Cape Town - In attempting to curb criminal activities and anti-social behaviour at unused open spaces, the City was proposing to rationalise 121 unused public open spaces in Mitchell’s Plain, and make these spaces available to the private sector for infill development or new housing developments.
Residents and affected parties were called upon to participate in the public participation process on this proposal.
The City said this was an opportunity to rationalise vacant and neglected spaces, and transform them into meaningful and positive areas, that could improve the lives of residents and encourage inward investment.
Public participation on this proposal was the first step in this process and necessary prior to making these spaces available to the private sector for development.
Spatial planning and environment mayoral committee member Marian Nieuwoudt said the closing date for comments was November 8, and all were invited to open day sessions to view the report and a map of the affected unused public open spaces, at the Subcouncil office, in Merrydale Avenue, in Lentegeur, from 9am till 4pm, on Saturdays, during October.
“A recent city-wide audit has confirmed that Mitchells Plain has the highest concentration of public open spaces across the whole of Cape Town, and this is partly why many of these spaces are not used and become neglected over time,” said Nieuwoudt.
In the City's report on the rationalisation for Mitchell’s Plain, it states that about 3 000 residential opportunities could be realised for development by the private sector.
Beacon Valley ward councillor Solomon Philander said: “In Mitchells Plain, the reality is that many people are waiting for housing opportunities to arrive. We see that children are living in the backyards of their parents, as they are not able to access housing opportunities for many reasons.”
Philander said a few of the unused spaces being targeted was the greenbelt, that stretched from Spine, Eastridge, to Hangelaar street, in Beacon Valley.
Montrose Park resident Colleen Petersen said Mitchell’s Plain was already overcrowded and questioned why local government would insist on using the open spaces in areas that were already overpopulated and had insufficient hospitals and schools to cater to the community as it stood at present.
“People are already struggling to get children into schools in Mitchell’s Plain so what additional infrastructure are they planning to build with all these new developments? Have we really thought about it or is it just because it's election time,” said Petersen.
Beacon Valley resident Caroline Mentor said she was relieved to hear these open spaces were going to be used for housing and greenery, while also potentially reducing gang-related activities and other crime, as people often used the open spaces to dispose of rubble and get up to trouble.