STATEMENT from The City of Cape Town

The City would like to remind all residents of the Public Participation Process currently under way for the Muizenberg Beachfront upgrade project.

The City will be hosting an open day on Wednesday, 7 September 2022 to share information with the community and interested residents. The project includes the upgrade of the overall coastal protection, public landside infrastructure and services at the Muizenberg Beachfront.

The City is currently in the concept design phase of the project and residents have until Monday, 26 September 2022 to submit their comments.

The project aims to replace and improve the coastal protection infrastructure; improve pedestrian and universal access to the beach; and upgrade the recreational spaces along this portion of the coastline.

The proposed upgrades will take place at Surfers Corner, on the western part of the beachfront along Beach Road in Muizenberg. The main upgrade area boundary includes the connection to the St James walkway, Surfers Corner steps, main promenade area and the western and eastern parking area.

The City is encouraging residents to please attend the open day next week:
• Wednesday, 7 September 2022
• Between 15:00 and 19:00
• Muizenberg Civic Centre

The upgrades and repairs included in the project plans are as follows:

• New stepped revetment coastal protection structure

The current wooden coastal protection structure along the promenade, the steps and curved seawall in the corner area have passed their design life and have started to fail in areas. One of the aims of the project is to proactively replace the seawalls/coastal protection structures. These structures will be replaced with a stepped revetment. A stepped revetment is a multi-purpose structure as it will provide coastal protection; easy continuous beach access and can be used for seating along its entire length.

The stepped revetment and promenade will be a concrete structure, with steps leading seaward from the promenade level. The steps will extend down to the beach along the full length of the beachfront. The steps will extend below the beach down to the expected future scour levels. This will ensure easy, continuous beach access at varied beach levels and provide the required coastal protection of landside areas and underground services. The structure will also incorporate a universal beach access ramp in the central area of the beachfront.

• Formalising of the western and eastern parking areas

The western parking area currently a vacant gravel area will be surfaced, parking bays indicated and the required lighting and related services provided. The layout of the eastern parking area, seaward of the Civic Centre, will be optimised. Both parking areas will remain free to use.

• Upgrade of recreational areas and playground
The upgrade of the landside recreational areas will include increased seating opportunities, new playground equipment with fall absorbing surfaces, lawns with irrigation, universally accessible promenade and better connection and movement to the existing St James/Muizenberg walkway.

• Demolition of existing ablution facility on the beach and construction of new ablution

The existing public toilet building is currently constructed seaward of the coastal defence. The position is not sustainable from a coastal dynamics and coastal protection perspective and will require costly coastal defence in future. Thus, when upgrading the coastal protection along the promenade it will be removed and a new ablution facility will be constructed at a position landward of the proposed coastal defence. The new ablutions will incorporate both abled body and universally accessible toilet facilities. The universally accessible facilities will be designed to also serve as family change rooms. A storage area for beach access mats and equipment for universal beach and surf access will be incorporated in the building. External showers will also be included in the central area.

• Incorporating a three metre-wide universally accessible promenade
The stepped revetment and upgraded promenade will be positioned approximately where the existing promenade is, the level of the promenade will be increased by about 0,5m in order to maintain seaward run-off of storm water and overtopping, but will still maintain open views and beach access. The promenade itself will be a few metres landward of the existing one.

‘The Muizenberg beachfront is used by residents from all over Cape Town. It is one of the most utilised and diverse coastal beachfronts in Cape Town. I urge residents to take part in this first round of public participation and to attend the open day on Wednesday where various detailed artist impressions and concept designs will be made available. Although we are in the initial phase of the project it is important that we get the input from the community now, while we are still finalising the concept design. Please attend and engage with the expert officials around the proposed Muizenberg Beachfront Upgrade project and provide us with your feedback,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.

The City has appointed a professional team to investigate and prepare designs for the proposed upgrades at the beachfront. The project design team includes civil and coastal engineers, and architectural and landscaping consultants.

The City’s Coastal management branch is currently running a National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) Basic Assessment process in order to obtain the necessary environmental approval for the proposed Muizenberg Beachfront upgrade project.

The public is invited to register as an interested and affected party (I&AP) for the Environmental Impact Assessment of the proposed upgrades to stay informed on the process and secure your right to comment and give inputs. There will be further opportunities to participate in the coming months as the project progresses, and all registered I&APs will be notified of these.

For more information, to comment, or to arrange alternative ways of participating, please contact the Environmental Assessment Practitioner, Tarryn Solomon of Infinity Environmental: comments@infinityenv.co.za or (021) 834 1602

A background Information document is available online at: www.infinityenv.co.za/muizenbergbeachfront