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Request to add a project

Thank you for thinking of Shape St Francis. This page explains what we are, the kind of project we add, and the information we need from you before we can consider a notice. Please read it before sending a request.

What Shape St Francis is

Shape St Francis is a neutral information platform for official public-participation processes affecting the Greater St Francis and Kouga area. When a development or plan is required by law to invite public input, we explain it in plain language and show people how to take part before the deadline.

Taking part can mean supporting, commenting or objecting. That choice is entirely yours. We provide information, not opposition. We do not campaign, we do not take sides, and we do not create objections on anyone's behalf.

What Shape St Francis is not

We are not a place to oppose a lawful building project that has no public process of its own. If a neighbour is building a house that needs only municipal building-plan approval, there is no public participation process in law, and it is not something we will host. A dislike of a project, a boundary or nuisance dispute, or a concern about appearance is not, on its own, a matter we will consider.

When we add a project

We add a project only when a competent authority, or an environmental assessment practitioner it has appointed, is running a formal public-participation process. In practice, all of the following must be true:

  1. An authority or appointed practitioner is running the process.
  2. There is a published notice and a defined period to register, comment or object.
  3. It affects the Greater St Francis or Kouga area.
  4. There are official documents, at least a notice, that we can summarise neutrally.
  5. The process is currently open, or recently closed and still useful to show for information.

Examples that usually qualify: an environmental authorisation under NEMA (a Basic Assessment, or a full Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment), and municipal land-use applications that must be advertised, such as a rezoning, subdivision, consent use, removal of restrictions, a spatial development framework or a by-law. Coastal, heritage and water-use authorisations can also qualify.

Providing the information below does not guarantee that a project will be added. We assess every request against these criteria, and we present everything neutrally.

What you must send us

We ask the person requesting a project to do the initial groundwork. Please send the following. The first item is essential: without an official notice we cannot consider the request.

  1. A copy of the official notice that shows a public process is open. A clear photograph, scan, PDF or web link is fine.
  2. The type of application and who is running it (the authority, or the appointed environmental assessment practitioner).
  3. The reference number, if the notice states one.
  4. The property: the erf, portion or farm number, and the town or area.
  5. The deadline, and the exact address (email or postal) where comments, registrations or objections must be sent, as given on the notice.
  6. Where the full documents can be obtained (a practitioner's email, a municipal office, or a link).
  7. Your relationship to the matter (for example neighbour or ratepayer). This is for our context only and is not published.

What happens next

If the request meets our criteria, we prepare a plain-language, strictly neutral summary from the official documents, set the page up so people can register or comment through the correct channel, and publish it. We never add our own opinion, and we forward any submission made through the site to the official contact exactly as the person wrote it.

How to send a request

Email the items above to admin@shapesfb.co.za. If you are not sure whether something qualifies, send us the notice and we will tell you.

Shape St Francis provides civic information, not legal advice, and cannot guarantee the outcome of any application.