Page 110 - Bulletin 11 2007

107

Across the road was a wedge-shaped property called Douglas Cottage belonging to
Canon Lightfoot, which they bought for ₤1,650. Bennett thought the money could be

recovered by selling the land at the back. (Fig. 2.25). The pumping station building was
to be of pleasing aesthetic design, which it is. Stevens & Slattery were selected as the

building contractors, but they were not the contractors being punted by Councillor

Gibbs, who resigned forthwith and walked out of the Council meeting.

When the underground catchpit where the sewage would be collected for pumping was
excavated, solid rock was struck and the pit could not be made as deep as necessary.

This meant also that the sewers under the street were shallower here, and did not have
sufficient gradient to be fully effective.

Another problem was how to convey the sewage across the mouth of Zandvlei. Mayor
Harry Scowen wanted the estuary kept free so that boats could reach the sea from the

vlei, as this was in keeping with the Foreshore Syndicate’s requirements. So at

additional cost Bennett specified a ‘syphon’ which would pass under the bed of the
estuary and rise up on the other side. Between this point and the pumping station, a pipe

of enormous diameter (21 inches) was specified, so that the pipe could in fact double up
as a reservoir for sewage between intermittent times when the Muizenberg pumps were

in operation. However, when the syphon was built during June (the Government had
forbidden summer construction to prevent draining the vlei and to protect the water

rights of farmers at the north and west ends of the vlei), a flash flood carried everything

away.

Bennett had at this time - without first obtaining permission - taken on private
consultancy work on other engineering projects like the Somerset West Tramway

Scheme and the Eastern Suburbs of Cape Town Tramways Scheme, and did not devote
sufficient attention to his Kalk Bay Municipal duties. The contractor found that the

levels Bennett had supplied him with were wrong, mostly to his disadvantage, and he

encountered much more rock than he had been led to expect. The Divisional Council
had raised the level of the Main Road since Bennett had done his survey.