposes the establishment of a concrete conservancy tank to store waste, where untreated waste will be transported to the Darnall Wastewater Treatment Works by an appointed service provider. The dimensions for the conservancy tank is 2.45m high, by 6.7m long and will have a capacity of 78 cubic litres.

Stormwater infrastructure will be installed to cater for peak flows which will drain into the centrally located wetland. The stormwater from the self-storage units will be collected via drains and pipes and attenuated by underground attenuation tanks, thereafter discharged into the onsite wetland via formal outlet headwalls with reno-mattresses for energy dissipation and scour protection. The gravel parking area will be shaped to allow surface flow to runoff down the embankment and into the adjacent wetland.

As the proposed development outlined above will involve the infilling and loss of a total of 0.31ha of wetland. The remaining 0.269ha of wetland is proposed to be re-engineered to maximise the provision of regulating services and wetland habitat to compensate for the wetland losses and act as an onsite wetland offset. The proposed interventions associated with the Sage Centre wetland rehabilitation plan comprise the installation of a sub-surface drain from in an east to west direction at 29° 29' 02.46" S 31° 13' 36.88" E to collect and safely convey flows from development to the wetland. A spreader canal is proposed at 29° 29' 03.63" S 31° 13' 34.62" E to collect discharged storm flows and surface runoff from the development and spread flows diffusely across entire width of wetland. A 600mm ø Class IV reinforced concrete road pipe culvert is proposed at 29° 29' 04.82" S 31° 13' 34.17" E, should the existing culvert no be able to be salvaged during construction. The aim is to safely transfer flows from upstream catchment into the wetland. Reshaping earthworks is proposed within the wetland to enhance wetland area and increase functionality, followed by revegetation to establish 0.269ha of permanently saturated sedgeland