A proposed logistics park in Durban has set the cat among the pigeons, with Durban transporters and environmentalists at loggerheads over plans to develop the facility.
Transporters have highlighted the desperate need for the R4-billion Clairwood Logistics and Distribution Park while a local environmentalist group, concerned about air quality and road safety in the adjoining residential area, is fighting the provincial government and developers in court.
Durban Harbour Carriers’ Association chairwoman Sue Moodley said the development was an A grade world class facility that would attract blue chip companies and contribute to the economic growth of the city. It is expected to act as a catalyst for the clean-up and redevelopment of some of the oldest industrial areas in South Durban – including buildings, 350 000 sqm of warehouse facilities, parking and a distribution yard to accommodate trucks moving containers between the logistics park, businesses and the port.
She said there was a huge demand for the 76.4ha site that would be located at the former Clairwood Racecourse site.
“If you look at the city’s spatial planning, we don’t have many facilities, our population is growing and we are the gateway to the economy. There are a lot of new distribution centres being developed at places like Cato Ridge and to the north and we need a place where we can unpack and send goods inland,” Moodley said.
“Transport has changed phenomenally and the way clients operate now is they want state-of-the-art facilities. Everyone is going to want to get in there and it is going to come at a big price,” she said.
The facility is located close to the port which will result in reduced carbon emissions as less fuel will be consumed transporting cargo to the facility.
Durban transporter Kevin Martin said residents’ concerns had to be weighed against the benefits of the development which was for the greater good.
“Any form of progress is going to be an inconvenience but at the end of the day it is going to employ people,” he said.
The South Durban Community Environmental Alliance has however lodged an application in the Durban High Court asking for an order to overturn a decision by the Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs to dismiss its appeal against the department’s decision to grant environmental authorisation for the development. SDCEA raised concerns in its appeal to the department that the development would negatively impact air quality in the neighbourhood, and an increase in truck traffic would be hazardous to pedestrians – especially children who use the area to walk to school.
The group argued in court papers that the then MEC for economic development, Mike Mabuyakhulu, had not considered the results of previous air quality tests and the impact on the health of people living in the residential suburb which comprises 22 000 households and 200 000 residents.
MEC for economic development tourism and environmental affairs, Sihle Zikalala, said in responding court papers that that the air tests referred to dated back to 2002 and 2007 and that SDCEA should have provided the results of more recent reports. He said the park would not result in air contaminants being released and the increased volume of traffic of around 2200 vehicles per hour would only be applicable in the morning and after peak hours.
“A traffic impact assessment was carried out before the environmental authority was granted. The authorisation was granted subject to access roads and roads within the site being upgraded and lengthened to accommodate the change in land use,” Zikalala said.
Nico Prinsloo, development manager for Fortress Income Fund, the company developing the park, told FTW that the development would create 19 000 jobs during construction and more than 4000 permanent jobs once completed in December 2020.
“In the past, the port and the surrounding city were not planned or developed in unison and several infrastructural shortfalls have long plagued areas immediately surrounding the harbour. One is the lack of adequate road infrastructure to cope with heavy vehicles,” Prinsloo said.
“As a result, large vehicles are forced to park along busy and narrow roads causing damage and congestion. Fortress plans to invest R135 million in improving the road infrastructure surrounding this development,” he said.
Prinsloo said the new purpose-built road system would include upgrading surrounding roads, traffic intersections, pedestrian thoroughfares and on-ramps to the nearby M4 freeway.
“It will ensure that large trucks bypass residential areas and provide safer pick up and drop off areas for scholars who currently access transport from dangerous areas next to busy thoroughfares,” he said.
The department had given the development the green light in January 2016 after it found that the company had followed a “more than compliant” public participation process during the EIA, Prinsloo added.
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There's huge demand for the 76.4ha site that would be located at the former Clairwood Racecourse site.
