Heritage Cases

The applicant purchased the Midway Filling Station in December 2017. Prior to the applicant taking ownership of the filling station, the previous owner, Mr Demos Antoniades cleared a piece of land to the North of the filling station. This clearance was undertaken with EDTEAs approval. This approval letter was provided to the applicant before the land was purchased. Once the applicant had taken ownership of the Midway Filling station, the establishment of a truck stop was proposed. The truck stop included capacity for 90 trucks and included the following: • Truck parking area;x • Access road;x • Guard house; x • Ablution facilities; x • Kitchen/dining area; x • Associated infrastructure and services.x In order to comply with environmental legislation, the applicant appointed an Environmental Consultant to liaise with the relevant authorities EDTEA regarding environmental requirements as well as to compile an Environmental Management Plan for use during construction. The previous Environmental Consultant advised the applicant that, after consultation with the authorities , an Operational EMP was required and that the compilation of such a document would cover the environmental impacts associated with the project. The EMP was prepared and the truck stop was then constructed in February 2019. Mr Harper then proposed the extension of the truck stop in July 2020. This extension involved increasing the holding capacity from 90 trucks to 190 trucks (based on 34 ton linked vehicles). The expansion area was approximately 2,109 ha in size and included the following: • 2,109ha truck stop area • 20m wide, 12m long access road with automated gate • Fencing of the new area to merge with the existing truck stop area • Expansion of toilets, showers and bathroom facilities for truck drivers. • As a result of this, the Environmental Management Plan was updated. Again, the applicant appointed an Environmental Consultant to undertake the necessary consultation (which he advised was taking place) with EDTEA and prepare an EMP for the site. As a result of the expansion of the truck stop, the EMP was updated in July 2020 to cover the expansion area. The applicant was under the impression that, based on advice from the previous EAP, Environmental Authorisation was not required and that he had followed due diligence in terms of obtaining the required environmental documentation. The total area cleared for both the original truck stop and the expansion area is approximately 36 200m2 (3,62ha). A compliance notice was sent by EDTEA on 13/04/2021 for the Applicant to rectify the unlawful commencement of a listed activities in terms of NEMA for the area that was widened for the truck stop. The total transformed area is 1.72 ha. The Midway Truck stop is required for heavy duty trucks travelling on the N3 freeway as a safe rest stop and parking area. The Midway Truck stop was established, and increased in size, to cater for the increased volumes of trucks needing to park and rest for the night. A major cause of road accidents is driver fatigue which poses a significant risk to road safety. Truck stops are an important instrument to combat driver fatigue and improve road safety in the long run. The Midway Truck stop, like all Truck stops, provides for convenient, safe and comfortable overnight stops on all major roads freight routes around South Africa. The Midway Truck Stop employs twenty-six (26) people of which 90% are from a previously disadvantaged group of citizens. The Truck stop is also beneficial for society at large. There is a high rate of road crashes and one of the factors that has been identified as contributing to this issue is driver fatigue, especially with long distance travel and transporting of goods. Despite the Midway Truck Stop development being unauthorised and unlawful, it has a low to medium impact on the environment, particularly on the aquatic environment. Proposed mitigation will even lower the impact significance rating to negligible. As for the terrestrial vegetation community, the development has had a low impact on the environment and has not compromised any national and provincial conservation efforts. This must be considered by the Competent Authority when determining the amount of the fine the developer must pay. The unauthorised Midway Truck Stop meets environmental requirements are far as watercourses and terrestrial habitats are concerned and should be granted Authorisation provided recommendations made in the specialists reports along with other environmental requirements are fully met.