The City of Cape Town has made significant progress in its efforts to provide affordable housing options for its residents. Two projects in Woodstock are set to deliver 725 social housing units after successfully passing the heritage appeals phase.
The Earl Street development will provide 150 units and has received heritage approval. The City demonstrated that the development would not result in the loss of existing public open space. Further consideration for integrated public open spaces will be part of the Local Spatial Development Framework for Woodstock.
The Woodstock Hospital initiative is a large-scale project that will offer 575 units. Heritage Western Cape rejected an appeal by the Woodstock Resident’s Association against heritage approval for the City’s Woodstock Hospital social housing project.
Councillor Carl Pophaim, Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, expressed his satisfaction with this progress. He stated that the City is now one step closer to delivering social housing at Woodstock Hospital and the neighboring Earl Street site, which will help accelerate land release for well-located affordable housing development.
However, there remains a significant obstacle to developing Woodstock Hospital: the building hijacking by Ndifuna Ukwazi’s Reclaim the City campaign on 26 March 2017. In October 2018, the Western Cape High Court granted the City an order interdicting and restraining Reclaim the City from inciting forcible entry onto the property. Legal proceedings are now pending following the high court’s grant for the City to survey the number and individual circumstances of occupants.
The Mayoral Priority Programme for accelerated land release for affordable housing has secured approvals for close to 2,000 social housing units across seven well-located land parcels, including five in the inner city.
Among these properties are Newmarket Street in Cape Town, Salt River Market, Pickwick in Salt River, Fruit and Veg in the CBD, and Parow sub-precinct 1 and 2 along the Voortrekker Road corridor.
In addition to these approvals, tenanting commenced earlier this year at the City’s Maitland Mews social housing development. This centrally located site offers 204 units in the inner city feeder suburb.
Construction is also ongoing at the City’s Goodwood Station development on PRASA land, which will provide 1,055 units, while 314 units have been completed at the Bothasig Gardens development.
Overall, the City has over 50 land parcels in the planning pipeline city-wide. Moreover, it plays an enabling role in the Western Cape Government’s Founder’s Garden precinct in the CBD and the Conradie Park development in the inner city feeder suburb of Pinelands. In the first phase, 432 social housing units were built, while Phase 2 construction is imminent for 659 additional units.
This recent progress in Woodstock and the ongoing projects throughout the city reflect Cape Town’s commitment to providing well-located and affordable housing options for its residents.
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