New battle brewing over Libradene petrol station project

The Advertiser understands that the construction of the petrol station on what is deemed to be wetland in Rondebult Road, Libradene, has been resumed, despite considerable opposition to the more than a decade old project.

Work is already well under way on building the petrol station.

A senior employee at the site, Eunice Chauke, confirmed that work to construct the filling station is going ahead and that the construction is being undertaken by the site owner.

Although the owner of the property was not immediately available to comment on the issues surrounding the construction of the petrol station on what is deemed to be a wetland, Chauke said the required approvals and authorisations for the development of the site have been granted to the owner.

“As far as I understand, this project has obtained all the required authorisations that such a development requires,” said Chauke.

Chauke showed this publication documents which appear to have been approved by Council, the Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment, the Department of Water and Sanitation, the Department of Energy and others.

These documents include a record of decision (RoD), zoning certificate, water use licence and approval, environmental impact assessment, wayleave approvals for access and egress, council-approved site development plan and others.

Chauke added that a wetlands specialist is on site to ensure that everything is done to protect the nearby wetland.

It is understood that British Petroleum (BP) has entered into an agreement with the site owner to supply fuels to the site once the fully permitted and legally approved construction is completed.

• Opposition

On the other hand, Nicole Barlow, an environmental, sustainability and geo-political consultant, says she is going ahead with fresh plans to halt the construction of the petrol station on the wetland.

“I am fully aware of what’s going on,” Barlow said in a statement.

“Rest assured the developer does not have authorisations and we are busy referring this matter to the Public Protector for investigation.”

Barlow said they are also in the process of taking the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as the Department of Water Affairs to court.

She accuses the latter department of issuing the water use licence and approval in contravention of three sections of the Water Act (No. 36 of 1998).

“We suspect some sort of alleged corruption took place with the Department of Water Affairs, as the developer refuses to give me their application for the water use licence so we can review it,” Barlow said.

“We most definitely will be including BP South Africa and BP global in our court action and our complaint to the Public Protector. There is no doubt that BP are facilitating and even promoting the illegal construction of this petrol station.

“I have been contacted by a number of people complaining about his petrol station, and we are working around the clock to get it stopped, of that I can assure you.”

Barlow also told this publication that there is a group of concerned citizens offering a R250 000 reward for information leading to the prosecution of officials at the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development who they say accepted a bribe from the late owner, Mannetjes Ford, and Petro-props (Pty) Ltd, to reach an illegal ‘out of court settlement’ on a forged positive RoD dated March 6, 2003.

According to the group of citizens, this led to the illegal court order and the final illegal RoD dated June 19, 2012 for the Libradene petrol station.

• Previous report

Last year, the Advertiser reported that, back in 2006, Sasol abandoned its plans to build on this piece of land following a fierce battle between Nicole Barlow and site developer Petro-Props.

Construction of the garage was also halted by the government at the time after a battle that raged for more than a year.

Announcing its decison in January of that year, Sasol said it was not satisfied that the validity of the authorisation for construction of a filling station on the Libradene site had been determined, and that the required approvals and authorisations for the development had been granted.

“Additional information regarding the licensing of the site has become available,” Sasol said in a statement.

“As a responsible corporate citizen that is sensitive to public and environmental concerns, Sasol has considered the latest information. Obviously, the establishment of a filling station must have all the required authorisations and consents that such a development requires.

“Historically, Sasol agreed to lease the particular site from the developer after a study of traffic patterns along Rondebult Road indicated that it would be an attractive business opportunity,” Sasol stated.

“All the required authorisations and approvals for the proposed development, together with the rights to develop a service station on the site, had to be obtained by the developer along with an environmental authorisation (record of decision) for the development.”

Following Sasol’s decision, Petro-Props served notice on Barlow to stop making public all the problems surrounding development on the wetland. But the High Court at the time dismissed Petro-Props’ application with costs.

In 2016, BP said in a statement that it was aware of Barlow’s objection to the development of a petrol station on the Libradene site.

BP said, however, that it neither owns nor is developing the site, nor will it operate the site.

BP has entered into an agreement with the site owner to supply fuels to the site once the fully permitted and legally approved construction is complete. The construction is being undertaken by the owner.

BP said it is looking forward to an amicable solution between all stakeholders involved.