Public participation in planning for the Cathedral Peak hutted camp
Master Thesis
1995
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University of Cape Town
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A critique of the public participation process followed during planning for the development of an eco-tourism facility by the Natal Parks Board, in the Natal Drakensberg Park in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, during a period of political transition in 1994/95. A Preliminary Environmental Assessment was conducted for the Natal Parks Board (NPB) as a group project by five students¹ from the Masters Class in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town. The scoping stage of the assessment focused the collection and assessment of base line data. The Masters Group evaluated the alternatives identified during scoping against the criteria of equity, sustainability and efficiency and based on this evaluation one of the alternatives was recommended to the NPB. The results were presented in a three-volume document consisting of the Main Report, the Public Participation Report and the Appendices. Individual members of the masters group have selected different aspects of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which was done as a group exercise, for more in depth analysis and critique for submission in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy. Public participation in the planning process followed by the NPB has been chosen for this thesis because it is felt that it has been inadequate to date and could be improved upon. This thesis draws on the experience gained by the Masters Group during the scoping phase and aims to identify how the EIA fitted into the planning process followed by the NPB. The focus is on examining the extent to which the approach to public participation in the planning process complied with the requirements of Integrated Environmental Management. The NPB's commitment to public participation has been used as a baseline against which the effectiveness of involvement of the public in the planning process has-been measured .The aim of the thesis was to establish: how the EIA fitted into the broader planning process;+ whether the approach to public participation facilitated input from all Interested and Affected Parties( I&APs); whether involvement of the public fulfilled the requirements of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) and of the stated commitment by the NPB to public participation; what difficulties were experienced by the project proponent in converting the theory of IEM and public participation into practice; whether any improvements could be made to the process. It is felt that the information presented in this thesis could be useful to the NPB in continuing this project and in the planning of other eco-tourism developments.
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Reference:
Askeland, C. 1995. Public participation in planning for the Cathedral Peak hutted camp. University of Cape Town.