New road the key to proposed projects
AN agreement to develop the Effingham-Avoca area northwest of Durban was integral to the arrangement for the metropolitan council and Moreland, Tongaat-Hulett's property arm to develop the Point Waterfront.
Tongaat-Hulett owns substantial tracts of land in this precinct and has long been under pressure to find ways of unlocking its economic potential. A hindrance to any development was the absence of arterial roads and an interchange on the N2 to facilitate increased traffic flows.
In terms of the agreement, the council and national department of transport will construct a link road and interchange to facilitate the mixed industrial, commercial and residential development of the area.
The Effingham-Avoca Development Proposal will release 280ha of mainly sugarcane fields for development, resulting in an expected overall investment of R1,6bn and the creation of 13500 permanent jobs.
There are four major advantages inherent in the project. The area is close to the city and suitable for light industrial development. Its development can promote spatial efficiency, as it brings jobs closer to the KwaMashu, Phoenix, Ntuzuma and Inanda residential areas. The land is owned by the metropolitan council, alleviating land assembly issues; and, lastly, the project provides a much-needed new access road from the N2 to KwaMashu, which will dramatically reduce the peak-hour traffic congestion.
Ken Forbes, Moreland's industrial and commercial development director, says the key to unlocking these advantages is the link road between North Coast Road, the N2 and KwaMashu.
This road affects the Briardene Industrial Park and residential areas in greater KwaMashu, Newlands East and Mount Moriah.
Importantly, the development of this node benefits the Mount Moriah low-cost housing precinct, which, with Cato Manor, was identified as one of the three national projects to receive funding at the 1999 National Job Summit.
In partnership with the First Metro Housing Company, final agreements are being negotiated with the national department of housing to unlock the development of 5000 housing units in the metropolitan area.
Nearly 60% of these could be located at Mount Moriah.
New commercial and industrial job-creating opportunities arising from the Effingham-Avoca development will combine with the Mount Moriah housing project and possibly also the Ekuthuleni commercial and community node at the gateway to Inanda to create an exciting new economic node.
Demographic research in 1996 showed the northern corridor in which the areas of Effingham, Avoca, Mount Moriah and Phoenix South fall has the greatest percentage of the population (42%), but only a quarter of the job opportunities in the metropolitan region.
These comparative statistics highlight the structural problems in the metropolitan region, where workers are displaced from the areas of economic growth and jobs.
Forbes says the problem further manifests itself in traffic congestion on the N2 and on the few roads that serve both the northwestern and urban periphery.
The project will develop the Tongaat-Hulett land that straddles the N2 between the Umgeni River in the south and the North Coast Road-KwaMashu Highway intersection in the north.
The area is a "finger" of agricultural land engulfed by the expanding metropolitan area along its northern corridor.
The common vision of Moreland and the council is the development of the land for multipurpose use, bringing jobs and commerce closer to the northern residential areas.
"This creates a bridge link between the previously divided city," Forbes says.
The council has acquired the land and will invest more than R120m in the arterial link road, interchange and related road infrastructure, and, in return, obtain a percentage equity stake in the overall development. This equity participation will generate a net return for the council and surplus funds will be invested in the Point Waterfront.