The City is planning to upgrade Muizenberg beachfront. The project aims to replace and improve the coastal protection, improve access to the beach and upgrade recreational areas.
The City of Cape Town is planning to upgrade Muizenberg beachfront, and the public have until Monday September 26 to comment on the proposals.
The City is seeking environmental approvals needed for the project which proposes upgrades at Surfers Corner, on the western part of the beachfront along Beach Road in Muizenberg, and specifically the connection to the St James walkway, the Surfers Corner steps, the main promenade area and the western and eastern parking areas.
The City plans to hold a public open day on Wednesday September 7 at the Muizenberg Civic Centre, from 3pm and 7pm, for officials to answer questions and discuss the project in detail.
“In regards to the upgrade of the recreational areas, it will include increased seating opportunities, new playground equipment with fall-absorbing surfaces, lawns with irrigation, a universally accessible promenade and better connection and movement to the existing St James/Muizenberg walkway,” said mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews.
The gravel western parking area would be surfaced, parking bays would be marked and lighting installed, he said, adding that it would remain free to use.
The public toilets, while still in “reasonable condition”, would need to be moved because the current position would require “costly coastal defence in future”, he said, adding that the new toilets would be universally accessible and designed to also serve as family change rooms.
Mr Andrews said the wooden revetment along the promenade and the corner steps and curved seawall had passed their design life and had started to fail in places.
“The objective of the project is to proactively replace the seawalls/coastal protection. This will be done by replacing the wooden revetment and other seawall components with a concrete stepped revetment,” he said.
The stepped revetment would also offer easy beach access and could be used for seating, he said, noting that a similar structure could be seen at the southern end of Fish Hoek Beach.
Commenting on the environmental impact of the project, Mr Andrews said: “As the purpose of the revetment is similar to existing, the environmental impact remains as is. The environmental impact will be mainly excavations of the land-side and top-of-beach areas during the construction as well as in the manufacturing of the various materials. In the corner area, the existing headland will also be retreated a few metres, returning a more natural shoreline.”
For more information or to comment, contact Tarryn Solomon at 021 834 1602 079 or email comments@infinityenv.co.za