GEORGE NEWS - Rapid urbanisation is a reality that's come to stay and people have to gear themselves for it. This was the message of Acting Director of Planning and Development of the George Municipality, Delia Power, at a meeting of the George Heritage Trust last Thursday, 20 February.
Power, who was standing in for Raybin Figland of the mayoral committee for planning, addressed the meeting on behalf of the municipality.
The meeting was held in the Langgebou at the Dutch Reformed Mother Church and was themed What's new in Heritage. It was attended by various role players.
Dr Esmé Spicer, a geologist from George, and Hazel Botha and Retha Grundlingh of the South African Institute for Heritage Science and Conservation, were the other speakers.
Planning vision
Power shared the municipality's planning vision for George. She said the challenges in the city are not unique; every city in South Africa has to deal with physical challenges.
When an assessment was done of the vacant and underutilised land in George, it was found that there still is much to go around. She said the majority of people still travel a significant distance to their workplaces. The needs of the very poor and the very rich need to be balanced.
The municipality is looking at ways that landowners can optimise their land. There are a lot of properties that have been granted rights, but have been lying dormant for years and sometimes even decades. These rights need to be taken up, she said.
Potentially the central business district (CBD) can house people and so become a neighbourhood. According to Power, the lack of residents is the reason for the lack of night life in the CBD, as well as why shops close at 17:00 on weekdays and 14:00 on Saturdays. Power stressed the importance of affordable housing. At the moment it is very difficult for people with a limited budget to find a property.
Currently the municipality is focusing on three development nodes - the CBD (primarily), the mall area and the western side of town.
The meeting of the George Heritage Trust was attended by various role players. From left are Henry Hill of the George Heritage Trust; geologist Dr Esmé Spicer; Retha Grundlingh and Hazel Botha of the South African Institute for Heritage Science and Conservation; and chairperson of the George Heritage Trust Henry Paine. Photo: Eugene Gunning
The municipality envisages the area from the old crocodile farm to the industrial area as the future industrial expansion area, as there is vacant land, it is en route to the airport and has direct access to the N2.
Seeing that urbanisation is a reality, a bigger population translates into a need for more food, thus there can't be a compromise on agricultural land.
Power also mentioned the reality of climate change. She said the stretch of land between George and Plettenberg Bay has a unique micro climate and, if we act quickly, we can still preserve it.
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