Cape Town - Following the first southeaster gusts of the season, the City continued its Hout Bay Dune Rehabilitation Project on Thursday with the next phase of its trial management intervention, which included the installation of wind nets to trap sand on Promenade Road in Hout Bay.
This intervention was aimed at eventually reducing the accumulation and impact of windblown sand on the Hout Bay infrastructure, a major issue in the past, in preparation for the summer months when the southeaster wind would reach gale force speed.
Spatial Planning and Environment Mayco member Marian Nieuwoudt, said the first phase of the trial management intervention began in June, when machinery was used to lower the Hout Bay beach levels on the eastern side of the beach which reduced the accumulation of windblown sand on the adjacent Promenade Road, verges and neighbouring properties.
“The wind nets are custom designed, made from shade-netting material. The nets are white to blend into the beach environment, and are fitted with special sleeves for the poles to anchor them. They are designed to slow winds down and to assist with the management of windblown sand,” she said.
Hout Bay business IY Community Cook Up director Tjarla Norton said although the windblown sand was a big problem, there were more pressing matters to be addressed in the area such as the raw sewage that washes up from the Disa River into the bay.
Hout Bay-based Sentinel Ocean Alliance operations director Marguerite Kimberley said they welcomed the intervention, if it meant minimising the City’s use of blue plastic bags to collect the sand off Promenade Road as it ended up in landfills or back in the oceans.
However, Kimberley felt there were other pressing issues in Hout Bay that the City should also be addressing, such as the waste management problem in Hangberg and Imizamo Yethu.
“There is an unofficial dumping site next to the Hout Bay Harbour where the Hangberg community is dumping their waste, due to the inefficient waste collection system in Hangberg. This waste inevitably ends up in the ocean, and washes up on the Hout Bay Main Beach,” she said.