DEVELOPERS of the controversial Lagoon Bay golf course development in the southern Cape lost their case in the Western Cape High Court this morning, meaning the development cannot go ahead.
This ends another chapter in the battle of Lagoon Bay, which has been underway since 2005. The local community has been fiercely divided on the desirability of the development proposal.
In his judgment, Justice Benny Griesel drew attention to the “fragmented and cumbersome administrative processes” in our land use laws, which can result in different decision-makers arriving at conflicting decisions – for the same development. This was the case in Lagoon Bay, where the environmental permission was granted, but the rezoning permission turned down.
In his judgment, Griesel emphasised the finding of an earlier Constitutional Court case, which had said that this fragmented legislation between different authorities and levels of government, “cries out for legislative reform”.