2005-10-31,+Joburg+plan+will+destroy+citys+character,+Greig,+Sindy

= Jo'burg plan will destroy city's character =

Sunday Independent, Johannesburg, October 30, 2005 By Robert Greig

The look and soul of Johannesburg is on the line. Last week the heritage sub-committee of the South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra) endorsed a Gauteng provincial government plan to demolish 10 historical or architecturally significant buildings between Commissioner and Market streets for a large square, part of a government precinct.

The approval came after a lengthy period of what the province calls "consultation" and what a group of concerned architects considers superficial consultation without serious intent.

In private, they accuse the province of steamrollering a fundamental change in Johannesburg. They compare this to the behaviour of Nationalist Pretoria during apartheid that led to the deforming of Parktown ridge.

The Gauteng plan envisages what has been described as "a radical intervention" in central Johannesburg, by:


 * Extending Beyers Naudé Square by demolishing eight buildings south of the square, provisionally named "New Heritage Square".


 * Demolishing two more protected buildings - the South African Reserve Bank Building and Clegg House - to create space for a new building.


 * Creating a traffic underpass the length of Market Street (between Kort and Harrison), entered from West to Kort and exited from Harrison to Rissik.

This week, eight prominent Johannesburg architects were mobilising opinion to appeal to the controlling national ministry, arts and culture, against Sahra's decision.
 * Skywalks to link the government buildings on the square's perimeter and to create a sense of enclosure.

They and Sahra's chief executive, Phakamani Buthelezi, disagreed about whom the appeal should go to. This week Buthelezi insisted that it should go to Sahra's main board. The concerned group's spokesperson, Herbert Prins, insisted that legislation required it should go to Pallo Jordan, the minister of arts and culture.

(Because the Gauteng government, unlike the Western Cape, does not have a provincial heritage resources agency branch, the decision about Johannesburg was taken by the national body, though Buthelezi said this week that its heritage sub-committee represented Johannesburg expertise.)

If it goes to Sahra, the agency will appoint a tribunal to hear the appeal. If it goes to Jordan, he is bound, the architects say, to do the same.

At a heritage conference this week at Johannesburg's Constitution Hill, Buthelezi stressed that the process of deciding about the 10 buildings was not final.

Sahra's decision left architects shocked and dismayed. It comes at the end of a two-year process in which three sets of specialist, professional opinions, sought by the Gauteng government in compliance with legislation, have rejected the plan.

The consultation has also included meetings between provincial officials, interested citizens and architects and town planners. But the concerned architects, with Prins speaking for them, have long believed that the process has been flawed and consultation merely a formality. In June this year, they wrote complaining of documentation denied and their views treated "dismissively".

"The group [of architects] believes that nothing further has transpired ... to suggest that consultation as envisaged by the draughtsperson of the legislation has indeed taken place," they protested to Gauteng. They complained of "obscure" responses to criticism of the plan for the square; lack of compliance with legislation; lack of information about the city council's attitude to a provincial plan for the city; and lack of disclosure of existing alternatives to the plan.

So far, the only modifications of the plan as a result of criticism and feedback have been relatively minor. Gauteng has not disclosed what the plan will cost to implement.

This week, the senior provincial project manager, Jack van der Merwe, would not give a figure, though he stressed the savings of buying 20 buildings cheaply years ago, and of a public-private-sector development partnership.

Van der Merwe also manages the Gautrain project: this week The Star reported that since the broad public participation process ended, the cost of the project had trebled.

The plan for a provincial government precinct became known at least three years ago when the premier called for a plan. An architect, Fanuel Motsepe, was enlisted; he provided seven suggested plans; the last was accepted. The rejected alternatives have not been made public.

From: http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=1083&fArticleId=2972254