Developments surge ahead
2006-10-26
LAND development in Wellington is surging ahead, with as many new housing projects getting off the ground as those being halted due to public objection and intervention by relevant authorities.
A section of the historic Versailles farm, off Regent and Rossiter Streets, is set to house a gated single title secure village of 62 units with the farm dam as central feature.
“Versailles Village Life” is to be developed on the farm now owned by Roger and Dawn Jorgenson.
The two or three-bedroomed homes, in five ‘Wellington’ or ‘Georgian’ styles designed with input from the Jorgensons, are priced from R912 000. The homes should be completed by November next year.
Jorgenson plans to replant the vineyards on the remaining 12 hectares, to build a distillery and to bring back brandy-making to the farm.
Also on track is the new Bordeaux housing development at the southern entrance to Wellington, where uprmarket houses will be built around a dam.
Meanwhile the proposed Leeuwrivier development on a wetland east of Berg-en-Dal Street was halted after a public outcry and intervention by the Department of Water Affairs.
While the proposed 180 housing units might never be built there, inhabitants are waiting to see the rehabilitation of the river bank.
Bainskloof Estate, adjoining the farm stall at the foot of the mountain pass, has now been given the go-ehead by provincial government, but with certain conditions.
The site had already been bulldozed when a dispute between provincial environmental affairs and the developer put a stop to marketing.
Should the developer comply with stringent measures regarding stormwater and sewerage, the proposed 19 double storey homes priced at R1 900 000 can be erected.
Roads, traffic signs and municipal services were already in place at the new Bainsvallei development, also on the Leeuw River at the northern outskirts of Wellington, when the water table brought plans to a halt.
Marketing of the 66 two- and three-bedroomed plot and plan homes, priced at between R750 00 and R1 400 000, has been going strong.
A large section of the land will now not be developed and the drainage and stormwater will have to be upgraded.
Eyebrows were lifted when a double storey building shot up in Hexberg. The owner maintains he is simply doing what so many others are doing in Wellington, turning a single residential unit “into a boarding house”.
On the verge of construction is the conversion of the old piano factory in Bain Street, where 125 student flats are being planned within the historical facade.
Time recently ran out for objections regarding another three proposed developments: a 142 erf retirement village on the farm Uitkyk in the Berg Street extension (Blouvlei), 31 housing units in York Street and a complex with 17 houses on the northern outskirts abutting Addy Street and Hexberg Road.
Whether the town’s infrastructure can support the population explosion, is an open question in Wellington. It is the supply of services like watre, relectricity and sewerage that causes concern to all but developers and estate agents, say residents.
More
News
|
