July 5, 2006
By Lucille Davie
THE City and the Gauteng province are to meet on Thursday to try and reach an agreement on the demolition of 10 inner city buildings for the development of an enlarged square alongside Beyers Naude Square.
Mayoral committee member for development planning and urban management, Ruby Mathang, said that the aim of the meeting was to compare the province's plans with those of the City.
"We are also players in the city, and we also have plans for the city," he said. He indicated that the City "didn't really support" the proposal to demolish the 10 buildings. "The province has to convince us, show us reasons for demolishing the buildings."
Several public appeals have been made against the demolition of the buildings. The appeal hearing will be heard on Wednesday, 19 July, at 10am at a venue* still to be decided by the South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra).
Last year Sahra, the country's guardian of heritage sites, approved the demolition of 10 heritage buildings in the inner city, to make way for the provincial New Heritage Square, a square that will double the size of the present Beyers Naude Square.
Five of those buildings are older than 60 years, and therefore require a demolition permit from Sahra. Several of the buildings are Art Deco buildings, while others are unique examples of their architectural style.
Provincial government square
The square, part of the proposed Gauteng provincial government precinct, will encompass a street underpass, four skywalks joining buildings and underground parking. Market Street, between Sauer and Harrison streets, will form part of the square, becoming an underpass, with an ingress, or entrance, in Kort Street and egress, or exit, after Harrison Street. This will mean that the present four lanes will be reduced to two lanes. Two gateways will demarcate the precinct.
The focal point of the square, diagonally opposite the cenotaph
A Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) concluded that the demolition, particularly for nine of the 10 buildings, would represent the loss of a valuable heritage resources.
Sahra said in a statement in October last year that it was satisfied that all the necessary processes had been fulfilled - "the HIA, socio-economic benefit study and the information on public consultations (including submissions by members of the public) provided adequate information to make a decision".
The principles on which Sahra made its decision were:
- Redressing the imbalances of the past - Sahra said that it became clear that "the value of the CBD's built environment and urban fabric is of far greater importance than the people who are continually being impoverished and marginalised by it. This amounts to saying that colonialism and apartheid must remain and instead solutions around them should be explored".
- Better presentation, appreciation and conservation of heritage - Sahra felt that for heritage to be better conserved, it had to be better appreciated, therefore the new square "will create an environment which is more conducive to better appreciation of the heritage buildings which will remain".
- Best examples of heritage structures - Sahra felt that there are "other buildings in the city which can be declared and conserved".
Sahra was satisfied that a sufficient public participation process was followed, in which notices were placed in the print media, on radio and TV. The HIA was available to the public for comment and they were invited to submit objections.
Flo Bird, chairperson of the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust and long-time heritage stalwart, expressed dismay at the approval, saying that it was not only heritage interests that were being ignored. "What about taxi drivers who use Market Street? They will now have to use Bree Street." Bree Street is five blocks north of Market Street.
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