Lagoon Bay Lifestyle Estate (Pty) Ltd v The Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning of the Western Cape and others.

Lagoon Bay Lifestyle Estate developer Werner Roux had asked the court to set aside the decision by Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell, who had turned down the application to rezone and subdivide 655ha of farmland between George and Mossel Bay. This had to be rezoned before the development could go ahead. Bredell turned it down on various grounds, including that it would create urban sprawl, it would use 5 million litres of water a day in a waterstressed region, it would gobble up valuable farmland, and it did not comply with several planning policies. Lagoon Bay developers argued that Bredell did not have the authority and the rezoning should have been decided by the George municipality - which was in favour of the development - as the constitution made rezoning a municipal function. Lagoon Bay also argued that Land Use Planning Ordinance (Lupo), which gave the provincial government the authority to decide on rezonings, was defunct, as it was in conflict with the constitution. The minister therefore did not have the authority to make decisions in terms of Lupo. But the Judge ruled that it was "abundantly clear" that the constitution entrusted provincial governments with extensive powers in support of local government. Different levels of government could legitimately exercise powers in relation to the same subject matter, and these government spheres were "not contained in hermetically sealed compartments". The judge found no merit in the argument that Bredell's decision was based on "irrelevant and erroneous considerations". "The minister took the view that development is not desirable if it is not sustainable. He accordingly considered the cumulative factors why the development was not in his view sustainable. It is not for this court to decide whether his decision was right or wrong. It is sufficient to hold, as I do, that he was entitled to have regard to the factors considered by him in coming to his decision," the Judge said.