Construction of the Franschhoek cable car, or “Skytram” as it is called, has been postponed until further notice, according to the project manager Alwyn Laubscher, of Alwyn Laubscher and Associates.
“The Franschhoek Cableway [Skytram] is still in its conceptual phase and there is active and ongoing engagement with the community of Franschhoek about the vision underpinning the proposed development. The project is still in very early consultation phase [and] no permission requests have been filed and there is no strict timeline.
“The developers are passionate about this project and the many economic benefits it can bring to the community. It is important for all involved to seek broad consensus within Franschhoek on the scope and design of the proposed project. Therefore we are listening and taking into account the constructive feedback we have received in our early consultations. The comments and concerns from that initial process as well as extensive personal engagements with individuals and groups in the town since will shape the future of the proposed project.”
News24 reported on 6 September that the R482-million cable-car project may be postponed until 2028. However, Laubscher said no definitive completion date had been decided on.
Roughly a year-and-a-half after the public-participation process closed in March 2024 Doug Jeffery Environmental Consultants, employed by the Franschhoek Cableway Company to handle the environmental-impact assessment, was still sifting through the public’s comments received.
The Skytram is proposed to start at Haute Cabrière and follow a 1 km cable line up the valley to the Mount Rochelle Nature Reserve.
Laubscher told Paarl Post on 15 February 2024 during a public-participation meeting, which also served as the unofficial open day, or launch of the project, that construction of the cable-car project was expected to start in early 2025 and the first visitors welcomed at the end of 2026. These dates, however, no longer applied as the process was on pause.
He added that the vision of the project’s shareholders, which include a South African and a Swiss, is different from that of the Table Mountain Cable Car, as it will provide visitors with an array of outings to choose from, encouraging longer stays on top at the reserve. The lower Haute Cabrière station will include the existing offerings as well as new proposed walkways around a dam, a new deli, ablutions and parking, while the upper station at Mont Rochelle Nature Reserve will include wine tasting, a restaurant, souvenir shop, paragliding launch area, walkways and existing hiking routes.
The newspaper approached Adél Groenewald, an environmental consultant at Doug Jefferey Environmental Consultants, for comment but no response had been received. Questions posed to her concerned comments received during the public-participation process and the phase the consultancy currently is at with their review and compilation.
Community members have meanwhile voiced a range of objections to the proposed Skytram. In addition to potential environmental risks such as impacts on local fauna and flora, opponents of the project also raised concerns about the adequacy of Franschhoek’s power grid to support the development, not to mention opportunities for socio-economic benefits and job creation for the local community, and the likelihood of exacerbating parking challenges in the town.
The “Stop the Franschhoek Skytram” Facebook group has roughly 1 400 members.
