Guardians of the Garden Route Heritage Day March - 24 September

The Guardians of the Garden Route, recipients of a Gold Conservation Award, invite the public to participate in a peaceful protest march against the Lakes Eco and Golf Estate and similar large, exclusive developments.

Members of the Guardians, a loose affiliation of organisations and individuals, will march in protest against the loss and inappropriate use of our natural heritage as evidenced by this development. Members believe that protest against this type of “Private Town” is essential for the following reasons:

It denies public access to NATURAL RESOURCES such as land, water, rivers and nature:

Land will be rezoned for an exclusive, expensive housing and recreational estate, when no land has been earmarked for locals upon which they can build a home, graze cattle or grow vegetables. Scarce water resources will be used for a privileged minority, much of it for recreational purposes while many people in the area have no access to water at all. Rivers that should be accessible to all the people of South Africa will effectively be fenced in and the natural beauty of the area reserved for those who can afford it.

Developments like these show no RESPECT for the environment or for the people of the region:

Scant regard is given to the proper ecological functioning of the area which will be severely compromised if the proposed volumes of water are extracted from a catchment that is already stressed - further compromising the ecological integrity of the sensitive lakes system.

A private, fully serviced town reserved for the wealthy perpetuates apartheid-style segregation forcing the landless into increasingly smaller areas without being given access to essential services such as running water and sanitation. This shows a total disrespect for the most basic of human rights.

It prevents the DIVERSITY of livelihood and ecology that strengthens our social and environmental fabric:

With the wide range of contradictory employment figures stated by the developer, we have concluded that a limited number of menial jobs will be available to local residents offering little opportunity for skills development and the diversification of livelihoods.

Existing and potential biological diversity will be severely compromised by the introduction of mono-culture golf and polo fields and by the hardening of surfaces required for roads and buildings which is of particular concern in an area buffering an internationally recognised wetland.

The Guardians of the Garden Route demand that this development and everything it stands for MUST BE STOPPED.

You are invited to join the Guardians on Saturday September 24th. Marchers will gather at the parking area at the mouth of the Sedgefield lagoon at 10:00 where local interest groups will present brief speeches. The march will then proceed along Kingfisher drive to the Sedgefield municipal buildings where written submissions will be handed to representatives of 'the developer', the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and representatives of the Eden District Mayor.