MyCiTi demolitions a ‘done deal’

Cape Town - Plans by the City of Cape Town to demolish houses in a Plumstead road earmarked for the construction of a new MyCiTi bus route appear to be a done deal, according to a report submitted to the Protea Subcouncil.

Approval has already been given for the demolition of three vacant houses in Waterbury, Rotherfield and Lympleigh roads.

Part of the motivation for removing these “dilapidated houses” was that Transport for Cape Town, and specifically the Integrated Rapid Transit department, had “informed and requested the demolition of various houses within the proposed road reserve to enable the construction of Phase 2A of the IRT project”.

The project would start in 2015, said the report. “They are currently finalising the concept design and expect the detail design of Phase 2A to be completed in mid-2014.”

Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport, has said that the detailed route was still being finalised and that more information would be announced at a media briefing within two weeks.

The city has meanwhile confirmed that 26 occupied council-owned houses and six vacant houses would be demolished to make way for the MyCiTi trunk route that will come through Wynberg and Plumstead. Tenants have already been sent council notices terminating their leases, and have been given until January to leave their homes.

Members of the South Road Families’ Association, representing those facing eviction, say the MyCiTi plans had been “slapped” on to outdated road schemes dating back to the 1950s.

Herron said the properties in South Road were bought by the city after the initial planning of the South Road scheme in the 1960s. The detailed design for the road scheme was finalised early in 2000, but construction never took place.

The South Road reserve, as well as the Wynberg Couplet reserve, also approved in 2002, would form part of the second phase of the MyCiTi service between Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain and Wynberg.

But the Wynberg Residents and Ratepayers’ Association said the council had agreed in 2002 that the Brodie/Main Road couplet proposal would be a long-term plan and would be phased in only if there was an “extensive meaningful public participation process” and if “overwhelming support of the public is obtained”.

At a recent press conference about the Integrated Public Transport Plan, Herron said the Wynberg route would start at Wynberg Station and travel along the Main Road, the Brodie Road couplet and the new carriageway in South Road, Plumstead.

The Cape Flats District Plan of 2012 refers to a link from South Road to Constantia. This link, which would include an underpass under the railway, is part of the proclaimed road area. The Brodie Road couplet would create a two-lane public road through residential Wynberg.

After a public meeting to discuss the city’s plans, the Wynberg Residents and Ratepayers’ Association issued the following statement: “Wynberg residents do not support the South Road/Brodie Road couplet scheme, which has been disguised as a MyCiTi route.”

anel.lewis@inl.co.za

- Cape Argus