Claassen appeals Newlands Stadium ruling
The Newlands Stadium sale, central to solving the long-standing Western Province Rugby Union’s administrative problems, is still far from finding closure.
News24 has received confirmation that former Springbok Wynand Claassen has acquired lawyers to appeal against Heritage Western Cape Council’s rejection of his application.
Claassen has taken his appeal to Western Cape Cultural Affairs & Sport MEC Anroux Johanna Marais in a bid to overturn the council’s decision not to declare Newlands a heritage site.
Architect and heritage specialist, Bridget O’Donoghue, in February submitted a 93-page report that ‘found no grounds that Newlands meets the criteria for a heritage site’.
‘Based on the findings of the study, the demolition of the Newlands Stadium, like the demolition of many other historically significant stadiums in other parts of the world, would not represent an irreplaceable social loss,’ the document stated.
It noted that while Newlands does hold special memories for many rugby supporters, ‘for the current generation the future of rugby is already associated with the Cape Town Stadium’.
Claassen, who is acting alongside three other unnamed companions, confirmed his appeal to the MEC.
The Newlands sale is billed as a critical transaction in Western Province extricating itself out of the estimated R200m debt it faces.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
