Expiry: 
Sunday, April 30, 2017 - 00:00
 

Stellenbosch Municipality has a deep history and a rich and varied heritage. Our identity as individuals (who we are) and as part of a community (where we belong) is based on our relationship to the environment around us, often called a ‘sense of place’. Human activities have been imprinted on the natural landscapes over a very long time, and in many different ways. There are many physical and social contexts and developmental histories that produced these ‘cultural’ landscapes.

In early 2016 the Stellenbosch Municipality contracted Cape Winelands Professional Practices in Association (CWPPA) to prepare a heritage inventory and management plan, so that the municipality complies with the law. Our main approach is to understand how places became as they are today, which elements are important and why, and how to protect and manage them. In April 2016, we provided a Phase I report entitled “Approach, Concepts, Method and Preliminary Findings”. This document is available to all and can be downloaded from the Stellenbosch Heritage Foundation website. In November 2016, we presented the Draft Phase 2a report at a Public meeting in Stellenbosch. This report embodied the preliminary draft identification of significant large-scale heritage resources in the rural domain of the Stellenbosch Municipality. It has been prepared so as to assist the municipality to become compliant with the requirements of the National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) as soon as possible. Heritage informants are an obligatory component of current and future proposals for and amendments to urban settlement and development planning instruments, spatial development frameworks, transportation plans and the like. After acknowledging and responding to comments from the Public Participation process, the revised Phase 2a report was submitted to Heritage Western Cape (HWC) for approval in January 2017.

We follow international best standards for heritage resources identification. It is important to acknowledge the strong link between conservation and 2 development and the implications for managing heritage resources. We strongly promote the principle that the heritage resources identification process must be inclusive and must squarely address the question: whose heritage? We wish to represent the values and opinions of all participants in the project, so that protected heritage resources within the Municipality come to genuinely reflect our complex and disparate society. Thus, we see two dimensions in our approach: On the one hand a series of spatial overviews of heritage resources, and on the other hand a range of social values, narratives and voices. The results are graphics and data for understanding both the largescale, place-defined, area-based landscapes (top down), and very individual or site-specific features (bottom-up). As shown in figure 1, the project area is vast and varied, and is characterised by distinctive wilderness, rural and urban domains. It features rugged mountain ranges and many valleys that have been adapted to settlement in varied forms by many people over long periods of time.

The people who live and work in a place have first-hand knowledge and experience of that area and know where to find people with local memories. We warmly invite your help so that you, and/or your organisation, may make a contribution to this project. We have already met some of you at six local Focus Group presentations and discussions. If not, please contact us. You will be invited to take part in workshops to be held as the project progresses.

You can also submit any potential site, landscape, place or structure that you deem to be of heritage significance via our online HERITAGE SURVEY. The Stellenbosch Heritage Foundation kindly agreed to host the survey. You can also reach it directly via this link.

Through this survey form, one can either comment on an existing graded heritage site or submit a new site. The survey is based on Google Maps and participants can directly place a marker on the location of the property under discussion. Opportunity is also given to add further descriptions of the property or even photographs. The survey form continues to allow for comment on sites, places or structures submitted by the public via this portal, or to comment on the Phase 2a report of this project.

All interested parties are encouraged to participate in the project and make contributions as they see fit in the broad public interest. We also encourage you to consult the Stellenbosch Heritage Foundation web site to learn more about what is going on in heritage circles, and to register as an interested and affected party. Documents are available there and can be downloaded. 

Upcoming Public Participation Events:

Stellenbosch Open House/Day Event – 9:00am – 20:00

Venue: Stellenbosch Town Hall

Time slots: 9:00 to 10:00, 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00

Date: Tuesday,11 April 2017

Franschhoek Open House/Day Event – 9:00am – 19:00,

Venue: Franchhoek Town Hall

Time slots: 9:00 to 10:00, 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00

Date: Thursday, 19 April 2017

Additional follow-up focus group meetings will be held in June and July 2017.

PLEASE CONTACT Shawn Johnston of Sustainable Futures ZA at: swjohnston@mweb.co.za or on 083 3259965.

 

 
Category: 
Announcements
Public Participation
 
Created
Tuesday, March 28, 2017 - 12:31
 
 

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