proposed school in Noordhoek with 600 students is going to fill Chapman's Peak drive with cars..

[Louzy]

Should see how this is being put forward on the Noordhoek Residents forum on FB. My word... Rabid comes to mind. 

 

there are a few people in that area that really are selfish. its embarrassing.

[Louzy]

what i find entertaining is that the people of Noordhoek are very happy to drive over the mountains to drop their kids off at other schools and cause traffic every morning in other towns... but threaten their peaceful morning roads and all hell breaks loose.

[nonky]

Generation Schools owns the property and has applied for rezoning. According to News24 an enviromental group called Toadnuts is opposed to development as they think it would interfere with leopard toad breeding from nearby pond if traffic increased.

 

 

FFS - For Frogs' Sake?

[ChrisF]

It is drastic but drastic actions are required, and maybe this school should be exempt, but all water access infrastructure development should have been put on hold more than a year ago. We are facing a mass climate refugee exodus situation so there will be more than enough space in schools in the nearby future.

 

I am involved in the engineering trade, and regularly submit domestic water designs.

 

So I SEE how the Western Cape deals with these plans ... and have SEEN just how Durban REALLY deals with water shortage !!

 

 

"drastic" is one concept .... but Knee-jerk" might be a more apt description for what you propose, and not functional nor practical etc etc ...

 

so what IS workable ?

 

various "low flow" options available - should be made mandatory !

 

For schools grey water systems, and rain water harvesting ARE practical, though expensive ... given the bigger picture this SHOULD be mandatory !  Hardly "drastic", but much more functional in the long run

 

However, the bigger issue remains absurdly high usage .... "drastic" would be to stop talking and to start fitting water restricting devices at habitual high users - actually not "Drastic", but rather way overdue !!

[Sue Z-F]

LOL nice to see everyone's opinions.  I did cycle Chapmans Peak Drive today, was so nice to have it open again.

[Pah Bear]

LOL nice to see everyone's opinions.  I did cycle Chapmans Peak Drive today, was so nice to have it open again.

What a civil second post. Now why could that not have been the introductory post.

 

Anyway, welcome back ... finally. Now, about those frogs and schools and traffic and cyclists and horses and agh what the heck, you should come check out how life is round the other side of the Peninsula, you know, in the real world., 

[Sue Z-F]

What a civil second post. Now why could that not have been the introductory post.

 

Anyway, welcome back ... finally. Now, about those frogs and schools and traffic and cyclists and horses and agh what the heck, you should come check out how life is round the other side of the Peninsula, you know, in the real world., 

 Thanks  what an entry to the forum.  Very good advice.

[Pure Savage]

Thanks what an entry to the forum. Very good advice.

Still anti school, or have our well thought out points changes your mind

[(Deon)]

Was really shocked at how much of the nature reserve on Ou Kaapse became that new private estate, almost the entire first bottom bit on the right hand side as you go up.

and what is happening in Hout Bay right now is true a sight to behold. Oddly, one hears nothing about adding housing for hundreds more against the side of the mountain and what strain it will have on the already faultering sewerage works.. And I am not talking about I Y's rehousing scheme.

 

I may even have a picture of it.

Edited July 19, 2017 by (Deon)

[dave303e]

Was really shocked at how much of the nature reserve on Ou Kaapse became that new private estate, almost the entire first bottom bit on the right hand side as you go up.

 

I don't know the legislation and legalities involved at that level, but as far as I am concerned (as a qualified geospatial analyst) there is a residential suburb within a world heritage site buffer zone. 

 

This can easily be confirmed with the official Q1 2017 Protected Areas dataset from environmental affairs egis portal and multiple satellite images and maps.

 

Unesco will have guidelines and legislation about it, I do believe our own government has legislation as well.

 

I haven't read the legislation, I am no law expert and cannot comment at all on the legality of building within that area.

[Serious Panda]

I am involved in the engineering trade, and regularly submit domestic water designs.

 

So I SEE how the Western Cape deals with these plans ... and have SEEN just how Durban REALLY deals with water shortage !!

 

 

"drastic" is one concept .... but Knee-jerk" might be a more apt description for what you propose, and not functional nor practical etc etc ...

 

so what IS workable ?

 

various "low flow" options available - should be made mandatory !

