Surburbs to receive urban urgrades
TWO MAJORurban upgrade projects are in the pipeline for Nyanga and Bishop Lavis.
The Nyanga upgrade, which focuses on the informal trading space, transport nodes and the provision of public facilities and spaces, could cost as much as R1 billion over the next six years. The city’s director for spatial planning Catherine Stone said the Nyanga upgrade project was ready for implementation, once a budget was available and it had been decided which departments would implement the various phases.
In Bishop Lavis, the upgrade plan is intended to link the disparate parts.
The Bishop Lavis project has as its central focus, the Town Centre, the community sports fields to its north and the vacant land adjacent to the sports fields.
It’s also the intention to link the Town Centre to the Lavistown Station as well as the public open space to the south of the centre. “The current facilities appear not to be used to their full potential. The current way the public facilities relate to one another is not conducive to creating a safe environment, by creating better relationships and overlooked spaces, the safety in the Town Centre can be much improved,” said a report on the project.
Although consultants were appointed to get the ball rolling on the Bishop Lavis upgrade last year, the plans are not as far advanced as for Nyanga, said Stone.
But she said the planning process had advanced far enough to have identified the various development nodes.
In 2013, the city appointed a professional team to produce a number of development plans for Nyanga.
An informal trading plan, which will be a major focus of the first phase of implementation, will include upgrading the existing trading area and requiring each trader to enter into a contract with the city.
The city estimates that 550 traders work in the area. Landscaping projects like safe pedestrian walkways will also be part of the first phase.
A concept plan of the designs for the four phases, a business plan detailing all the costs, funding sources and timeframes, and a management model for a multi-functional precinct around a public transport interchange, have already been developed.
In the second phase of the Nyanga upgrade, a 5km route linking the schools and the sport and recreation facilities will be built. The pathway would double up as a running path.
Upgrading transport facilities in the area will form part of the third phase, including bus shelters, the taxi rank and a MyCiTi roll out. A report on the project said public participation had been carried out throughout the planning process and monthly meetings were held with the main stakeholders.