Deer Park Cafe demolition on the cards

An application to demolish the Deer Park Cafe in Vredehoek has been submitted to the Heritage Western Cape.

Heritage Western Cape (HWC) has confirmed that the application to demolish the Deer Park Cafe in Vredehoek will be tabled at the Built Environment and Landscape Committee meeting (BELCOM) on Wednesday December 12.

Heritage Western Cape CEO, Mxolisi Dlamuka said the application had been previously tabled at the Belcom on Wednesday November 28 when the committee agreed to conduct a site inspection.

This comes after Vredehoek residents raised concerns over the application to demolish the 60-year-old building, to develop a four-storey building with more than 30 flats. The building in Deer Park Drive houses three restaurants – Woodlands Eatery, Con Brio and Deer Park Cafe.

The owner of Con Brio restaurant Vennesa Mcnab said they were devastated because the building had been part of the community for decades and there had been little to no communication about this application. “All of a sudden the notice went up and when we asked the rental agent, they said they also knew nothing about it,” she said.

“There was no public participation. They did the bare minimum and gave the community just one month’s notice period and the application went in,” she said.

Ms Mcnab was also concerned about the impact construction would have on the neighbouring park.

“This area has historically been this way, single storey houses going up the mountain. The shops and these restaurants have been serving the community for decades,” she said.

Among residents’ objections, said Ms Mcnab, was that another block of flats would exacerbate traffic congestion in the area.

Another resident, who didn’t want to be named, echoed Ms Mcnab’s concerns about traffic, and also asked where the residents of the block would park.

Atlantic Sun was unable to make contact with the applicants by the time this edition went to print.