NEWS
RELEASE
27 June 2001
A
forum consisting of representatives of primary
users of the zoning system has been established by the City of Cape Town to
prepare a Land Use Management System (LUMS) that will review the 27 zoning
schemes currently in operation across the city.
Under
the Chairmanship of Councillor Brian Watkyns, the Council’s Executive
Committee member responsible for Planning and Environment, the Metropolitan
Zoning Framework (MZF) Technical Forum will provide
input into a draft LUMS that will co-ordinate and facilitate future development
in the city which is envisaged to take three years to complete.
A comparison and
evaluation of the 27 existing zoning schemes indicates that they need to be made
more responsive to current development needs and demands of society.
There is also a need to broaden the current land use management system
(LUMS) to deal with more than zoning related issues.
This system
should also respond to problems currently experienced and make a land use
management system more equitable across the City of Cape Town.
The objectives
of zoning are to create certainty on land use rights and how the land can be
used in terms of height of buildings, distance from street, etc.
A zoning scheme is a legal instrument that can be used by a local
authority to implement planning policy and also to maintain, protect and upgrade
the general welfare of the public. Through zoning, the Council can control and
shape the built and natural environment.
A Land Use
Management System (LUMS) is a system of tools and techniques to manage or guide
growth and development and promote sustainable development.
The intention of
the study is to identify as many problems and shortcomings with our current
system as possible. Once a common
understanding of all the problems has been developed, a more responsive and
friendly system can be devised.
1.
Through a LUMS, a stronger link with forward planning can be created,
thereby synergising strategy, policy and development implementation.
A
recent example of antiquated regulations was the uproar over Newlands Stadium
which could be used for rugby but not for any other sport unless special
permission was obtained from the Council.
“We
hear what the people are saying,” said Councillor Watkyns. “We have lived
too long under zoning systems that often worked against the public interest and
led to confusion over land use rights.
“The
new Forum will act as a sounding board for the City of Cape Town’s proposed
new land use management system,” he said. “We need to plan so that new and
improved regulations can protect residential and commercial areas by using clear
and uniform criteria.”
He said the Council wanted an end to confusion. “The
members of the Technical Forum have all experienced frustration in using the
current zoning system and we therefore rely on them to make recommendations that
relate to their own fields of expertise.”
Represented
on the Forum, which first met on 22 June, are the City of Cape Town’s Planning
Department, the Provincial Administration, the Institute of Valuers, the Cape
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, NAFCOC, the Association of Consulting Town and
Regional Planners, the South African Planners Institute, the SA Heritage
Resources Agency, the International Association of Impact Assessment, the Cape
Institute of Architects, the Banking Council of SA,
the
SA Property Owners Association and the Institute of Professional Land Surveyors
(Western Cape). A number of private consultants also serve on the Forum.
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