Victoria Extension 3, which consists of 75 cluster homes, will replace a portion of Orange Grove’s 13ha Paterson Park sometime in 2008-9, if the Joburg council approves the Joburg Property Company’s plans by the end of this year.

The proposed new suburb will cover about 4.3ha. This comes six months after the JPC also proposed to develop a portion of Sandton’s Field and Study Centre — a move opposed by residents.

But unlike their Sandton counterparts, Orange Grove and Norwood residents welcomed the development of Paterson Park, saying it would make the neighbourhood safer.

Orange Grove ward councillor Ray Wolder said: “The park has become a crime spot and there are a lot of vagrants staying here. It has been dilapidated for many years and we are happy that the JPC will build houses on the under-utilised land.”

But Sandton residents are furious about the proposal to develop part of the Field and Study Centre as an unspecified “commercial development” and a residential complex.

Municipal councillor Alan Fuchs said: “The community is up in arms because this is the only relatively large open natural space in Sandton and we need to ensure that it is preserved.”

But Alan Dinnie, JPC project manager for the River Park development said they proposed “ to develop a small portion of the open space”. He said the JPC had since drafted a new proposal that would be discussed at a residents’ meeting next month.

City Parks spokesman Jenny Moodley could not be contacted for clarity on the number of parks the city intended to develop.

But Karen Marx, head of Gauteng’s branch of the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa, condemned the JPC proposals.

“We have very few green areas left around Joburg ... Although there is a high demand for housing, we cannot build on every open space,” she said.