Three new schools make Brackenfell more attractive

THE MANY South African municipalities now vying with each other to attract home buyers and home developers should take a close look at what the Brackenfell local authorities are doing, says Rowan Alexander, manager of the Rawson Property Group’s Brackenfell Roslyn franchise.

He says the Oostenberg Municipality has been one of the relatively few councils in SA to act proactively, foreseeing future needs rather than waiting to be overtaken by them.

“They have made conditions easy for developers and, equally important, have ensured that the supporting infrastructure was rolled out to facilitate new development and to make the precinct increasingly attractive to those contemplating living there.

“As a result, Brackenfell is pulling in new home buyers and tenants from around the country and there is no sign of this influx slowing down. A host of facilities and infrastructure upgrades have been introduced to Brackenfell in the last three decades which go a long way to making it popular.”

The first of the factors attracting new residents is the recent establishment of three new schools – Curro Pre-Primary School, Curro Intermediate School and Bastion High School. As there were already three successful popular schools in the area the new schools have given Brackenfell an impressive educational lineup.

The second

big

factor attracting buyers, says Alexader, has been the comprehensive array of retail complexes developed in the area over the years.

The rollout was initiated some three decades ago by the large Pick n Pay Hypermarket, which was followed several years down the line by the equally big Fairbridge Mall. Both have recently been overhauled and upgraded and the area has also in the last decade or so seen the advent of the Soneike Mall, the Glengarry Centre, Boulevard Square and the award winning Cape Gate shopping centre.

A third aspect making Brackenfell an attractive suburb, says Alexander, has been the ongoing upgrading of local road links, with the effect that Brackenfell is one of the more easily accessed areas in Greater Cape Town.

Here, he says, the programme was kicked off by the Okavango Road and bridge spanning the N1 linking Brackenfell to Durbanville. Recently, Brackenfell Boulevard and Okavango Road have been completed allowing easier traffic flow between Brackenfell and Durbanville.

Work is now in progress on the Bottelary Road/R300 link, which will improve access towards the airport, industrial nodes and to most of the Helderberg basin, where industrial development is growing fast.

This link will make it possible for Brackenfell residents and businesses to have access to the N1 and N2 as well as the R300 within minutes no matter where they are in Brackenfell.

Then, too, says Alexander, the council has been several steps ahead of most of its rivals in its efforts to “green” and “upkeep” the entire precinct with public open spaces, all planted with indigenous vegetation. Along with this initiative to landscape the public spaces, the private sector has taken steps to clean up the central business district by launching the Brackenfell city improvement district.

“This has gone a long way in maintaining the safety of our businesses and residents,” says Alexander.

“Although Brackenfell is now suburban it retains something of its original rural atmosphere and, with its parks and sports fields, home buyers find it a big improvement on the sort of conditions encountered in the higher density and inner city precincts.

“The ongoing move to Brackenfell is also due to the fact that the area, once seen as being on the urban edge, is now recognised as being central to a number of new business nodes, in particular those at the Tyger Waterfront, along Durban Road, Century City, Paarl and the Helderberg Basin.

“In normal traffic times most Brackenfell residents can get to their workplaces in 15 to 30 minutes,” says Alexander. “Brackenfell, once seen as outlying, is now regarded by many as exceptionally well placed and in many respects central to greater Cape Town.”