Conservationist airs wetland worries

PLANT lovers in Hillcrest were in an uproar when the wetland at the bottom of the Oxford Village was dug out, leaving a basin of mud and water.

According to Lilian Develing, an avid conservationist and chairman of Conomirra, there are two springs which run under and along Shongweni Road, which then fed into the wetland area.

“Water belongs to the state and if you want to use it, or interfere with the flow of water, you need permission from the municipality to do so,” said Develing.

An environment Impact Assessment would need to be undertaken should any watercourse be altered, whether it is a free flowing river or runs through a wetland area, which in this case is also considered to fall under D’MOSS (Durban Metropolitan Open Space System).

Develing noted that in 2003 the previous owner of the Village had been granted permission to landscape certain parts in the wetland area, on the condition that it was environmentally friendly.

“To apply for and Environmental Impact Assessment would cost about R1million but now that the land has been altered without permission, the owner, Brett Latimer, would now have to make a late application, which could cost up to R3million,” said Develing.

She said the scraping and clearing of alien invasives in the wetland area had begun three weeks ago and the graders began digging in the main area of the wetland a few days later.

“He brought the graders through to remove the bidim that had been placed in the ground,” said Develing. “There is now a hole in the ground and whatever vegetation was left has been completely flooded.”

The Department of Environment Affairs issued a stop order about two weeks ago. Now work has been done on the land since it was received.

“He can landscape it back into a wetland but he has to now apply for permission to rehabilitate the land, which could take up to six months. His intentions were honourable as he is going to turn it back into a wetland,” said Develing.

The owner of the Oxford Village, Brett Latimer, defended his actions and said his motive was to rehabilitate the area at the bottom of his property.

Brett Latimer responds

Brett Latimer purchased the then Hillcrest Village Market from Growthpoint two years ago, and since then the village has seen many upgrades and changes.

“The wetland area started changing about five weeks ago when a resident, cleared out 3.5m of bush from my boundary line and into, and along, the length of my property without my permission,” said Latimer.

He noted that the land at the bottom of the now Oxford Village was not a designated wetland area but was marked on plans as a reservoir.

“About three and a half weeks ago I hired a private company to come in and remove all of the blue gums, lantana and other alien invasives from the area, which covers approximately  20 000 square metres  of my property.

“For those that are worried I destroyed all of the indigenous vegetation, I did not. The arum lilies were carefully bagged and temporarily re homed in another wetland in Drummond,” said Latimer.

The removal of the aliens began after an inspection hole was dug and it was found that there was 1.2m of top soil being held up by a large sheet of bidim, a non-woven needle-punched geotextile which is made from polyester, and shade cloth. Underneath the cloth there was ground water.

“My intention from the beginning was to generate a wetland with only indigenous plants so that the water attenuation area for the shopping centre became a useful, beautiful area rather than drainage line designed by engineers, with no thought to indigenous planting and beautification.

“This would be in-house wetland that is safe, which would be monitored by cameras and patrol guards, for Oxford Village visitors to use whenever they chose,” said Latimer.

All landscaping was halted once the stop order was received.

“I know that the wetland in my area is now being looked after, and I urge the Hillcrest community to come forward and help by either donating an indigenous tree or plant to be planted.

“I also invite Lilian Develing to roll up her sleeves and make herself available for constructive assistance. They can also help with the removal of the blue gum trees in the rest of the wetland that is out of my jurisdiction,” said Latimer.