Winds of change blow for Umdloti

While property brokers and developers celebrate the newly launched Sibaya precinct, Umdloti residents fear the end of the seaside town they treasure and love.

Bruno Bruniquel is one of the residents, who voiced some of the concerns the beach villagers have with the upcoming 750 hectare development.

“All I see is more crowds, more crime, traffic congestion and the destruction of everything that made Umdloti unique,” said Bruniquel.

Fellow resident, Marcella Wright Hunt, said they moved to Umdloti to get away from busy, city life.

“We made a choice to live in a quiet, seaside village. If we wanted to live in a business park with mixed use we would move to Umhlanga or Ballito,” said Wright Hunt.

Tongaat Hulett Planning Director, Rory Wilkinson said Umdloti should use this opportunity to integrate itself into the broader region and to recreate itself.

“The coastal town of Umdloti is not situated within a vacuum, it is part of a more complex urban development corridor – the primary growth and development corridor of both the province and the city. The key issue is how the town responds to such change,” said Wilkinson.

The town is responding with a loud and clear voice that wants to preserve the town for what it is – a quiet gem nestled between the forest and ocean.

Umdlotian Dylan Cunniffe said he cannot see the development bringing anything positive to the town.

“The development will completely change our way of life,” said Cunniffe.

Garth Baird, also from Umdloti, agreed.

“Umdloti is going to cease to exist as a small, exclusive beach village. The beautiful beaches are going to become overrun with humanity with the huge increase in people who will be moving into the new development.”

Although the Umdloti Urban Improvement Project (UIP) understands the concerns, they are following the ‘if you cannot beat them, join them’ approach.

“Development is bound to happen, so we want to be proactive and partner with the developers (Tongaat Hulett) to make it beneficial for all parties,” said Umdloti UIP manager, Terry Rens.

Resident, Kevin Minter-Brown, agreed with Rens and said that we should enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.

“Eventually all the sugarcane around Umdloti will be houses and shops, so we just have to love it while it lasts. I wish they had the foresight to make the M4 two lanes all the way when they did all the resurfacing though,” said Minter-Brown.

Rumours about a second road leading into Umdloti has caused much distress, however Wilkinson said the intention is not to link new roads into Umdloti from a vehicular access perspective.

“In terms of future Sibaya residents accessing the coast, alternative options and plans are being considered including pedestrian access, shuttle systems, boardwalks and verniculars,” he said.

Furthermore, Wilkinson said water and energy demand is a critical issue and a key focus of the Sibaya development is around reducing such demand.

“Rainwater harvesting, re-use of water as well as the use of solar powered geysers and sustainable buildings that make use of the natural attributes for cooling are all elements we are looking at. There will however be a need to link into the municipal water and electrical reticulation systems, but any such links will not impact on Umdloti’s current service. New bulk lines will also be constructed for the development.”

For now, it is a wait and see game, but it is probably wise to invest in a scooter and JoJo tank, just in case.