Priorities raised by property owners in Ward 8 of Brackenfell and Kuils River at a land conference held in Brackenfell last week will be taken forward to form part of the City of Cape Town’s spatial planning and integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the next five to ten years.
The most prominent issues discussed were traffic congestion, roads infrastructure, illegal taxi ranks, safety and security, and safe public transport.
The City’s five-year IDP determines where money will be spent to speed up service delivery in focus areas.
The aim of the conference was to obtain input from residents on how they envision the suburb’s spatial development in the years to come.
Ward councillor Marian Nieuwoudt told residents that their input was crucial for future investment in infrastructure as well as being used for lobbying at provincial government.
“The City needs to know at least five years ahead of time where infrastructure is needed when drawing up the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and the wishes of residents have to be reflected therein,” she said.
Nieuwoudt said the scarcity of land in Cape Town along with the influx of people from other provinces has led to urban densification in the last decade.
“More and more people have to be serviced with the City’s infrastructure network. Being on the outskirts of the City in Ward 8, we can manage densification but not deny it.”
According to Nieuwoudt economic development is key to prevent urban decay in Brackenfell, as is presently seen in the Bellville CBD.
“Therefor economic growth will be the kingpin decision maker in spatial planning for the area. Furthermore the massive illegal land invasion that took place in Kraaifontein during the height of the pandemic has put a tremendous strain on the City’s infrastructure.
“Some 25 000 more households needed to be accommodated and the impact on the system was vast. In Wallacedene the sewage problems are indescribable. In doing our planning for the ward, we need to stay abreast of this,” she said.
The final discussion report of the conference will be used to investigate aspects around priorities raised for inclusion in the IDP.
“The needs and priorities raised by residents was in line with priorities I would have put forward. Residents were very honest about their concerns and wishes for the area,” she said.
