SALT RIVER SITE REZONED FOR 216 LOW COST HOUSING UNITS

The Cape Town council on Tuesday approved the
rezoning of land at the Salt River Market for mixed use development that will
include 216 low-cost housing units, mayor Dan Plato said.

“The approved rezoning application for the
Salt River Market site will provide for 723 residential units, of which 216
will be social housing opportunities for qualifying beneficiaries, as well as
business premises and informal trading and 119 parking bays,” Plato said in
a statement. 

“The rezoning consolidates 13 erven into a
larger piece of land, which enables development. The developer now has a
five-year period to act on the right,” he added.

He said the decision was final and allowed for the
construction of buildings between 25 m and 38 m high as well as a carriageway
to allow for street parking on Bromwell Street, which runs parallel to the
railway line in Salt River.

The low cost housing will be earmarked for people
earning between R3 500 and R20 000 a month, Plato said, to those people who
would not qualify for a housing loan from a bank.

The city council was severely criticised after it
decided in October last year to defer a decision to sell the land to housing
development company Communicare at less than 10% of its commercial value.

The harshest words came from former mayoral
committee member for transport and urban development Brett Heron, a key ally of ousted
mayor Patricia de Lille,
who said it demonstrated the city’s resistance to integrated housing in Cape
Town.

Heron, secretary-general for GOOD and a member
of the Western Cape legislature in a statement on Tuesday welcomed the rezoning
as a “a small step” in the right direction.

The city council recently revoked the request for
proposals for social housing on five other sites on the fringes of the city,
saying these would be reissued at a later date in proper compliance with
legislation. The RFPs were issued on Heron’s watch and have been deemed flawed
by the city’s current executive.

Heron said in his statement that the five sites
would have provided 4 000 more social housing units at a time that the city was
facing a deficit across all income groups. 

“We need a government that is looking to
partner with the private sector and build, build and build,” Heron said.

On Tuesday, Plato said this included the
redevelopment of the land in Upper Woodstock, that housed the Woodstock Day
Hospital prior to its closure. The building is currently illegally occupied by
more than 700 people.

Plato said the illegal occupation was “doing
more harm than good” as it rendered it unavailable for redevelopment. He
said a team of construction consultants was busy with a feasibility analysis
for the site.

“Earlier in the year the city obtained an interdict against the further illegal occupation of the Woodstock Hospital site. Any illegal actions on this site or other sites must be viewed as sabotage of the city’s inclusive housing process which is under way.” https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/salt-river-site-rezoned-for-216-low-cost-housing-units-plato-2019-08-14