In the malaise around this development emotions have blurred some of the key issues. The Sea Point Beachfront, gifted by the Crown to the people of Cape Town as public open space, is designated by one title deed which means that, should development conditions be changed at one section, future development will be permissible elsewhere on the strip. This must ring a cautionary clarion.

The City's proposal call for development requires that the development produce income to offset the running costs of the adjacent swimming pool - a civic amenity enjoyed by people from all over Cape Town. My view is this is flawed thinking and requires the development to be bigger than it need be for ordinary commercial purposes.

The third issue, over which perhaps the largest amount of feathers are flying, is the negative impact on the value of overlooking properties who's view will be impinged. I believe that, while views in most cases are a privilege (for which one pays) and not a right, when one purchases in front of Public Open Space, it becomes a right not to have buildings where, previously, there were none.

Sea Point needs development but it should not be at the cost of smudging the title deeds under which the land was given. 

Had lunch at The Press Club today where Brian van Rooyen, President of Rugby, commented on the spin doctoring and media criticism of his tenure - saying that giving the administrator a hard time when the team loses is not cricket. That got me to thinking about those against this development who have done similarly to Farrell Bernberg and On Track Development who were invited to propose a scheme. It is the City in this case that needs to be collared and not Bernberg, who, to my mind, is simply doing what was asked of him.