The City of Cape Town is a step closer to shifting the urban edge and rezoning agricultural land in Durbanville to allow for a mixed-use development on the historic Farm Uitkamp.
The mayoral committee has approved a recommendation, with conditions, that will allow Portion 18 of the farm to be designated land suitable for urban development.
It also recommended yesterday that the application for the subdivision of the land to allow for 646 residential opportunities, a school, a nature reserve, public open spaces, public roads and one commercial entity be approved.
The council will decide on the application at the end of the month.
Garreth Bloor, the mayoral committee for economic, environmental and spatial planning, said the detailed site development plan included conditions that would protect the area’s wetlands and ensure all environmental prerequisites were met.
News of the committee’s support came as a surprise to the Durbanville Community Forum, which has been fighting the proposed development for almost 10 years.
The forum has lodged an application in the Western Cape High Court to have the provincial government’s environmental authorisation for the development overturned.
It is concerned that this change to the urban edge would set a dangerous precedent for similar developments elsewhere in the city.