Shark Bay landowner, Riccardo Scarpellini did not need environment permission to clear the land along the banks of the Langebaan Lagoon and the Green Scorpions have confirmed that they will not take any action against him.

The decision comes after the Green Scorpions had issued him with a warning asking him to show why he did not need environmental authorisation before clearing away the vegetation on his land.

Scarpellini submitted a statement from a land surveyor who confirmed that the homes Scarpellini intended to build fell outside the 100m high water mark, nullifying certain environmental legislation.

He also submitted a letter from environmental consultants, Doug Jeffrey, which stated that the site where the buildings would be erected was not “botanically sensitive”.

The provincial Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning wrote a letter to Scarpellini last Friday to say that all the information he had submitted had been forwarded to the land management division for consideration.

Local residents had complained that Scarpellini was damaging an ecologically sensitive area at Klein Oostewal where a Shark Bay luxury housing development was due to be built. However, the provincial authorities turned down the application for the housing development on the grounds that it was an ecologically-sensitive area and because of its proximity to the West Coast National Park.

Soon after the housing development was turned down, Scarpellini began clearing his site, prompting an angry reaction from residents who feared that he was going to go ahead with the development.

Moreover, the community were angered by the fact that he closed a supposedly public road that had been used to give people access to the wind-surfing areas of the lagoon. However, Scapellini has a letter from the provincial Department of Transport and Public Works that confirms the gravel road belongs to him and is not a public road.

The tarred road that also runs across his land is a proclaimed provincial road and cannot be closed without permission.

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