Rogue hotel on Graham Beck wine farm leaves planning officials feeling sour

A boutique hotel and restaurant on a Cape Town wine farm has been operating without planning permission for 11 years.

Steenberg Hotel and its restaurant‚ Catharina’s — part of the business empire built up by winemaker Graham Beck before his death in 2010 — face a R100‚000 fine from the City of Cape Town.

The Constantia Valley properties are the target of critical comments from council planning officials‚ who point out in a report that Beck’s Kangra Group has been a “disingenuous” serial offender since buying Steenberg in 2005. A report to a planning committee on August 21 says the company did building work at Catharina’s without plans — then claimed the previous owner was responsible — and made changes at another restaurant‚ Bistro 1682‚ in contravention of planning law.

If councillors approve the proposed R100‚000 fine — a fraction of the R2.2-million officials say could be levied — Kangra will then have to apply for the planning permission it lacks‚ and says it will also seek permission to expand the 24-room hotel.

In a letter to the council on behalf of Kangra‚ Planning Partners director Geoff Underwood argued that even though the hotel and Catharina’s did not have planning permission‚ they should be regarded as “lawful non-conforming uses” under the Land Use and Planning Ordinance.

Council officials disagreed‚ and objected to Underwood’s argument that the hotel “accommodates tourists from all over the world [and] such tourism operations need to be encouraged and not penalised”.

The officials said: “The fact that the unlawful activities play an important role in tourism does not justify allowing [them] to continue without the necessary processes being followed. The conduct of the owner cannot be condoned.”