Cape Town - A major revamp of one of Cape Town’s oldest restaurants has been put on hold following a cease works order by the City of Cape Town.
The Constantia Nek Restaurant is undergoing a makeover by the Harbour House Group which plans to open a La Parada Tapas Bar and Harbour House restaurant.
Johan van der Merwe, the city’s Mayco member for Energy, Environmental and Spatial Planning said the city’s Planning and Building Development Management Department issued a cease works order to the owner of the restaurant for commencing with internal alterations to the structure without approved building plans.
“Subsequently, a building plan application for additions and alterations to the existing restaurant was submitted on October 2.”
Van der Merwe said the application had been circulated to various city departments, including the Heritage and Environmental Resource sections, for their input, which would inform the final decision on whether the submission was approved.
David Townsend, one of the directors of the Harbour House Group, said plans for the upgrade had been submitted to the council in July.
He said the cease works order was a technical issue relating to an additional doorway in the kitchen area. Additional plans for this had to be resubmitted.
“I understand most city departments have approved the plans and we expect to be back on site within two to three weeks.”
Niall Smith, a director of the Harbour House Group, said the notice from the council, which they received two weeks ago, had not given details for the cease works order.
He confirmed that plans for the renovation and upgrading were submitted on July 29. Smith said that prior to the plans being submitted, the Harbour House Group and their architects met on site with various representatives of the council to discuss the proposed work.
“A heritage planning expert and a heritage architect have also been employed and have submitted reports to the Heritage Western Cape for the comment and approval.”
They had also met representatives from the Hout Bay and Constantia ratepayers’ association which had expressed support for the project.
He said Constantia Nek Restaurant was an iconic place but had been under-utilised over the past 15 years or so.
“We are hoping to get it back to its glory days but in a sensitive way as the building is a heritage site.”
Smith said the official opening for the two restaurants would be delayed until early next year.
Cape Argus
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