Following on from the Special General Meeting of the Far South Peninsula Community Forum (FSPCF) in the Sub Council chambers on 10 July , the concerns listed under feedback below were collated and recently presented to the Sun Valley Mall Developers By the FSPCF.
FEEDBACK
PHYSICAL DESIGN
- Please ensure that the overall external design does not just resemble a large hangar or concrete block.
The external walls should have decorative elements such as natural stone, glass, decorative awnings, flower beds etc. Please consider ideas that reflect something of the area with its natural landscapes and the elements that attract tourists to the area.
- Please ensure that the roof design contain broken lines. Take the views from Ou Kaapse Weg down onto the development into consideration. The roof at the new Lake San Michelle is a good example. The design should effectively conceal refrigeration and air-conditioning outlets, exhaust fans ect.
- Please consider energy efficient lighting. External lighting should be avoided (similar to the Long Beach Mall). It should be top shielded and downward facing. It should preferably contain no external neon-type shop lighting on the front of the building.
- An upstairs area with good views would break the monotony of a block structure.
- Design should incorporate noise elimination mechanism, (including for goods loading bays).
TRAFFIC
Traffic safety and efficiency around this development is a major concern for the Civic Associations of the Valley. While traffic safety in the Far South is not the responsibility of the Checkers organisation, the impact of this development will critically affect a major access artery. The importance of intelligent planning around all mobility issues relating to this centre can not be stressed strongly enough.
- A proper transport interchange needs to be incorporated as part of the site design.
- Intelligent use of traffic circles need to be considered as a mechanism to ensure effective traffic flow.
- Other developments in close proximity to affected interchanges such as the Chapman’s Bay development must be incorporated into traffic flow design.
- Ou Kaapse Weg needs to be made into a 4 lane thoroughfare from before the Noodhoek Main Road Turnoff (where a traffic circle or traffic light should be implemented), all the way down to the Kommetjie Road Interchange. The top end of which should accommodate the Chapman’s Bay development.
- All traffic lights on this road should be synchronized. The system should allow remote access and remote adjustable timing.
- A Left in and Left out on the proposed Entrance and Exit on Noordhoek Main Road (opposite church entrance) would assist traffic entering the Centre (especially from Ou Kaapse Weg). A Right turn when exiting the centre here could be extremely unsafe.
- The intersection Noordhoek Main Road and Houmoed Avenue will incur a large increase in traffic volumes. Vehicles turning right when existing Houmoed Avenue would need to be managed, possibly by a traffic circle.
- The intersection Buller Louw and Ou Kaapse Weg will experience a large increase in traffic volumes that will require a Signal setup upgrade.
- Vehicles will struggle to exit Right from Sunnydale Road at the Buller Louw and Sunnydale Road Interchange.
- Provision will need to be made for pedestrians and cyclists that exit Sunnydale Road and then cross Buller Louw to access Sun Valley Centre.
- The use of a traffic circle and a small stopping area for minibus taxis at the Buller Louw entrance by the Fast Food Drive thru entrance can be considered as a possible quick offload area for passengers.
- A safe stopping area could be considered for Taxis dropping-off or picking-up staff in Irene Way. How they will turn in the road to park on the Shopping centre side of the road needs to be considered.
- Consider the use of CCTV cameras connected to local Neighborhood Watch organisations for vehicle and pedestrian safety.
PEDESTRIANS
- Safe pedestrian access (pedestrian crossing?) must be available for pedestrians who walk down Sunnydale Road to cross over to the Checkers centre.
- A visible, acceptable and safe integrated linkage for pedestrians who leave the Longbeach Mall to access the Checkers Mall and vice versa must be created.
TROLLEYS
- There will be a need to manage the use of trolleys for users who may have parked at one mall and shopped at the other, or access a Taxi at the other mall.
TAXI’s
- Taxi Area considerations should include staff as well as customers.
- Taxi Driver behavior will default to convenience and speed of turn around. Law enforcement will not prevent this as we do not have enough staff to ensure it. Safe behavior must be built into the design.
- Please consider customer and staff comfort and safety at pick-up and drop-off points. It should be well lit, not stuck in a back corner. This is especially important in traditional Cape rainy seasons.
- Consider pedestrian safety at pick-up and drop-off points.
- While we are not expecting Checkers to create a Taxi Rank, some cover and seating should be considered for peak times when queues may be long.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
- There is a need for clarity as to what exactly is planned for “wetland management”; we need a similar system to Long Beach Mall which has worked well for more than a decade now, where allof the runoff from the site, including car parks, roof, etc, is directed to the wetland module to scrub the water before it enters the actual wetlands.
- Planting plan. The considerable budget set aside for re-vegetation is appreciated, but resident environmental experts want it noted that the area is notoriously hard to encourage growth in due to the extreme salinity and wetness of the area. It is recommended that planting may have to be done on raised beds and on imported topsoil.
- A request was made that no Palm Trees are planted. (As was enforced on Long Beach Mall).
- A request was made to consider the use of porous paving for the majority of the parking area in order to assist with the re-charging of groundwater.
COMMUNITY ISSUES
- Please confirm operating times for delivery vehicles and indicate the loading bay designs for both Checkers as well as other stores.
- Please confirm operating hours for the centre and shops.
- Please confirm that staff from local communities will be recruited and trained for employment at the centre.
- A request was made to consider making space available for selected local traders.
- The land acquired by Checkers include areas that were used for Community activities such as carnivals. A willingness to consider a similar arrangement would be greatly appreciated by the community.
- The consideration of the inclusion of a Cinema (perhaps from a smaller operator) to offer some entertainment for the youth would also be welcomed.
