Parkscape has won its case against SANParks and Mountain To Ocean (MTO) to stop cutting trees in the Tokai Forest.
Judgment was handed down by Judge Patrick Gamble at the Cape Town High Court today, Thursday March 2.
A block of pine trees in Orpen and Dennedal roads in the Tokai Park was due to be felled on August 30 last year (“Tokai Park debate”, Bulletin, July 28, 2016), (“Pines get the chop”, Bulletin, September 1, 2016) and (“Pine court battle postponed to October”, Bulletin, September 15, 2016).
However, it had to be stopped until judgment was served due to Parkscape – a community forum created to liaise with SANParks – taking the other two parties to court (“Present for pines”, Bulletin, November 10, 2016).
Following the judgment, Parkscape posted on their Facebook page that they had achieved a comprehensive win, with costs.
The statement on their page went on to say: “We are delighted with the outcome, and not just because we’ve been able to uphold the needs and wants of the community of over two and a half thousand people that we represent.
“We are also greatly encouraged that this judgment shows, once again, that South Africa’s legal system continues to uphold justice and just administrative action, particularly at this time when government and its agencies believe they are a law unto themselves.”
Parkscape believe that their win ensures that SANParks will now be legally obliged to engage with them.
At the time of publishing, no one from SANParks could comment on this as they said they had no information on the judgment.
For the full story – and more – read next week’s Bulletin.
