Iconic common up for heritage status
A leisurely stroll along the Atlantic Seaboard can only be complemented when you find yourself in the lush Green Point Common where the serene and tranquil sites swallow visitors.
The place bustles with activity as each visitor comes there for their own down-time and relaxation and somehow still remains a place which signifies the diverse plethora of heritage found in the Mother City.
Today, with the rich tapestry and a melting pot of cultures and traditions found in Cape Town, the Green Point Common is home to the Green Point Urban Park where residents and visitors alike soak in the lush greenery of the area where a number of playing fields and a golf course are situated.
The space comes alive with family picnics, shrieks of excitement and laughter as children play in the parks, birthday parties, outdoor exercisers, and is a favourite for walks and healthy activities.
The Biodiversity Garden in the park is found just behind Mouille Point with a view of the Green Point Lighthouse and, according to South African History Online, is host to a carefully curated garden composed of a rich variety of flora indigenous to the Cape, and offers the only Biodiversity Showcase Garden of its kind and features 25 000 indigenous plants, trees, shrubs, bulbs and groundcovers, consisting of 300 different plant species.
The Green Point Common comes with a rich history as it was home to Stone Age hunter-gatherers, the Khoisan or Khoekhoe where pastoral herders migrated in search of grazing and assured sources of water for their herds of cattle and sheep.
The place was inhabited for millennia by the Khoisan tribes before the arrival of the Dutch and English ships in the early 1600s when it became known as 'De Waterplaats' (The foreshore).
It became vested land and was granted to the City of Cape Town in 1923 for public recreation and sport fields and has recently been nominated to be declared a provincial heritage site.
Recently, and after seven years of lobbying, the Green Point Ratepayers’ & Residents’ Association (GPRRA) were successful in having the area nominated and a process is now underway to have it formally gazetted.
This, according to GPRRA, represents a lasting legacy for future generations.
In 2010, public concerns mounted about the increasing loss of open space and public access for recreation and sport, and irreversible negative impacts of commercial interests on the historic landscape.
Key locations at Green Point Common include The Race Course Stand built in 1851 (now McDonalds) while the Hamilton's Rugby Club is the oldest in southern Africa dating to 1875 and the Green Point Track is the oldest formal sports ground on the Common (1895). GPRRA’s Liz Knight said: “It was essential to protect what remained of the original historic public landscape from further commercialisation.
“Jenny McQueen and Antonia Malan of the GPRRA motivated for portions of the Common to be protected as a heritage site.”
Heritage Western Cape (HWC) chief executive, Michael Janse van Rensburg confirmed the nomination was approved by the HWC Council on July 16 subject to certain amendments being made to the Conservation Management Plan.
“The Conservation Management Plan was amended and submitted back to HWC on 24 August 2024. The site will now be formally protected by publishing of a notice in the Provincial Gazette.”
The City was “awaiting the gazetting of the declaration of Green Point Common as a Provincial Heritage Site”, according to deputy mayor and Spatial Planning and Environment mayco member Eddie Andrews.
Cape Times