Developers have said if the interdict stopping construction of the Amazon Observatory office park is not lifted soon, the development will be canned, leaving residents without a public park, affordable housing, cycling trails and almost R4bn in road upgrades.

A Business Day report notes in March, Western Cape Deputy Judge President Patricia Goliath interdicted construction of the office park – which has Amazon as an anchor tenant – and ordered fresh consultations with Khoi and San people, some of whom are opposed to the development.

In new court papers filed at the SCA, the developer – the Liesbeek Leisure Properties Trust (LLPT) – said the delays in construction mean it is unlikely to finish building by November 2022 and hand over to anchor tenants by December 2023 as contractually required.

It said further delays could stop the development completely, leaving it with losses ‘in excess of R386m’.

After stopping construction, Goliath denied those in favour of the development a chance to appeal against her decision.

She said the appeal had little chance of success in a different court.

However, last week the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, the First Nations Collective and the developer filed papers at the SCA asking for the right to appeal against her interdict.

The Western Cape Government said it was unusual for it to get involved in such matters, but the ruling had a significance greater than the R4.6bn office development.

The Business Day report says the province and the City of Cape Town feared that the interdict, which stopped construction, makes the province unattractive to development and job creation.

The local and provincial governments are concerned the ruling makes it easier to use the court to interdict developments even after years of provincial and municipal approval processes.

The LLPT said if the development is delayed much longer and eventually terminated, unfinished buildings, a disused degraded golf course, polluted rivers, a conference centre and a parking lot could be left behind.

It argued that when Goliath stopped the development to uphold First Nation group rights, she disregarded the rights of the public.

The public will benefit from the development through the R3.9bn earmarked for road upgrades over seven years and through the creation of the public park, inclusionary housing and jobs, it said.

The ‘financial and material harm’ it is suffering was not taken into account by the judge either when she weighed up the different parties’ rights, the developer said.

Full Business Day report