Shongweni is to get a green city
The build will include solar power, grey water recycling, rainwater harvesting and a waste-to-energy facility
Property developers broke ground on Thursday at Westown, a R15-billion sustainable city in Shongweni, in Durban’s outer west region, for a shopping centre, retail and residential precinct.
The mixed-use development, led by the Durban-based Fundamentum Property Group, comprises urban and green spaces around Westown Square, a retail high street with shopping, dining, commercial and recreational amenities, such as biking, birding and hiking.
This is the first phase of the Shongweni Urban Development, an ethekwini municipality project, which will eventually see 20 000 housing units being built over more than 2 000m2.
The first phase of construction, due to start next month, includes bulk and internal infrastructure and the development of the R1.3-billion, Westown Square, around which 3 000 to 3 500 low and mediumdensity housing units will be built, according to Fundamentum’s development and planning manager Rory Wilkinson.
Phase one includes a 100-bed private hospital and an industrial warehouse and logistics park. Additional housing and retirement complexes will follow over the next 15 years.
The environmental impact assessment was approved in 2017.
Phase one covers 100 hectares of the 2 000-hectare overall development, which will include about 800 hectares of green space. These are currently under sugar cane and will be rehabilitated to reintroduce indigenous flora and fauna. Road infrastructure will also be upgraded.
Wilkinson said the original plan had been to build an 85 000m2 shopping centre but “the last few years during Covid-19 gave us the opportunity to reflect on the ‘mall of the West’ and we realised it’s not what people want anymore; they want open spaces. Westown is being built around the green hills”.
Solar energy generation, rainwater
harvesting, grey water recycling and a waste-to-energy facility will be part of Westown.
The retail component will comprise single-storey buildings with wide walkways.
Fundamentum chief executive Carlos Correia said the firm was “committed to changing the tide on developments” by leading a “mixeduse urban sustainability agenda” that was “inclusive, sustainable, high energy, safe and secure”.
Key partners in the project are the ethekwini municipality, which is investing R600-million over the next two years, and Tongaat Hulett, which sold the development rights on a 99-year leasehold basis to Fundamentum.
Westown Square’s shareholders include Fundamentum Development Company, the Community Trust, which was formed in consultation with local people, as well as black empowerment consortium Outerwest Investments.
The property developer has also
signed a memorandum of understanding with Enviroserv Waste Management and the municipality to deal with the company’s Shongweni landfill hazard.
The Westown Foundation has been established to facilitate socioeconomic development through an on-site training centre for construction and related trades.
The development is expected to create 1 500 jobs during construction and 2 500 permanent ones once it has been completed.
Fundamentum’s Sean Bergsma,
who lives in Shongweni, said the project had been in the pipeline for seven years.
“It’s time for the outer west to be able to see the economic growth and the assets that it deserves, as a lot of development has been moving to the north. It’s time for the west to scale and deliver the assets that need to be there. We really tried to engage with the local community people and to co-create to make something sustainable,” he said.
“We live there and don’t want the green space to be taken away. If you look at the development, 30% of it is still green, compared to Umhlanga where it’s just 5%, so it is considerably different to a typical urban environment.
“We are acutely sensitive to the area and its green belt and the outdoor sports — horse riding, running and mountain biking — that take place. If we don’t have the buy-in of people it won’t be successful.”
Senzo Masengemu, the chief executive of Outerwest Investments, said the project had the support of local
stakeholders and residents.
“It’s one of those projects where a developer really understands from the ground what is required.
“We have broadly incorporated professionals in the property space, including women who participate in property and business in general. It is a really inclusive consortium.
“We are developing programmes to include the community during construction, and afterwards, to make and keep it local from the onset to ensure the community has a sense of ownership,” he said.
“Gone are the days when a developer puts up a shopping centre and just expects the community to support it. Both Covid-19 and the recent riots gave us an eye-opener in terms of what we needed to do to ensure the community surrounding the project understands the opportunities it brings from day one,” Masengemu added, referring to the looting and vandalism which rocked Kwazulu-natal and Gauteng last year, devastating many shopping malls.
‘If you look at the development, 30% of it is still green, compared to Umhlanga where it’s just 5%, so it is considerably different to a typical urban environment’