Strandfontein Pavilion is abandoned and unused.
The City of Cape Town plans to develop the area with around 1,200 residential units, including subsidized housing, as well as commercial and recreational facilities.
The initiative is expected to revitalize the underutilized False Bay beachfront between Muizenberg and Strand.
Strandfontein Pavilion has been designated as a new development node with about 1,200 residential units, retail space, and recreational facilities.
It is anticipated that the construction will encourage additional private investment in the surrounding area, thereby improving the underutilized False Bay shoreline between Muizenberg and Strand.
The pavilion, with its expansive tidal pool, beach, and picnic spots, is today dilapidated, hazardous, and underutilized.
However, according to the writers of the City’s Conceptual Development Framework, it was a thriving area in the 1980s and 1990s and is still vivid in the memory of neighboring residents.
The mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, has expedited development plans for the area.
Even though Cape Town boasts more than 300 kilometers of coastline, most Capetonians are prohibited from buying property along the coast due to apartheid spatial planning.
The aim is to preserve the tidal pool and a portion of the old pavilion, restore the neighboring canalized river, and make it a desirable place to live by constructing four- and seven-story residential towers with sunlit courtyards.
The current entry from Baden Powell Drive onto Strandfontein Road will remain, and a second principal entrance from Baden Powell onto Leukannon Drive will be constructed.
Proceed around 500 meters further. In addition to basement parking for residents, the proposal calls for retail spaces on the ground floor of the residential buildings and a terraced picnic area on the slope leading up from the tidal pool on the west side.
In Gqeberha, the “Poo Protests” take a different direction.
The City of Cape Town plans to construct approximately 1,200 residential units.
The potential for an aquaponics and container fish farm to the east of the neighboring river could generate additional employment opportunities.
The Department of Urban Planning and Design has considered sea level rise, prevailing southeasterly winds, and shifting sand.
The 100-year flood line includes demountable and relocatable infrastructure such as braai areas, pergolas, action courts, skate parks, and beach cottages, as well as space for temporary constructions such as concert stage scaffolding and weekend coastal market stalls.
Planting and irrigating dune grasses will prevent shifting sand from affecting buildings above the flood line.
287 (15%) of the projected 1,196 residential units would be reserved for first-time homebuyers with monthly incomes between R3,500 and R22,000, who qualify for the Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Programme (FLISP). These flats would be priced between R135,000 and R185,000. The remainder, estimated to reach R3.6 million, would be sold on the open market.
On more than 15,000m2 of retail space, convenience stores offering swimming, surfing, and fishing equipment, as well as food, are proposed, with a 100-room hotel to be constructed inside the area at a later date.
Sustainability studies indicate that while the City would have to spend nearly R340 million to attract private developers, the completed precinct would contribute more than R140 million per year to City coffers in the form of rates and service charges, with an annual maintenance expenditure of R56 million, as facilities such as the tidal pool and pavilion would still have to be managed by the City.
The ambitious initiative seeks to spark growth between neighboring Pelican Park and Strandfontein in the future, with the caveat that a biodiversity corridor along the west side of Strandfontein Road must be kept in order to protect a rare butterfly species. According to the report, only approximately fifty individuals survive.
Michael Jacobs, a resident of Strandfontein and vice-president of the Mitchell’s Plain United Residents Association, praised the improvements. However, according to Jacobs, the city should develop the entire False Bay shoreline up to Monwabisi. This should become a tourism hotspot capable of competing with Camps Bay and Muizenberg.
“We want billions of dollars to be invested so that there will be job opportunities tied to skill development, and not just a small amount of development around the pavilion,” he said.
Despite the fact that public participation has been satisfactory thus far, he stated that the City must continue to connect with communities.
Jacobs advised individuals to participate in public involvement processes.
Helen Rourke, director of the Development Action Group’s programme, stated, without referring specifically to the Strandfontein proposal, that Hill-Lewis appeared to be advocating for the acceleration of land release for affordable housing and forging partnerships with non-profit organizations in cases where private developers’ profit margins would be insufficient.
Previously, the City would have just disposed of the land, according to Rourke.
The City also “appears serious” about public participation, while the bureaucratic nature of the process always posed the risk of it devolving into a “box-checking exercise.”
“It’s still early… “We’re cautiously optimistic,” she remarked.
The comment period for the Conceptual Development Framework ends on January 31, but a City planning official, speaking outside of formal media channels, stated that the public would still have numerous opportunities to provide feedback, as the plans would need to be presented to sub-councils and other processes, such as Environmental Impact Assessment and rezoning applications.
»Major renovations are planned for Strandfontein Pavilion in Cape Town«