Residents and ratepayers of Green Point have submitted a proposal that aims to declare the popular Green Point Common a heritage site.
According to Councillor Dave Bryant, the proposal was submitted by the Green Point Ratepayers Association (GPRA).
“The GPRRA and heritage officials at the City of Cape Town have made a successful joint nomination for Green Point Common to become a Provincial Heritage Site,” reads a statement by the GPRA. “In August 2016 Heritage Western Cape (HWC) agreed that the Common is heritage-worthy. It commented that it includes many sites of historic importance, but that the general heritage significance lies primarily in its long history as a public resource for sports and recreation.”
Green Point Common encompasses the whole area between the buildings on Beach Road and Green Point Main Road and from Three Anchor Bay across to Fort Wynyard and along a long ‘tail’ leading to today’s Gallows Hill Traffic Department precinct.
GPRA chairperson Jenny McQueen explains that by declaring Green Point a heritage site, the area will be better preserved for future generations.
“The common was granted to the people of Cape Town for sports and recreation,” she told iOl. “It has provided pleasure for many and still continues to, including the park which has over 10 000 visitors at weekends. This is a way of preserving it and keeping some green in our area, which is fast becoming a concrete jungle.”
Councillor Dave Bryant explains to iOl that the proposal offers two options: one including Cape Town Stadium and one without. The City’s heritage department has supported the proposal that includes the stadium.
The proposal has since been brought forward to subcouncil 16, which consists of five wards and stretches from Paarden Eiland through Observatory, Mowbray, Woodstock, Rosebank, and Cape Town’s CBD area. Councillor Bryant will continue to place pressure to ensure the proposal comes to fruition.
According to mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, Marian Nieuwoudt, the City is in the process of drafting the conservation management plan for the common. This will then be sent to the Heritage Western Cape Council for approval.
“This nomination was made by members of the community and the local ratepayers’ association,” she told iOl. “The Heritage Western Cape Council has agreed to declare the common (a heritage site) and have decided on the boundary of the area to be declared. Heritage Western Cape has requested that the City draw up a conservation management plan for the common before formally gazetting the declaration.”
Residents have been calling on this declaration for years. An initial proposal was submitted back in 2016. McQueen said that the movement was delayed by the previous mayor.
Picture: Instagram / Cape Town Stadium