2. PROJECT SITE LOCATION & DESCRIPTION

Transcription

1 2. PROJECT SITE LOCATION & DESCRIPTION 2.1 PROJECT LOCATION/SURROUNDING The subject site consists of a plot of land of 31Ha 1, m 2 (73A79P 49 /100) at Mont Piton, in the region of The Mount, in the District of Riviere Du Rempart and is partly surrounded by an existing residential morcellement Mont Piton Phase 1, bearing MHL reference MHL/M/14552 & MHL/M/16131A. The Northern boundary adjoins the Mont Piton Rivière du Rempart Road A6 and South West boundary adjoins the existing residential morcellement Mont Piton Phase 1 bearing MHL reference MHL/M/14552 & MHL/M/16131A as depicted in Plate 2.1, Plate 2.2 & Plate 2.3, respectively. The Eastern and Southern boundaries adjoin the existing land belonging to the Promoter, Alteo Limited and partly to sundry owners. The subject site is presently under sugar cane as depicted in plates below. (Plate 2.4 & Plate 2.5). Mon Piton Rivière du Rempart RoadA6 Project site presently under sugarcane plantation Plate 2.1 shows the Northern Boundary of the proposed site adjoining the Mon Piton Rivière du Rempart Road A6 6

2 Project site presently under sugarcane plantation Existing Residential Morcellement - Mont Piton (Phase I) Plate 2.2 shows the South West Boundary of the proposed site adjoining Existing Residential Morcellement - Mont Piton (Phase 1) Plate 2.3 shows Existing Residential Morcellement - Mont Piton (Phase 1) adjoining the South West Boundary of the proposed site 7

3 Adjacent land belonging to Alteo Limited Project site presently under sugarcane plantation Plate 2.4 shows the East Boundary of the proposed site adjoining land belonging to Alteo Limited Plate 2.5 shows the proposed site under cane cultivation 8

4 A context plan showing the subject site is enclosed in Annex B1. The context plan (Annex B1) illustrates the following features, worth mentioning in the context of this EIA report, that exist in the surroundings of the subject site. Mon Piton Rivière du Rempart Road A6 Existing Residential Morcellement Mont Piton (Phase I) Mineral Resource Bois Rouge Canal Temple Piton Police Station Piton Community Health Centre Piton Fire Station Piton Post Office Piton Social Welfare Centre Nearby Supermarket Children Playground 'Les Hauts Champs' Residential Complex Domaine De Bon Espoir Housing Estate A football ground Professor BS Upadhyaya Training Centre Piton State Secondary College Mont Piton is located in the vicinity of Piton village within a distance of 1.5 km. The village of Piton is a fairly well developed village with most amenities and facilities that inhabitants may need. This will attract, particularly, the eventual owners of the residential lots. Mont Piton is connected to the Piton village via a good road network, namely the Mon Piton Rivière du Rempart Road A6. The project area is well served with good public transport system, comprising of many other private buses, which connects the region with all parts of the island. 9

5 The nearest residential houses/development are depicted in the following plates. Plate 2.6 shows the existing residential houses in Morcellement Mont Piton (Phase I) Plate 2.7 shows the residential complex 'Les Hauts Champs' in the village of Piton at a distance of 1180m 10

6 Plate 2.8 shows the Domaine De Bon Espoir Housing Estate in Piton at a distance of 1600m Health, leisure and sport facilities are available in the nearby village of Piton. Educational facilities, comprising of secondary schools and training centres exist in the village. Other commercial facilities are also available in the project region such as shops, supermarkets and commercial stores. Post Office, Police Station and Fire Station are also found in the village of Piton. Plate 2.9 & 2.10 depicts the educational facilities located in the vicinity of the project site. Plate 2.9 shows the Piton SSS State College 11

