Cape Town – Members of the Vredehoek community will today fight against the demolition of Deer Park Café, earmarked for a proposed four-storey development.
The building in Deer Park Drive houses the popular Woodlands Eatery, Con Brio and Deer Park Café.
The community have appealed to Heritage Western Cape (HWC), saying they felt they were not given enough time to comment, and that the development, understood to be a 31-apartment building, will be inappropriate for the neighbourhood.
HWC chief executive Mxolisi Dlamuka confirmed the matter will be heard by HWC's built environment and landscape committee.
“There is nothing much to divulge until the committee has made a decision,” he said.
Dealing with the matter on behalf of concerned community members is attorney Suma de Bruyn, of Themis Attorneys, who said: “The demolition application is premature, and the proposal itself is contextually inappropriate. It is of vital importance that the property itself and the surrounding area be graded from a heritage standpoint so that proper protection and appropriate management can be granted to this heritage resource.”
De Bruyn said the demolition application was premature as it didn't appear that the relevant land-use and zoning approvals had been obtained for the proposed development.
The locals contend the property plays a crucial role in the community as a meeting place and trading store.
In a letter of objection, residents Karen Breytenbach and Barry Botha said the three restaurants and shop housed within the building were invaluable community assets and had been so for many years.
“Our family and so many middle-class urban families like ours, who live in Zonnebloem, Vredehoek, Gardens, Oranjezicht, Woodstock, Devil’s Peak, Tamboerskloof and other areas close to the City Bowl, and even tourists, rely on Deer Park Café as an open green space where we can gather for children’s parties and children’s play dates and to work remotely while overlooking nature. Nowhere else in the City Bowl can our community have this.”
Deer Park Café should therefore be made a protected heritage site, as it plays an indispensable cultural, social, and environmental role in the community, they argued.
“We feel strongly that green social spaces in the city must be preserved and not destroyed, both in the heritage context as an established community asset that must not be lost, and as a sanctuary for future generations as the city becomes denser and less green,” a letter stated.