Prioritise our safety, protect our environment, our communities , our futures!

Public safety, lawful planning and transparent decision-making must come before densification.

Erf 1117 and the surrounding Blaauwberg area have become a focal point for much wider concerns about how high-risk land is being planned across Cape Town — particularly within the Koeberg Urgent Protective Action Zone (UPZ), where population levels, evacuation capability and emergency response are critical to public safety.

This petition calls for safety-led, lawful and transparent spatial planning, not only for Erf 1117, but for all areas affected by Koeberg-related emergency planning constraints.

Where and what is Erf 1117

Erf 1117 is a ±300-hectare coastal site across from Table Bay Mall on the west side of the R27, surrounded by the communities of Big Bay, Bloubergstrand, West Beach, Table View, Sunningdale, Parklands and Sandown, and it represents one of the last remaining undeveloped coastal land areas of this scale in our region.

Crucially, Erf 1117 lies entirely within the 16 km Koeberg Urgent Protective Action Zone, an area where population growth, evacuation time and emergency response capacity are central safety considerations.

Public safety and evacuation readiness in the Koeberg UPZ

Recent engagements, formal information requests and public statements have highlighted serious uncertainty around evacuation planning, emergency response capability and the availability of key safety documentation for the Koeberg UPZ.

It has been confirmed that:

evacuation modelling is not used to set population limits at district or local spatial planning stage, and 

area-specific evacuation assessments are only triggered after individual development applications are submitted.

As a result, high-level planning frameworks may enable population growth without evacuation feasibility having been tested in advance, even though these frameworks shape settlement patterns for decades.

At the same time, the most recent Evacuation Time Estimate (including that supporting the Long-Term Operation of Koeberg) has not been clearly placed in the public domain, despite its central importance to public safety.

This raises fundamental public-interest questions about how safety constraints are being integrated into planning within the UPZ.

Critical biodiversity and environmental protection

More than 60 % of Erf 1117 is classified as Critical Biodiversity Area (CBA 1a) — the highest level of conservation priority — with the remainder designated as Ecological Support Area (ESA 1). The site contains wetlands, ecological corridors and habitat linked to the UNESCO West Coast Biosphere Reserve.

Planning decisions affecting this land therefore carry legal and environmental obligations, not discretionary choices.

What the City has proposed 

The draft Big Bay Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) enables large-scale, high-intensity development on Erf 1117, with limited clarity on enforceable limits for height, density and population numbers — particularly in relation to evacuation capacity within the UPZ.

Estimates indicate that 10 000–25 000 additional residents could ultimately be accommodated on the site, without confirmed alignment to evacuation feasibility, emergency services capacity, or supporting infrastructure at a strategic planning level.

This is happening across Cape Town

This approach is not unique to Erf 1117.  Communities across the city are facing the same pattern of overdensification in established neighbourhoods, with inadequate infrastructure, little regard for character or liveability, and processes that appear to disregard legal requirements and environmental constraints, proving that this approach is not sustainable, not safe and not in the public interest.

And in the case of Erf 1117 and the BB LSDF, without transparent demonstration that safety, infrastructure and environmental limits have been properly addressed upfront.

Why this petition matters now
Spatial Development Frameworks are not abstract documents.

They enable future development rights,
influence land values and infrastructure investment,
and lock in population assumptions for decades.

If evacuation feasibility and emergency readiness are only assessed later , after density assumptions have been embedded in policy, the safety question is being asked too late!

Residents have a right to participate meaningfully in planning processes with access to the safety information that should guide those plans.

We are calling for:
1.Transparency on Koeberg public safety
2. Clear, coordinated disclosure of evacuation planning, emergency response capability and the documentation used to assess public safety within the Koeberg UPZ.
3. Safety-led spatial planning
4. Risk, evacuation feasibility and emergency preparedness must be inherent in long-term and high-level spatial planning, including District and Local Spatial Development Frameworks — not deferred to later stages.
5. Responsible population management in the UPZ
6. Population growth within the Koeberg UPZ should be managed within clearly established and verifiable evacuation and emergency-response limits.
7. Meaningful public participation
8. Public participation processes for District and Local Spatial Plans — including those affecting Erf 1117 — should not proceed without relevant safety and evacuation information being available for public comment.
9. Lawful, transparent planning decisions
10. Planning frameworks must comply with biodiversity law, municipal planning by-laws and constitutional obligations, and provide enforceable limits that communities can understand and engage with.
 
Why your signature matters

This petition is about more than one piece of land.

It is about whether public safety, environmental protection and the rule of law genuinely guide planning decisions in high-risk areas — or whether those considerations are deferred until it is too late to influence outcomes.

By signing, you are supporting:

--transparency over secrecy,

--safety-led planning over unchecked densification, and

--meaningful public participation over box-ticking processes.

--planning in the Koeberg UPZ that protects people, places and future generations.

 Take action now !

·    Stay informed via the Facebook group: Erf 1117 – Action for Sustainable Development.