Kalk Bay tidal pool battle: Protesters vs Brass Bell

A Heritage Day protest in Kalk Bay has put the spotlight on a dispute over a wooden deck built over a former children’s tidal pool at the Brass Bell restaurant.

Protest organiser Margie Pretorius says the restaurant has been steadily encroaching on public land over the years and that the deck has effectively taken over an area that was previously available to the public.

But Brass Bell management disputes the characterisation, arguing that the space was seldom used by members of the public and that the land is leased from PRASA.

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The opposing views have fuelled a broader debate over public access to the coastline and the use of land around one of Cape Town’s best-known coastal communities.

Expanded its footprint

Protest organisers object to the construction of the wooden deck over what they describe as a children’s tidal pool.

Pretorius says the issue is about more than the loss of a swimming area.

She argues that the restaurant has progressively expanded its footprint onto land that should remain accessible to the public.

The protest is therefore also expected to highlight concerns around public access, coastal heritage and the use of public space.

Brass Bell disputes claims

Brass Bell management has rejected the suggestion that it simply occupied public land.

The restaurant’s position is that the area was seldom used by the public and that the land is leased from PRASA.

That puts the dispute at the centre of a more complicated question over who controls the land and what rights the public has to use the space.

The competing claims have not been independently established and would need to be considered against the relevant lease agreements, property records and approvals governing the site.

A question of public access

The controversy has nevertheless reignited debate about access to Kalk Bay’s coastline.

For protesters, the former tidal pool represents a public recreational space that should not simply disappear behind a restaurant development.

For the Brass Bell, the issue is one of the use of land it says it legally leases and which was not regularly used by the public.