By Lucille Davie

An environmental management plan for most of the 80 kilometres of the planned Gautrain route has been formulated and is open to appeal until 18 September.

The environmental management plan for the Gautrain has been conditionally approved by the province, and now awaits scrutiny by the public.

The department of agriculture, conservation and environment gave its conditional approval to the environmental management plan (EMP) on 18 August, by means of a Record of Decision.

The EMP outlines "clearly defined actions" that must be undertaken with respect to the environment by construction company Bombela Consortium during the construction of the Gautrain.

Members of the public have until 18 September to lodge an appeal.

Some of the issues that will have to be considered by Bombela are:

The EMP covers most of the 80km Gautrain route from Park Station in the CBD, out to the Johannesburg International Airport, and almost all the way to Pretoria, except for the Centurion, Salvokop and Pretoria-Hatfield stations. A separate draft final EMP is required for the construction of these route alignments.

The Record of Decision is available on two websites for public viewing: www.gautrain-env.co.za and www.gautrain.co.za.

Should members of the public wish to appeal the 18 August Record of Decision, such appeals must be submitted to the Gauteng MEC for agriculture, conservation and environment, Mr EK Mosunkutu by 18 September 2006.

Appeals may be submitted by fax to 011 333 0620, by post to PO Box 8769, Johannesburg 2000, or by hand to 16th Floor, Diamond Corner Building, 68 Eloff Street, cnr Market Street, Johannesburg.

The public can call the Gautrain toll-free number - 0800Gautrain or 0800 428 872 46 - if they experience problems downloading the report.

Source: Johannesburg News Agency