7 Plate 2.10 shows the Professor BS Upadhyaya Training Centre Plate 2.11 depict the nearby supermarkets located in the vicinity of the project site. Plate 2.11 shows the nearby supermarket The Post Office, Police Station and Fire Station are situated a distance of 1360m, 1160m and 1340m, respectively, from the project site as shown on the following plates. 12

8 Plate 2.12 shows the Post Office Plate 2.13 shows the Police Station 13

9 Plate 2.14 shows the Fire Station Community Health Centre, Social Welfare Centre, Children s Playground & Football Ground are also found in the village of Piton in the locality of the project site. Plate 2.15 shows the Piton Community Health Centre 14

10 Plate 2.16 shows the existing Children's Playground The minimum distances from some selected surrounding features (Annex B1) and the subject site were measured and given in Table

11 Table 2.1: Minimum distance between the plot of land and selected features Features Distance from site Location boundary (m) Settlement Boundary 750m North North-East Mineral Resource 1050m North West Existing Residential Morcellement Mont Piton (Phase I) Adjacent West South-West Existing Residential Morcellement La Paix Piton VRS II 835m North East High Tension Line 612m East North East Bois Rouge Canal 985m East North East Piton State Secondary College 1180m North East Professor BS Upadhyaya Training Centre 1260m North East Temple in the village of Piton 1340m East North-East 'Les Hauts Champs' Residential Complex 1180m East North-East Piton Social Welfare Centre 1620m North-East Piton Post Office 1360m North North-East Piton Fire Station 1340m North North-East A Football Ground 1290m North North-East Piton Police Station 1160m North North-East Piton Community Health Centre 992m North North-East Domaine De Bon Espoir Housing Estate 1600m North North-East 2.2 ZONING In line with the requirements of the development of a morcellement project and, based on its own experience on same, the promoter filed an application for land conversion permit at the Ministry of Agro-Industry & Food Security on the 15 th December A copy of this application together with the signed layout plan are attached at Annex B2. The application for the Land Conversion Permit was made for a total extent of 31Ha 1, m 2 (73A79P 49 /100). On 05 th December 2016, the promoter received the Land Conversion Permit from the Ministry of Agro-Industry & Food Security for the plot of land of extent 31Ha 1, m 2 (73A79P 49 /100) at Mont Piton as evidenced by a copy of same permit enclosed at Annex B3. 16

12 2.3 NAMES, ADDRESSES AND QUALIFICATIONS OF EIA CONSULTANT The present EIA study is being carried out by Kaselor Ltd, a firm that has a wide experience in the formulation and implementation of morcellement projects and in the carrying out of Environment Impact Assessment studies. The principal of Kaselor Ltd is Mr Selven PERIENEN, B.Tech (Hons), Registered Civil/Structural Engineer. Annex B4 shows the authorisation letter from the promoter to prepare this EIA report. 2.4 EXISTING LAND USE The project site is currently under sugarcane vegetation (Plate 2.5). It does not accommodate any flora and fauna that are of ecological interest. The site does not fall in any environmentally sensitive zone and does not include environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands, rivers or springs. 2.5 OWNERSHIP OF LAND The said plot of land, of the extent of 31Ha 1, m 2 (73A79P 49 /100) belongs to ALTEO LIMITED as per title deed transcribed and registered in Volume 8893 No. 34, 1560 No. 40 & 3523 No. 28. Over and above, a copy of certificat de propriete signed by Public Notary Me Gregory Hart de Keating on 22 nd December 2015 is also enclosed at Annex B ACCESS TO SITE The site can be easily accessed from the Mon Piton - Riviere Du Rempart Road A6. The morcellement will be connected to the A6 Road through a main access road of total width of 26m which comprise of 6.5m wide road reserves + 5.0m wide Access Road leading to the development + 3.0m wide Green belt + 5.0m wide Access Road leading out the development + 6,5m wide of road reserves sides as shown on attached morcellement layout plan at Annex C1. 17

