Having an opinion is easy; having an informed one is a tad harder. You need to maintain an open mind while analysing all the available information on the subject you want to form an opinion about.
In this case, the subject is the Franschhoek Skytram – the proposed cableway running from Haute Cabrière to Middagkransberg (“Have your say on Skytram”, Eikestadnuus, 22 February).
On the surface the skytram may seem like a great idea: more jobs, tourists, money and growth. But does the project hold up to scrutiny?
Here’s what we found after reviewing hundreds of pages of reports that were compiled as part of the project approval process:
- The project is expected to create only 37 direct jobs once operational. Are these jobs sustainable in the winter months?
- Two percent of annual ticket sales will be set aside for community development in Franschhoek. Specific projects will be identified through consultation with Stellenbosch Municipality. It’s unclear how funding will be used and what the project selection criteria will be.
- Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve will receive R400 000, linked to CPI, annually to help implement its management plan, which includes maintaining firebreaks, walkways and biodiversity conservation.
- According to Doug Jeffery Environmental Consultants’ Basic Assessment Report (BAR), “should negative [socio-economic] impacts occur they would be largely borne by surrounding properties, Franschhoek Urban Conservation Area, the urban and rural scenic routes, and identified residential receptors,while the positive impacts will be largely concentrated on the local (Stellenbosch Local Municipality) and provincial economy (Western Cape), and potentially the national economy.” This suggests that any direct positive socio-economic impacts to the Franschhoek community will be limited.
- The upper station’s proposed location is part of the Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve, which in turn is part of the Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve. The biosphere reserve is included in the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas World Heritage Site, designated by UNESCO in 2004 and extended in 2015. As a nature reserve it has the highest level of protection in accordance with the Protected Areas Act and is protected in perpetuity. The location of the upper station raises serious environmental concerns, including habitat destruction, wildlife disturbance, and landscape alteration.
- The reports do not mention over-tourism, a serious concern impacting tourist destination towns like Franschhoek. Overtourism refers to a situation in which too many tourists visit a location, negatively impacting infrastructure, the environment, and the community. It manifests itself through overcrowding, increased pollution, rising living costs for locals, housing shortages, and cultural degradation as destinations become increasingly tailored to tourists. Established businesses in Franschhoek may shut down because the repeat customers they rely on prefer to avoid the change in atmosphere and dynamics. The result is job losses for locals. Mountainous areas like the Middagkransberg are especially vulnerable to over-tourism due to their delicate ecosystems. Cable cars – and the subsequent mass tourism – have already driven environmental decline in parts of Vietnam and contributed to habitat loss elsewhere.
- The Traffic Impact Assessment focused on four intersections and didn’t discuss the impact of traffic on Huguenot Street (the main road). The report ignored the combined effects of Skytram traffic and traffic resulting from people coming to Franschhoek for other activities. Traffic congestion and parking are already major issues in Franschhoek, and any additional traffic into town will only worsen it. The assessment also mentions attracting 3 000 visitors a day. However, if the cable were to run at its maximum capacity, the number could increase to 6 000 people a day. Who will ensure they stay at the 3 000 envisaged clients?
- The Botanical Impact Assessment bases its findings on two short site visits conducted only in spring, a significant limitation as many plant species are likely unaccounted for. How can any valid recommendations be based on such limited information? Additionally, it downplays the loss of the Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos, a critically endangered vegetation, which will result from the construction of the upper station. It mentions that the loss is negligible when compared to the overall species richness. The entire argument focuses on species richness and fails to acknowledge the interconnectedness of habitats and ecosystems. It ignores other factors crucial to ecosystem health, like habitat fragmentation, disturbance of species, and changes to the ecosystem.
The fact is, the project is fundamentally flawed in many ways, and the public participation process has reinforced this.
Has the public participation process been fair?
Stellenbosch Municipality’s lack of communication and transparency about this project has only raised red flags. A short window for comment on a project that has been years in the making raises serious ethical questions about fairness, justice, and respect for the rights of the community that will be directly affected by it. Just for perspective, municipal officials attended a pre-application consultation meeting on 9 October 2019.
Why was the community not informed earlier? The lack of inclusivity in the public participation process is also a serious concern. Those conducting the impact assessment hosted an open house information day at the Franschhoek Dutch Reformed church. Many did not know about the open day or how to access information about it or could not attend.
The Franschhoek Heritage and Ratepayers’ Association has requested another information day be held in Groendal Community Hall to properly inform the broader community about the project, which includes Groendal, Mooiwater, Langrug, Tshotshombeni, Bosbou and Wemmershoek. However, to date nothing has been confirmed.
So where does this leave us and what can residents do? I know some of you support the construction of skytram, and that’s okay. You’re entitled to your opinion. However, if you haven’t already, review one or two of the reports critically and think about the eventual impact on you, the community, and perhaps most importantly, the environment.
If you argue that the skytram will generate jobs and uplift the Franschhoek community, I would counter that these reports have failed to meaningfully demonstrate this. Even if they had, there are other ways to generate jobs that don’t involve hundreds of thousands of people ascending the Middagkransberg while the people actually living in Franschhoek deal with all the negative consequences.
Mountainous areas such as Middagkransberg consist of delicate ecosystems that are highly susceptible to the cumulative impacts of human activity. While we may not notice each individual effect on its own, collectively and over time, they can inflict irreparable damage.
Franschhoek is also already full during summer, with further developments like the skytram set to strain infrastructure and negatively affect the environment.
This is a far cry from my childhood when Franschhoek was a one-horse town. I recall walking barefoot through its streets in the ’90s, and back then it was rare to see a handful of cars in a day. Like so many others, I have watched it slowly grow from a small dorpie to what it is today – a bustling town famous for its wine culture, food, and pristine natural beauty.
At the age of 35 I’m not naïve to think that places remain the same and that growth doesn’t happen. It’s inevitable. Development and progress can be good, helping create jobs and lifting people out of poverty.
But there is a tipping point at which too much growth in a small community like Franschhoek can have everlasting adverse effects. It can lead to even more social disparities, degrade the environment, strain infrastructure and public services, erode local culture, identity, and heritage, and ultimately reduce the quality of life for all but a few who don’t even live here.
We are at that tipping point – perhaps even passed it – and it’s scary. But it’s also exciting because we have an opportunity to come together as a community to do something about it.
You may feel your individual actions won’t make a difference, especially when you’re up against developers with deep pockets, but they do – and they will – when combined with those of many others. It’s why we vote.
So I urge you to register as an interested and affected party by emailing adel@dougjeff.co.za and landuse.enquiries@stellelnbosch.gov.za; learn more about the project by visiting dougjeff.co.za/download/franschhoek-skytram/; send project objections to the same email addresses by Tuesday 30 April; talk to others, even if it’s just one person, and make them aware of the project; oh, and please share this letter.
Thanks to all for their input and help with this letter – you know who you are – I really appreciate it.
