Fresh Air for Hout Bay (FAHB) is seeking legal advice after the City of Cape Town dismissed an appeal over the decision to renew the Oceana fishmealfactory’satmospheric emissions licence.
The City finally made its final decision on Monday June 4.
It found there was no merit on the grounds of the appeal.
FAHB felt the public participation process conducted was not appropriate and lacked procedural fairness.
The organisation also alleged the City failed to consider the objections received through the public participation process before coming to a decision (“Red for Oceana permit”, Sentinel, February 23).
“We obviously disagree with the decision from the City and they really haven’t given any substantive response to any of our concerns,” said FAHB facilitator Kiara Worth.
“We have not heard back from anyone in the City following on from a meeting we had in March, where the City alluded to exploring economic opportunities in the harbour.
“What this means or what it looks like, we don’t know, but there is still nothing to suggest that the City is conducting any socio-economic studies to address the situation, nor involving any members or groups within the community who have expressed interest in this. If anything is happening, it is happening behind closed doors.”
The City’s mayoral committee for area north, Suzette Little, said small harbours like the Hout Bay harbour were key economic hubs, particularly for the growing significance of the maritime economy and leisure tourism.
“The Hout Bay community through the Hout Bay Partnership seeks to rejuvenate the harbour as a leisure area, thereby unlocking the tourism potential of that area. The City is working with the partnership to, among others, address some of the challenges to realise the vision of the harbour becoming a major tourist destination.”
