Rezoning approval gives Embury green light for development

PLANS to build a private higher education institution on the former synagogue site in Stephen Dlamini Road took another step forward after the rezoning application was approved.

According to eThekwini Municipality, the proposal from CURRO Holdings to rezone the site from a Place of Worship to Educational 2 was in line with the municipality’s policy to maximise and re-use underutilised land in established developed areas and areas with existing service infrastructure, and that the proposed zoning was not a new or foreign zone to the area, as other educational zones exist to the north and south of the site.

Mr M Phewa, chair of the Municipal Planning Tribunal, said the site was ideally located and highly accessible to all major road networks in the area which is serviced by public transport. He said the proposed teacher’s college was a much-needed service which would benefit eThekwini and KZN as a whole.

Marí Lategan, head of marketing and communications at Curro Holdings said the company reaffirmed its ongoing commitment to education in South Africa, by announcing the plan to develop the property into a private higher education institution under its Embury brand.

“Development will commence in 2017, once the appropriate rezoning processes have been completed. Situated as it is, near the existing Embury campus, the proposed facility will further Embury’s long-term vision to establish a tertiary nexus in one of South Africa’s most needed educational areas,” she said.

The plan to rezone the synagogue site was brought to the attention of Berea Mail in July by a resident who was concerned that the intended college would have a huge impact on parking in the road, which he said was already ‘chock-a-block’ in the mornings.

He said there were already two schools in the road, which brought a lot of traffic to the area, and he had also heard that the college would include underground parking.

Phewa said the approval was subject to conditions imposed by the Spacial Planning and Land Use Management Act. He said all recommendations of the Traffic Impact Assessment Report would have to be complied with and mitigation controls would be implemented to the satisfaction of the head of the eThekwini Traffic Authority.

“The rezoning will have no force or effect until such time as these conditions have been complied with, and the responsibility remains with the applicant to provide proof of compliance to the satisfaction of the municipality,” he said.