Muizenberg's iconic beach huts WILL form part of new beachfront layout, assures CoCT

The City of Cape Town has moved to reassure residents about the future of the colourful beach huts at Muizenberg.

While the iconic structures will be removed as part of an extensive beachfront upgrade, they will be replaced with eight new ones that 'match the existing huts like-for-like'.

The first phase of the two-year refurbishment project got underway last week on the western side of Surfer’s Corner, next to the railway line.

It entails major upgrades to public amenities and replacing the aged seawalls.

While the upgrades to the public amenities are still months away, the City issued a statement on the beach huts after learning that there is misinformation on social media platforms.

"Same as our residents, the City loves these huts and acknowledges their significant heritage value."

City of Cape Town

"The huts are definitely included in the new layout of the public amenities on the beachfront."

City of Cape Town

The facts about the beach huts:

• The eight existing huts will be replaced with eight new huts that match the historic design, colours and pattern.
• The existing huts need to be removed from their current location as the new upgraded promenade will be further inland – the setback is approximately 2m. The setback is needed in response to the impact of climate change, including rising sea levels and storm surges and also to ensure the new seawall does not reduce the width of the beach.
• Simply moving the existing huts is not feasible as they need to be dismantled, stored, and reconstructed and are likely to be damaged during this process.
• As such, the City recommended to rather replace the existing huts with like-for-like huts; and this proposal was accepted at the time of the public consultation process.
• The new huts will be located at the central plaza where they will also serve as a wind shelter for the central shower area.
• The City wants to reiterate: where existing buildings are refurbished or demolished, these will be rebuilt in a style similar to the existing buildings to ensure we retain the heritage value, look and feel of Muizenberg.