13 2.7 INFRASTRUCTURE & PUBLIC UTILITIES Once the EIA licence is obtained, it is expected to receive the Letter of Intent for the proposed morcellement from the Ministry of Housing & Land within a period of 3 months, whereby the promoter and his consultants will liaise with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MoPI), Road Development Authority (RDA), Central Electricity Board (CEB), Central Water Authority (CWA), Mauritius Telecom Services (MTS), District Council of Riviere du Rempart (DCRDR) and the Traffic Management Road & Safety Unit (TMRSU) to submit the detailed design drawings for the implementation of all infrastructure works to bring all the amenities to the proposed morcellement project. 2.8 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS The island of Mauritius as a whole may be characterised as having a moderately tropical climate. The warmer summer season is also the rainier and lasts from November to April, with February as the wettest month. The summer season is also characterised by tropical cyclones. The winter season, which is cooler and drier, occurs between May and October, with October being the driest month. On account of its relief, the island is also characterised by a number of distinct micro-climates with varying levels of rainfall, temperature or humidity. The area where the subject site lies is located at an average altitude of about 177 m above mean sea level and has annual rainfall levels of the order of 1, mm, as compared with the maximum of 5,000 mm for the island as a whole. 2.9 GEOLOGY, LANDFORM AND SOIL CHARACTERISTICS The geology of Mauritius is mainly composed of basaltic lavas which originate from volcanic origin. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute (MSIRI) Land Resources and Agricultural Suitability Map of Mauritius identifies the site for proposed development as forming part of the late lavas of the younger volcanic series which erupted from a chain of some 20 vents. The FAO/MSIRI map classifies the different regions into land units. The proposed site consists of Land Unit namely 1.3. The geotechnical investigation details of the proposed site are more fully described at Annex B6. 18

14 2.10 TOPOGRAPHY The topography of the subject site with contour lines is illustrated in the proposed morcellement layout plan, enclosed at Annex C1. The height of the project site, above mean sea level, varies between 208 m to 153 m in the North West direction WATER RESOURCES No streams or rivers exist within the project site. The nearest canal Bois Rouge Canal is at a distance of 985m from the proposed project site FLORA & FAUNA In the project area, no known migration route of any animal has ever been reported or observed. No endangered or rare animal species exist in the area. The subject site is currently covered with sugarcane plantation. There are also already grown plants and trees within the project site and the Promoter has intelligently plan their morcellement layout in order to keep those existing grown plants and trees within Green spaces and Landscaped areas. Plate 2.17: Existing grown plants and trees within the project site 19

15 2.13 VALUE OF PROJECT SITE AS DESIGNATED SITE The project site does not fall under a World heritage site, Biosphere reserve, National park CULTURAL HERITAGE The places of worship that exist near the subject site are illustrated in the following plates. Plate 2.18 shows a temple located opposite the project site on the other side of Mon Piton Rivière du Rempart Road A6 Plate 2.18 shows the Temple 2.15 SIMILAR PROJECTS Adjoining the project site to the south west is Mont Piton (Phase I) morcellement, comprising of 156 residential lots, developed by the promoter. Alteo Limited received the Morcellement Permits referenced MHL/M/14552 and MHL/M/16131A, as per Annex A4 & Annex A5. Plate 2.3 depicts Mont Piton (Phase 1), which is a gated & syndicated morcellement MINERAL RESOURCES The approved version dated September 2006 of the Outline Planning Scheme for Pamplemousses Riviere du Rempart District Council Area has been modified in August 2011 and March

16 As illustrated at Annex B7, the proposed project site is situated at a distance of more than 1.05km buffer from the Mineral Resource Site located on the North West side of the proposed site. Therefore the existing Mineral Resource is not a site constraint SITE CONSTRAINTS The approved version dated September 2006 of the Outline Planning Scheme for Pamplemousses/Rivière du Rempart District Council Area has been modified in August 2011 and March As illustrated at Annex B7, there is no site constraint within the 1 km buffer zone of the proposed project site. 21