Vegetation clearing for Umdloti road widening sparks community debate

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19-02-2026
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North Coast Courier
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Earthmoving machinery at the Sweetwater Stream raised concerns, but the developer maintains all relevant approvals were met.

Land clearing at the Sweetwater Stream has alarmed Umdloti residents, while a consulting ecologist maintains the disturbed area falls within an approved road reserve.

WhatsApp groups were ablaze with questions as earthmoving machinery cleared the area on the morning of February 6, to facilitate widening of the entry road into the town.

Last year, Salta developers the Devmco Group revealed plans to bankroll and carry out a major upgrade of the M27 and M4 around Umdloti to target traffic bottlenecks. While most Umdloti residents understand the need for road widening measures, many were hopeful that negotiations between relevant community groups and the developer would see the trees and stream spared.

“Aren’t there limits to the proximity one can interfere with a stream?” wrote one resident, while another said he could not understand why workers were “just bulldozing it all down.”

The Sweetwater Stream originates from a nearby wetland area that has previously been central to local environmental concerns.

Devmco acknowledged the environmental sensitivity of working near the stream, but maintained that all work is being carried out within statutory approvals and environmental authorisations.

“Engagements between the developer, Umdloti Smart Village representatives, the Umdloti Conservancy and affected stakeholders has been ongoing and constructive,” said Devmco.

“Following the submission of requested approval documentation, a detailed meeting was held recently to clarify concerns and discuss practical solutions. These engagements have resulted in the development team agreeing to relook at aspects of the precinct plan and incorporate community-informed adjustments where appropriate.”

A meeting last Friday (February 13) between the Conservancy, Smart Village and Dr Allister Starke, who consults to Devmco on ecological matters, offered more clarity.

Starke said the area that had been cleared fell within an approved road reserve outside the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System and was not protected.

He said the presence of gabions and Reno mattresses in the stream indicated work had previously been done there. It was therefore not virgin habitat, but a pre-disturbed system that is essentially being re-engineered to widen the road and will be replanted with a fresh reed bed and trees.

“I think in the 1980s, during [tropical cyclone] Demonia, that’s when those existing Reno and gabion structures were put in,” he said.

He added that the rest of the Sweetwater Stream, below the guard hut, was protected and would not be cleared.

Starke said the area is fraught with invasive plants, but that it would bounce back with the help of conservation teams linked to the surrounding development – a benefit he said the area has never enjoyed before.