A visit to the new revamped Durban Beachfront
 When Durban residents during Victorian times planned excursions to the beach, the northern shore of the Port Natal Bay was the prime destination. The so-called `back beach` known as the `Golden Mile`, attracted only the more adventurous. Urbanisation of the early settlement put an end to the custom when the back beach became more accessible to residents and up-country visitors, who discovered the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and the golden beaches of the City.
It was a magical place to be for anyone who was a teenager or young person before 1970. The development of the area was determined by the need of satisfying the requirements of a minority of the population and accordingly occurred in a haphazard way and after 1994 was not geared to cope with the influx of new beach users, which at times resulted in unruly behaviour when there were large concentrations of people on the beaches. Grime, crime and unruly behaviour by some, kept many away. The awarding of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Tournament to South Africa as the host nation presented a unique opportunity to the eThekwini Municipality to revamp the golden mile beachfront in a harmonised way.
This important project attracted a considerable amount of criticism from the skeptics about being completed on time and was often dwarfed by the publicity surrounding the construction of the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Our initial visit to the beachfront was triggered by an article hidden away on the back pages of the Commercial & Industrial Section of the KZN Property Guide published during the early part of June which concerned the work of a member of the Association on this project. The work concerned upgrades of both the Dairy and Addington beaches. The Dairy beach project started as a R18million project, but various elements were added along the way increasing the value to nearly R40million, while the completion date remained the same. A number of previous existing buildings were retained and upgraded without compromising their historical integrity. The Rachel Findlayson pool was refurbished and now consists of three pools, including an aqua-aerobics and paddling pool. The member and professional team had to put in long hours and weekend work to complete the project on time.
We took a snap decision to visit the beachfront on Youth Day on which occasion there was a major game played at the Stadium. We parked near the Country Club and proceeded from there on foot. The first thing that struck us was the design and width of the new promenade and the creative soft and hard landscaping. We walked along the promenade past the new pedestrian entrance from the beachfront to the Stadium which passes beneath the freeway. Except for the state of the buildings of the now defunct Natal Command of the South African Defense Force, it was an excellent introduction to the approximate 7km of beachfront promenade. The effort to replant the Admiralty Reserve with indigenous plant material is highly commendable. We were, however amused by the signage designating the various assembly points for `separated children`, as we were always under the impression that this term was applicable to errant spouses and those ‘joined at the hip only’. After meeting up with a number of enthusiastic England supporters
we did not get any further than the first Fan Park and by that time the day was done, we had already taken the decision to return within days.
Our second visit was on the following Sunday on a glorious sunny day. On that occasion, we parked near the Ushaka Marine Park and proceeded in a northerly direction past the Addington Hospital Complex, bemoaning the sad state of the dilapidated former Children’s Hospital. This gracious building has been allowed to go to rack and ruin and is to put it mildly, in a state of disgrace. If situated in any other major city, it would have been renovated long time ago.
While at the beachfront we met with many acquaintances, who like us, had been lured there by the many favourable reports about the new beachfront. Everyone was commenting favourably about the scope of the project and the general user friendliness of this brilliant new amenity. Also impressive was the high police visibility, including mounted metro police for crowd control and general lack of litter.
We will be back for more!
Marion McLauchlan & Pieter Rautenbach |
