Tinley Manor Southbanks development not a gated estate

The South bank of the Umhlali River at Tinley Manor is being seriously considered for the next major property development on the North Coast.

And the surprising aspect of the development at this stage is that it will not be a gated estate, but a mixed use “green” village.

The Tinley Manor Southbanks development, a Tongaat-Hulett Development Company project, is in advanced stages of getting environmental impact and other clearances so that they will be poised to spring into action when the property market improves.

At a recent public meeting at Ballito’s Regal Inn attended by about 20 members of the public, developers and professionals, Tongaat Hulett and environmental consultants Royal Haskoning DV presented a broad outline of the Southbanks development and explained some of the processes they were involved in to get the go-ahead from government.

The development area is 480 hectares of land between Tinley Manor and Sheffield. The northern boundary is the Umhlali River and the southern boundary is the failed Seaton DeLaval development.

In broad terms, what is being planned is a village that will be open to the public, with residential and commercial components, and particular emphasis on green space and possibly even small agricultural enterprises.

A traffic interchange will be built on the N2, about where the Sheffield-Tinley Manor Station road (MR228) is now, and a parallel road to the N2 to service the Southbank development is included in the plans.

The question on everybody’s lips was when this development would happen. Asked by neighbouring landowner Pat Conway, Rory Wilkinson of T-H Developments replied: “The timeframes depend on the market demand for the development. The EIA will need to be concluded and thereafter the Planning and Development Act (PDA) approval process will need to commence. Thereafter we will need to procure services for bulk services.

“This all takes time and is dependent on market demand. We are in the process of securing international investors for this, as well as our other land holdings. We do not expect the development to commence for at least three years,” Wilkinson said.

Tongaat Hulett is hoping to attract investments from international resort developers for the beach nodes. To this end it is working closely with provincial trade and tourism bodies, as well as local government.

Tongaat Hulett still has the Zimbali Lakes project in the pipeline, which stalled as a result of the 2008 property crash and plans to revise the layout. Although the two projects could run parallel, Southbanks is not expected to get the green light until the property market shows more positive signs of picking up.

Concerns raised at the meeting were about public access, water and electricity availability and impact on the roads.

Cllr Colin Marsh said electricity supply in the Salt Rock/Sheffield area was already under strain, and asked what plans there were for additional capacity. Derek Serfontein of Bosch Projects said a new 33kV line was expected to be finished by October 2015.

Di Jones of Coastwatch wanted to know where additional water would come from. She was told that water sources had not been investigated yet, but that options included using wastewater from the water treatment works for construction and irrigation, as well as boreholes.

The developers agreed to consider alternative access points to a piece of land owned by farmer Adrian Reynolds, which would be isolated by the development.

It was emphasised that Southbanks would not be a gated community, that the public would have access to the beach and to a planned boardwalk along the Umhlali River.