 

For schools grey water systems, and rain water harvesting ARE practical, though expensive ... given the bigger picture this SHOULD be mandatory !  Hardly "drastic", but much more functional in the long run

 

However, the bigger issue remains absurdly high usage .... "drastic" would be to stop talking and to start fitting water restricting devices at habitual high users - actually not "Drastic", but rather way overdue !!

 

It is too late now anyway, the Cape`s water demand is 20% more than what the water system can provide in the short and medium term, and the only thing that is going to change this is an exodus. "Drastic" is what the consequences of this will be within the next 9 months. It is just ridiculous that development is continuing and even increasing when there is not enough water and the taps running dry is a very likely reality.

[Skubarra]

It is too late now anyway, the Cape`s water demand is 20% more than what the water system can provide in the short and medium term, 

 

I'm curious what is your source for this interesting little stat?

[Shebeen]

I'm curious what is your source for this interesting little stat?

me too, but if it's correct then we're in business!

 

Gone from a business as usual  summer peak of 1200Ml/day to 700 this feb. And there's still more that can be reduced

[GLuvsMtb]

All development that requires new water infrastructure needs to be put on hold until the water situation is alleviated. It should have been put on hold long ago. Disaster is looming yet development is continuing regardless making the situation worse. The reality now is that there is not enough water to last through the summer.

What are you smoking?! New developments are a good opportunity to be more water efficient. Newer homes are far more water and energy efficient than homes built even 20 years ago.

 

I would like to see rain water harvesting, solar geysers, proper insulation and grey water systems become mandatory going forward. It will be a time before regulations like SANS 10400 and SANS 241 catches up with the current situation in terms of energy and water use, but developers have a golden opportunity to build these mechanisms into new developments.

 

I would also like to see a rebate system be put in place for people who have spent the money to install rainwater and grey water harvesting systems. I've spent R50k to date on rainwater and grey water harvesting, and if I can get (say) a 50% rebate, I would be able to improve my system to increase my storage capacity from 4000 lt to 9000 lt and be able to connect my rain water supply to my house water supply for everyday use (we will then have to buy drinking water, but it will be far cheaper than running a household of 6 people on municipal supply).

 

Back on topic - Lets hope the school does get built, and that the developments in the area are greener than what is already in the area.

[Hairy]

What are you smoking?! New developments are a good opportunity to be more water efficient. Newer homes are far more water and energy efficient than homes built even 20 years ago.

 

I would like to see rain water harvesting, solar geysers, proper insulation and grey water systems become mandatory going forward. It will be a time before regulations like SANS 10400 and SANS 241 catches up with the current situation in terms of energy and water use, but developers have a golden opportunity to build these mechanisms into new developments.

 

I would also like to see a rebate system be put in place for people who have spent the money to install rainwater and grey water harvesting systems. I've spent R50k to date on rainwater and grey water harvesting, and if I can get (say) a 50% rebate, I would be able to improve my system to increase my storage capacity from 4000 lt to 9000 lt and be able to connect my rain water supply to my house water supply for everyday use (we will then have to buy drinking water, but it will be far cheaper than running a household of 6 people on municipal supply).

 

Back on topic - Lets hope the school does get built, and that the developments in the area are greener than what is already in the area.

SANS XA already covers energy consumption / insulation for new or renovated builds.

http://www.saiat.org.za/XA%20GUIDE.pdf

 

They are meant to focus on water regulations with the next SANS evolution of standards. Agreed that there could and should be a bigger and better focus on water consumption.

 

EDIT: in our office we make use of an XA specialist in order to get the best solution ... and then some for our projects. We could bumble through it ourselves and "just comply", but we do a little more than that.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Hairy

[(Deon)]

me too, but if it's correct then we're in business!

 

Gone from a business as usual  summer peak of 1200Ml/day to 700 this feb. And there's still more that can be reduced

That's the crux of it!

 

It's not demand, not by a long shot, that is the problem.

 

It's waste and the eternal goal of recreating some sort of neo-tropical rain forest that has people bent on irrigating everyday, nothing less than twice a day in most cases. I see it, you see it, it's the normality that is the insanity we live and march to. Green lawns.

 

Like it rains everyday, all day long, anywhere on this planet!