The City of Cape Town hosted an Open Day about the proposed local spatial development framework (LSDF), or neighbourhood plan, for the Bellville central business district (CBD) on Saturday, 21 May 2022. Residents, businesses, stakeholders and interested parties are encouraged to comment on the LSDF and be part of this process.

‘On Saturday, myself and officials from the City’s Urban Catalytic Investment Department assisted attendees with more information about the City’s proposed long-term spatial vision for the Bellville CBD. This was a great opportunity to engage with us and I must say I was impressed with the attendees’ contributions and interest. The intention of the LSDF is to spatially transform the Bellville CBD into a more sustainable and thriving centre with the City, public partners and private sector all contributing to this effort.

‘I cannot stress enough how important it is to get involved in this participation process as once the LSDF is approved by Council, it will have a profound impact on all who live and work and do business in Bellville. I encourage Capetonians to please make their voices heard, and to submit comments on how we can improve or add to the draft LSDF,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews. 

The overarching vision for Bellville is to create a CBD that is vibrant, attractive, sustainable and efficient in terms of development and transport.

The draft LSDF contains exciting proposals for Bellville, among which:

• To improve movement and mobility between the metro-south east and the northern districts as an important employment area, particularly within the Voortrekker Road Corridor
• To apply the principles of transit-oriented development to create urban spaces with a mix of high density residentially-led development, commercial, retail, and recreational spaces
• To create a safe and convenient precinct that facilitates and encourages walking and other forms of non-motorised transport, together with a master basement to accommodate parking in the CBD underground
• Improved public transport services and facilities
• Implementation of a new vertically integrated multi-modal Bellville Public Transport Interchange as a catalytic project, phased over time to unlock urban renewal
• Implementation of quality social amenities
• The release of vacant City owned land for mixed use development, including establishment of a ‘government precinct’, accommodating a mix of public uses, facilities and services

Bellville’s unique location as Cape Town’s second metropolitan node should be used to stimulate investment in sectors that can create jobs, drive inclusive growth and resilience. 

The implementation plans contained in the draft LSDF support job creation, infrastructure investment and affordable housing provision. These include coordinating efforts and actions from public stakeholders such as the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, Transnet, and tertiary education institutions, and to align these with actions from City partners such as the Greater Tygerberg Partnership.

Residents can submit comments until 4 July 2022. 

To participate:

• The draft LSDF documents are available for download from www.capetown.gov.za/haveyoursay; 

• Can be viewed at the Subcouncil 6 offices, or at the Bellville Public Library, Carl Van Aswegen Street, Bellville

• Email: Bellville.LSDF@capetown.gov.za 

Once the public participation process has been concluded, the draft LSDF will be revised to include the comments received from all local stakeholder groups and residents. 

After Council approval, the LSDF will become City policy and guide land use and development in the Bellville CBD, in conjunction with the Tygerberg District Spatial Development Framework and Municipal Spatial Development Framework.

Captions: The City hosted an Open Day on Saturday, 21 May 2022, about the draft Local Spatial Development Framework for the Bellville CBD. Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, met attendees and elaborated on the proposed overarching spatial vision for Bellville – namely, to create a CBD that is vibrant, attractive, sustainable and efficient in terms of development and transport. Also, to use Bellville’s unique location as Cape Town’s second metropolitan node to stimulate investment in sectors that can create jobs, drive inclusive growth and resilience.

Source: City Of Cape Town