Plans for integrated social housing
Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) officially introduced an integrated human settlement programme for the provision of social housing opportunities in the district yesterday, Monday 29 August.
It will be rolled out in collaboration with the seven local municipalities in the district and Own Haven Housing Association, with support from the Housing Development Agency and the Western Cape Department of Infrastructure.
A number of land pockets have been identified in the district as "priority housing development areas" (PHDAs) for highdensity, mixed-use, mixed-income, and mixed-tenure developments. These include rental housing developments aimed at people earning between R1 800 and
R22 000, where rental will vary between R600 and R6 000 per month.
The three land pockets identified in George are the property opposite the GRDM in Omega Street (erf 26823), the "hospital land" in Davidson Road (erven 6231, 6236, 658 and 659 located opposite the hospital), various erven in Plantation Road (the open land between Arum and Barrie roads that comprises six erven), and the land opposite the regional police headquarters (four erven that used to be the parade grounds for the former SA Army Women's College.)
GRDM owns the property in Omega Street and it will be developed first. The other properties have to be released from the Department of Public Works before development can take place.
What units could look like in the proposed social housing developments.
By 2050 projected housing demand is 215 631
According to the GRDM Integrated Human Settlements Strategic Plan, the programme is in line with Vision 2030 of the National Development Plan, which is geared towards promoting long-term socioeconomic integration. It is also in line with the Western Cape's Human Settlements Strategic Plan 2020-2025 that wants to enable people to live in better locations and improve the places they live in.
The GRDM Human Settlements Sector Plan mentions that the current demand for housing in the Garden Route totals 66 329. It is projected that by 2050, this demand will have ballooned to 215 631.
George, Mossel Bay, Knysna and Bitou are considered catalytic towns (i.e. PHDAs) where affordable housing programmes should be implemented first. New town planning strategies in these towns will
include "restructuring zones" in well-located areas where mixed affordable rental housing as well as Flisp (Finance Linked Individual Subsidy Initiatives)/Gap Individual Ownership units will be developed. Oudtshoorn is included in the programme, although it is not deemed to be a catalytic town.
At the announcement, GRDM Mayor Memory Booysen used the Conradie Park social housing blocks in Cape Town as an example of what they envision. The Conradie development is being done in collaboration with Own Haven that manages the rental units and collects the rent. National government funds are provided for this function. Rental is paid based on household income.
'GRDM not playing big brother'
With housing traditionally being a function of local municipalities, Booysen said the district municipality is not trying to play “big brother”, but will rather complement the housing efforts of the B-municipalities. "We also want to allay the fears of people who think this will have a negative impact on the Garden Route
[in] that it would devalue their properties. That is not the case. The case is we are busy integrating ... We are going to make sure it is not your normal Breaking New Ground housing being brought into town spaces or into high-value areas."
'Painful integration for past injustices'
Also speaking at the event, Western Cape Minister of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers said according to data collected by the province, it is expected that the province will have crossed the eight-million population figure by 2030, which means that over 1,7 million people will be added in less than eight years. These people have to live somewhere and this is where the programme for affordable housing comes in. The Garden Route is the first district with which the province has established such a partnership. He said for some, integration can be a "painful journey at times, but we must address the injustices of the past".