Your two articles in the North Eastern Tribune dated 5 February, titled Park development a worry, and 12 February, titled Paterson Park development, are somewhat misleading and people in Orange Grove, particularly, want to understand what is going on there.
There are five portions of land – all on the north side of 9th Street in Orange Grove and all belong to Joburg City – which have been earmarked for development or change of use. This is in terms of the Louis Botha Avenue Corridor Development Strategic Area Framework and the Corridors of Freedom policy for densification of the area.
Only three of these involve dwelling units and two of these are on the Norwood boundary. In terms of the Urban Development Framework (2015) this was to provide over 2 000 dwelling units in the area. These dwelling units are not low cost. Low-cost housing is not a viable option.
They [the units] are intended to be bachelor [apartments], one bedroom or 2- and 3-bedroom units. The proposal is called Inclusive Housing because units will be designated as sale, rental or social housing. Probably, but not stated, up to 30 percent will be social housing. For example, units will be for rent to permanently employed people with lower earnings. The units will strictly adhere to regulations and laws regarding space use requirements and thus may not be overcrowded. Typically these are three-storey buildings without lifts. If a building is four storeys or more it must have a lift. This adds substantially to the cost and thus to the rental or sale price.
Note that a garage at ground level counts as a storey.
The proposed densities in the Urban Design Framework were put forward before studies were undertaken to ascertain whether the road system can cope with the increase in dwellings and whether services such as electricity, sewerage, water supply etc. are available. All of these services require upgrading and repair. These factors, as well as heritage and environmental conditions, will ultimately limit the proposed density increases. So the proposed 2 000 or so dwellings may not be feasible in the end.
The City (JPC) advertised the rezoning applications in October last year. The rezoning application mentioned a possibility of 12 storeys, which we now know is unattainable. Nora (Norwood Orchards Residents Association) immediately reacted. Orange Grove, however, kept its cool and waited to see the outcome.
There are strict processes regarding rezoning. If there are any objections, the applications must go to a Planning Committee Hearing Tribunal in which all objectors have a right to make representation. This tribunal has not been scheduled yet.
When it does happen, that is the time for Nora to make representation and to discuss their objections – not before. By that time it is likely that the various critical studies mentioned above will have changed the rezonings and the number of units and height of buildings will be considerably reduced. Town Planning applications often apply for a maximum, knowing that these maximums may not be granted.
Details of the rezonings are available, but the objection time has ended.
