In another victory for farming activists, the Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) has unanimously refused an application to rezone land in the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) for the development of a shopping mall, school and a portion of road.
While the PHA Food and Farming Campaign said the tide seemed to be turning in respect of these developments, they still faced a larger looming battle: the campaign filed in the high court for a review of 12 development decisions in the PHA, including an urban edge shift.
Opponents of the developments said it would threaten the livelihoods of emerging farmers and their workers as the PHA provided 3 000 direct jobs and 30 000 indirect jobs, as well as food security, and would jeopardise a 630km² aquifer running under the PHA.
MPT chairperson Dave Daniels said the tribunal considered the application for rezoning of two erven in the PHA at its meeting last Wednesday and that the MPT refused the application.
“I can confirm that the objectors requested an interview and had an opportunity to present their objection to the comment. The applicant was not present at the interview but was invited to attend by the committee secretariat. The tribunal panel deliberated and asked questions of clarity to the officials and thereafter the MPT made a decision. The applicant has the opportunity to appeal the MPT’s decision, if so desired,” he said.
The tribunal said its members were of the view that the preservation of the agricultural integrity of the site and area was paramount to not only employment creation but also the sustainability of agriculture in the PHA.
The proposal lacked “spatial logic” as this was an isolated ad hoc development that was not integrated with surrounding developments or land use, they resolved.
The development principles contained in the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act and the Land Use Planning Act with
particular reference to spatial justice, spatial efficiency and spatial sustainability were not complied with.
“The MPT does not have any assurance that this development will not have a further negative impact on the aquifer,” they found.
Campaign spokesperson Nazeer Sonday said his family had been removed from the PHA in 1973 under the Group Areas Act.
“Today I stand to be removed again under what we now understand to be a process of gentrification of the farmlands,” Sonday said.
“In this gentrification, developers have the option to develop on 11 000ha of developable land elsewhere in the city while farmers such myself have no land like the PHA to farm and earn a living.”
While other farmers in the Western Cape have suffered significant production losses during the drought, Philippi farmers have not, thanks to the abundant water supply and mild climate.
The area had an annual turnover of R484 million directly and R938m indirectly, with the immediate potential to increase this to R848m and R1.6 billion, respectively, Sonday said.
“The PHA is located over the Cape Flats Aquifer portion with the greatest groundwater potential.
“It lies over an important natural recharge area for the aquifer,” he added.
Two large developments have been in the works for the land, with widespread opposition to a 472.36ha planned housing development: Oakland City.
Mayco member for transport and urban development Brett Herron said there were a number of land use applications in various stages that had been submitted within the vast area of the PHA.