Sandown revolts against 12-storey student accommodation plan
Residents in Sandown have launched a petition opposing a towering student accommodation plan they call madness for a residential area which is already choked with traffic.
Residents and property owners in Sandown have voiced strong opposition to a proposed 12-storey student accommodation development.
The residents said it woulddrastically alter the character of their neighbourhood and worsen already severe traffic congestion. The proposal relates to Erf 124 in Sandown Ext 10, located on the corner of Webber Road and Grayston Drive.
An application has been submitted to the City of Johannesburg to amend the city’s land use scheme, in terms of Section 21(1) of the City of Johannesburg Municipal Planning By-law, 2016, read together with the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013, and the City of Johannesburg Land Use Scheme, 2018.
If approved, the rezoning would allow the existing single residential property to be replaced with a 12-storey student accommodation building, with 1 100 bedrooms and only 20 parking bays.
Read more: City cracks down on hijacked property in Bryanston, arrest made
A resident, Jill Hagley, said the scale of the proposed development was out of step with the character of the neighbourhood, which was dominated by single-family homes and townhouse complexes no higher than four storeys.
“It is madness to introduce a 12-storey building into a small residential road and Grayston Drive, which already has huge traffic issues,” she said. “On the proposal sent to the city, developers are making assumptions that these students, or residents who will be staying in these apartment blocks, will not have cars. I think that is naive and extreme.
“We are already dealing with unbearable traffic, and the road network in Sandown was never designed to carry the traffic it currently manages.”
Hagley said all the infrastructure pressures that would come with the proposed building would add to devaluing the properties of the residential space in Sandown and Strathavon. “How does a 12-storey building add to the aesthetics and uplift the neighbourhood? It doesn’t. As residents, we bear the brunt of proposed structures that actually add no benefit to the suburb at all.”
She added that the development application indicated that no infrastructure upgrades would be required, including traffic upgrades to increase the size of the roads, water infrastructure, and maintenance.
“Although none of these has been approved, as not required by the city, as residents, we argue against this proposal. The Illovo reservoir and tower feeding the area were built in 1950. The pump and machinery in the reservoir were last upgraded in 1995. Capacity has not been increased, as Sandton’s rapid growth into Johannesburg’s financial hub.”
Grounds of objection:
- Incompatibility with the existing residential character of the area,
- Increased noise pollution and late-night disturbances,
- Increased traffic, parking congestion, and road safety concerns,
- Overburdening of municipal infrastructure and services, which are already failing,
- Loss of residential amenity, privacy and quality of life,
- Negative impact on surrounding property values, and
- Undesirable precedent and proliferation of student accommodation.
The objections were submitted to the City of Johannesburg on March 4.
Also read: Johannesburg MMC leads crackdown on hijacked Bryanston property
City of Johannesburg responds.
Responding to residents’ concerns, the City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane confirmed that a rezoning application was registered on January 23, 2026. He said the applicant was not allowed to advertise during the December holiday period.
“The application is circulated to internal and external departments, including City Power, Johannesburg Roads Agency, Johannesburg Water, Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, Pikitup, Environmental and Infrastructure Services, Environmental Health, Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department, Gautrain, South African National Roads Agency, Eskom and Telkom.”
Commenting on whether the proposed 12-storey development aligns with the city’s development framework and densification policies for the area, Modingoane said, “Once the application is at the evaluation phase and considering the comments, applicant’s submission and the objections, the department will make a recommendation to the tribunal to support or not support the proposed height.
“At this point, Land Use Management is not in a position to communicate its position on the application, as it has not reached the evaluation phase [not all the necessary information is on file] and the fact that the application may be subject to a hearing.”
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