City gives automotive supplier park plan the nod
New development proposed for Illovo.
eTHEKWINI Municipality’s Executive Committee (Exco) has approved a proposed South Illovo Local Area Plan (LAP) which will mainly cater for the local automotive industry.
Once completed, the plan will comprise of 3,792 residential homes, 1,316,207m² of developable industrial land and 51,810 m² of developable commercial area.
The plan also includes the upgrading of interchanges between Kingsway and uMgababa and the realignment of a new bridge over the Illovo River.
The plan has been broken up into six sub-districts.
The first district – a light industry or commercial district – will be to the north of the LAP, which will be about 83.64 ha in extent. It has been proposed for light industrial or commercial developments associated with the highly accessible and visible area at the interchange between the N2 route and the R603 towards uMbumbulu. This district has no major environmental constraints.
The second district is mixed residential which includes the existing Illovo village and surrounding areas. This land, which is suitable for higher density residential development, is also currently being used for sugarcane production. This district could accommodate an additional 2,100 higher density homes and is also easily accessible via the R603 and R197 routes.
District three, which is also classified as mixed residential, will be mainly aimed at providing residential opportunities in close proximity to the envisaged manufacturing hub. This area can accommodate 1,700 higher density residential homes for both local workers as well as to address general housing needs within the Illovo area.
The industrial district, which is the fourth district is identified as the primary manufacturing hub and the potential locality of an Automotive Supplier Park (ASP). This type of district would have to accommodate at least 100 ha of developable, industrial land. This site should gain access to the N2 route to fully develop its manufacturing potential and access to other regional distribution channels, such as the Port of Durban.
The fifth district, also an industrial district, has 42% available land for development. The area is also accessible via the R197 route and though no bulk infrastructure within this district is currently available, the need for economic diversification and investment within the South deems it fairly suitable for associated light industrial purposes.
The sixth district, which is a restricted area mainly because it is associated with the landfill wayleave areas which limits development and private development. Due to a lack of current bulk infrastructure in this area, it will require large-scale public capital investment to address.
The Sun queried the development with the city and asked what is its next step, considering the project has been approved and when it’s expected to get off the ground. No comment was forthcoming at the time of going to press.
