The City of Cape Town wants to inform residents and development professionals that, in certain suburbs, clearance for some new developments to connect to the sewerage system will be aligned to the completion of major capacity upgrades at the Potsdam, Zandvliet, and Macassar Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs). To ensure sustainable development, it is necessary that these plants operate within existing capacity while major upgrades are underway.

Over the next three years, almost 50% of the City’s R25 billion capital expenditure plan will be invested in water and sanitation infrastructure. The City is further projecting a minimum R8bn investment for major Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs) upgrades over the next 10 years.

As an accountable and responsible local government, the City is committed to doing everything possible to enable sustainable economic growth and development, while meeting Municipal Planning By-law (MPBL) obligations to take into account the capacity of services infrastructure when applications for new developments are submitted for approval.

While capacity upgrades are under way at the Potsdam, Zandvliet, and Macassar WWTWs, it is necessary to ensure sustainable development in suburbs falling within the drainage areas for these three plants.

The City’s Development Management Department will still receive, assess, and finalise development applications as per usual.

However, landowners and the development fraternity are urged to familiarise themselves with rules applying to the clearance for new developments to connect to the sewerage system.

‘Given that preparations for most of the large developments take years, we strongly recommend that developers still go ahead and submit their applications to the City. Once they have the necessary approvals it means there will be no delays, and construction plans can be aligned for connection to the sewage system as soon as the new capacity at the specific water treatment plant becomes available.

‘I urge landowners and professionals from the development fraternity to set up pre-application meetings with the City’s Development Management Department so that they can be informed of the implications for their specific projects,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Marian Nieuwoudt.

Unpacking rules for approving developments in areas serviced by the Zandvliet, Potsdam, and Macassar WWTWs

The predicted sewage discharge from a development is directly related to its predicted water demand and size. Thus, the following choices will need to be made when considering an application in one of the constrained Wastewater Treatment Works catchments:

Any type of Municipal Planning By-law application, development or building plan of small size can proceed. This allows for up to 4.0 kl/day water demand from up to ten dwelling units or 2 000m2 of usable floor area. A caveat is necessary in that, during the period before the particular treatment works has been upgraded and depending on the cumulative estimated sewage discharge from all such developments, the Director Bulk Services: Water and Sanitation may announce a cutoff point at which no further applications will be allowed to proceed (or such building plans approved) until the upgrading has been completed.

For all larger sizes of Municipal Planning By-law application or development, postponement of connection and sewage discharge to the City system (or in the case of building plans, refusal) is required. One exception with some leeway is for medium-size building plans or existing zoning rights that have not lapsed, (up to five times the size or water demand of a small development) where on a case-by-case basis in discussion with the Water and Sanitation Department, some startup phasing may be allowed (similar to what a small size development would have generated) before completion of the treatment works upgrade.

A temporary solution of a package plant for on-site waste water treatment to enable earlier commencement of development may be supported by the City, but note that no discharge from such scheme will be allowed into the City sewerage system in the constrained catchment. Also note that approval of a licence for such a plant will be required from the National Department of Water and Sanitation according to strict conditions of quality compliance, effluent or sludge disposal, and system management.

Landowners and developers will be advised, during a pre-submission consultations of the relevant infrastructure capacity constraints and how these may affect their applications. This is so that landowners and developers can plan ahead and decide when they want to submit development applications, and how to time construction work.

Advice and notes for landowners and developers:

Landowners and developers from affected suburbs are encouraged to schedule a pre-submission meeting with the development management district office in their area to discuss the impact on their proposed applications.

Developers are encouraged to keep on submitting their development applications as larger developments usually have longer lead-times to implementation, in particular when it involves environmental and other authorisations.

All development applications will be assessed as per usual, and in terms of the City’s Municipal Planning By-law, and other relevant City policies.

Land use rights are valid for five years and approvals can be extended for another five years upon application.

All building plans will be assessed in terms of the National Building Regulations.

The City’s Water and Sanitation Department will assess each building plan on its own merits to determine whether the relevant WWTW has capacity for the new building/development or not. If the assessment is positive, clearance will be given to discharge sewage. Once this clearance is issued, the Development Management Department can finalise the building plan and the developer may then proceed with construction.

Building plans for existing rights and existing approvals will be circulated to the City’s Directorate for Water and Waste for assessment as explained above.

All approved developments will have to comply with water-saving plumbing and measures to reduce sewage discharge.

Source: City Of Cape Town