By Karen Pretorius, tel: (021) 461-8145

Cape Town - Provincial government and civil society are to develop a Sustainable Development Implementation Plan (SDIP) to guide growth and development in the Western Cape..

A three-day Sustainable Development conference, which ended here yesterday, has come up with a Declaration of Intent which would act as a basis for the plan.

MEC for Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Tasneem Essop said the Declaration of Intent represents a consensus of immediate priorities which should be implemented.

These include building sustainable human settlements, embedding sustainable development in growth, trade and tourism strategies and integrating sustainable development and governance.

"What is exciting about the conference is that we as a province remain committed to ensuring a sustainable path for the Western Cape into the future," she said.

On the issue of building sustainable human settlements, delegates said urgent attention should be given to unlocking land across the province for integrated housing development.

The conference agreed that development of these areas should be in line with sustainable development principles such as energy saving, zero waste, re-use of water and recycling.

Development of the SDIP would be facilitated by the Provincial Development Council and the conference set a timeframe of a year for its adoption.

The MEC said she was pleased with the participation of representatives from communities across the province.

"Ordinary people are engaged in the work of sustainable development on a daily basis, but it has never been highlighted," she said.

Premier Ebrahim Rasool said the outcomes of this conference would add to policies already in place, such as the provincial Growth and Development Strategy and the Spatial Development Plan.

He said the conference highlighted what delegates considered as important.

"It drew a line in the sand and said this is what we value; this province is determined to be a sustainable province."

"Not only because it is good to be sustainable, but because it is the only guarantee that we give a good province to future generations as they emerge," he said.  

The results of this conference will feed into a National Strategy for Sustainable Development expected to be finalised by March next year. - BuaNews