Renewed fears of PHA development
CAMPAIGNERS who have been fighting to preserve the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA), Cape Town’s bread basket, have accused the City of “giant forgery”.
It comes after the City council approved a report into the Philippi Horticultural Area that they say could provide leeway for development on the land.
PHA Food and Farming campaign chairperson Nazeer Sonday said: “The motion that they put forward was supposed to be the Indigo
Study that the province did in 2018, but we heard that it is the City’s version of the study. It omits the fact the land we challenge be reintegrated into farming land.”
He said it made the land available for development outside the PHA.
The PHA campaign argued last year in the Western Cape High Court for the preservation of a key piece of agricultural land.
The case challenged administrative decisions to rezone a part of the PHA for mixed-use development. In February the court ruled against the provincial government, the City and developer Oaklands City to build more than 30 000 homes in the area.
“What was supposed to happen was that they were supposed to reintegrate the Oaklands City land back to the PHA. If you aren’t reintegrated it creates leeway for developments to continue,” he said.
The report served before council on Wednesday states: “However, with urban expansion of Cape Town around it a range of challenges threaten its long-term sustainability as a horticultural area. These include crime and grime problems, informal settlement and other non-conforming/illegal activities, inadequate public investment on key infrastructure, and policy uncertainty arising from recent controversial decision-making on major land use applications.”
The City states in the report: “Land use development guidance in the PHA is required to be comprehensive and detailed to adequately manage into the future the complex land use activities in varied local area circumstances in this area.”
The PHA report served before council concluded that a recommendation be adopted that provided for the PHA Socio-Economic Agricultural Plan, as endorsed by the provincial cabinet of the Western Cape on August 8, 2018.
Mayco member for spatial planning and environment Marian Nieuwoudt said: “Finally, the judgment confirmed that the U-Vest land could remain as horticulture land, but that the Oakland City land remains potentially developable, based on an original approval by Western Cape government subject to the possibility that groundwater investigation proves this is acceptable and appropriate.”
The Oak City land remains potentially developable Marian Niewoudt MAYCO MEMBER