David Eastall, the English property developer, has received the first official green light to build a R1 billion golfing and holiday estate at Chintsa.

But Eastall still faces a few other snags before the development takes off.

The goods news for Eastall is that the Environmental Affairs Department plans to issue a record of decision (ROD) on January 10 which will open the way for the Great Kei Municipality - if it so wishes - to approve rezoning of the farm land for the development.

Environmental Affairs' Jerry Pienaar confirmed that the ROD in terms of environmental impact assessment regulations allowed for a change of the land use.

Great Kei municipal manager Oxley Ngqele said the municipality would first like to meet Eastall in the new year to discus certain outstanding issues. Ngqele said at this stage the municipality had no comment to make.

Pienaar said the ROD only applied to the first phase of the development. He said details of the ROD would only be made available as soon as it had been issued.

It is known that the availability of sufficient water was one of the major concerns that have been addressed by the department. The water supply to the Great Kei municipal area has always been regarded as a problem.

As a result it is a foregone conclusion that environmental approval for any subsequent phases of the development will only be given if the construction of a desalination plant as has been envisaged by Eastall takes place.

Pienaar also confirmed that his department has been requested by Eastall to do an environmental impact assessment only for the Chintsa area and not at Kidd's Beach where the developer has signed up more land for a similar project.

Earlier the Daily Dispatch reported, and this was confirmed by the golfing estate's townplanners, Setplan's Piet Jonas, that Eastall has offered millions of rands for farmland in the Kidd's Beach area.

One farmer, Basil Shaw, who has signed such a deal, however, said that Eastall had told him that he would not be able to meet his March 2005 expiry date for the option.

Nash said that he would only consider an extension of the option period if the offer benefited him financially.

It has now also emerged that there has been a serious breakdown in relations between Eastall and Maxima Global, a black economic empowerment group in Johannesburg, which specialises in property development.

Eastall and his consultant Di Stap met Maxima Global executives at the East London airport to discuss a possible joint venture.

Maxima Global's Thulani Majola has however expressed disappointment over the lack of communication between his group and Eastall. He feels Eastall has not honoured their initial agreements.

This followed soon after Eastall broke ranks with the Disability Empowerment Concerns Trust, which represents 4,8 million disabled people all over South Africa.

Daily Dispatch