Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning

[a]  Bird Island Nature Reserve in Lambert’s Bay is closed to undertake major repairs and maintenance required to three key buildings on the Island.  Some of the repairs and maintenance relate to health and safety compliance to ensure visitor and staff safety. In addition, there are key improvements which will enhance the visitor experience, contribute to better value for the visitor and an increase in visitor traffic to this key attraction in Lamberts Bay,

[b][i] and [ii] Bird Island Nature Reserve has been closed since 3 May 2022 is envisaged to reopen on 1 December 2022.

[c] The following factors were considered when closure was contemplated:

• Current status of the buildings and the severity of the work to be completed
• Health and safety factors of the current buildings
• The number of contractors and length of work on site per contractor.
• Improved and enhanced visitor experience
• Period of year – low VS high seasonal period in relation to past performance [pre-Covid]
• Environmental factors including the breeding season for gannets
• Budget period for the expense and the delay in advertising as result of the High Court Ruling against National Treasury preventing from procuring goods and services earlier than planned.

[d’ There are critical maintenance matters that needed urgent attention. Failure to address it timeously could result in serious injury or loss of life. In this instance, the entity will be held liable, and it would have major negative impacts from a reputational management perspective for both the entity and the town of Lambert’s Bay.     

[e] The maintenance of the infrastructure on the Island does not impact on the employment of the Extended Public Works Programme [EPWP] employees [temporary staff]. The EPWP staff are still fulfilling their functions and are still being paid as per their employment contracts.

Activities currently carried out by the EPWP team, on a daily basis, are as follow:

• Access control
• Cleaning of the washup zone around the island;
• Bird and seal counts for record and scientific purposes 
• Recording of dead birds and seals and determining cause of death
• Since the last year there have been several outbreaks of Avian Influenza [AI] along the coast.  This also impacted bird species at Bird Island and daily observation and patrols for any dead or alive seabirds with symptoms of AI for reporting to the relevant task team are still applicable.
• Removal of debris [e.g. kelp, rocks and shells] that washes up into the gannet colony during big swell events.
• Path maintenance.

Ad hoc beach patrols for any washed-up specimens of interest.