The Makana Municipality has agreed to give up its right to the valuable tract of land currently occupied by the Grahamstown Golf Club, in favour of a multi-million-rand development with interests in contrasting sectors, and based on opposite sides of the city.
The Makana Municipality has agreed to give up its right to the valuable tract of land currently occupied by the Grahamstown Golf Club, in favour of a multi-million-rand development with interests in contrasting sectors, and based on opposite sides of the city.
This means it’s all systems go for the Belmont Valley multi-sport and lifestyle project and, for R300 000, locals can have their piece of the pie. David Davies, of an BEE project management company, Izenzo, the majority shareholder of the Belmont Development Company, said the Makana Council had approved their application to have a restrictive condition on the sale of the golf course lifted.
This means the municipality no longer has first option to buy the land, and the Grahamstown Golf Club is now free to sell it to the developers. Davies describes two aspects of the proposed Belmont Valley project, an agricultural training facility and a sports academy, as community based operations.
Training in farming methods would focus on shallow-rooted crops, such as cabbages, which could be sold to local retailers and Rhodes University. Also in Belmont Valley would be an equestrian centre and a golf course, as well as a hotel and conference centre, said Davies, who said the project aimed to acquire as much land as possible in Belmont Valley.
Plans on the other side of town, 5km out on the Cradock Road, where the golf course and Grahamstown Riding Club lie on opposite sides of the road, are for affordable housing for individuals such as teachers, government department workers and Rhodes University staff, as well as a student residence and shopping centre.
"There is a lack of affordable housing in Grahamstown,” Davies said. “Rhodes academic staff, for example, are looking to buy a three- or four-bedroomed house on a 500 square metre plot of land. They do not want to spend more than R750 000.”
Davies plans for the residential area to be a fenced and gated community, promising a shuttle service to and from the university and into the CBD. The new impetus came after a recent Ordinary Council meeting of the municipality, to consider the Belmont Development Company’s proposals – first submitted to the Land and Housing Portfolio Committee, who discussed it in November, then to the Mayoral Committee, which discussed it in December.
Makana Municipal Manager, Ntombi Baart, said confirmation of the resolution taken on the proposal would be contained in the minutes, which are provided at the Council’s next meeting.
Davies said they were currently conducting their environmental impact assessment (EIA). They were also busy finalising a professional team, made up of an architect, land surveyor, town planner and EIA specialists.
Site plans had been drawn up and they were applying to have the two pieces of land rezoned, in order to build a new golf course in Belmont Valley, and begin the development on the existing golf course.
International and local funding for the project had been secured. Local would-be investors had only a few weeks (until the end of April) to take up the offer of a share in the development, and a plot of land, for R300 000.
It was a limited offer, Davies said, that would give locals an opportunity to invest in the project. While the offer was not exclusive to locals, it was only for individuals and not institutions.
The Grahamstown Golf Club has given a written commitment that it is prepared to relocate to Belmont Valley, but has cautioned that it will not abandon its title to the land until the new golf course has been built. While the Grahamstown Riding Club has yet to make a decision about the land swap, its chairperson, Louise Bowker, has said that its members would be keen on the relocation if they were given the right offer for the land.
Davies said he had not pursued the matter further with the club. A report from the Technical Services directorate states that around 1994, the land of the existing golf course, Erf 8045 was sold and transferred to the Grahamstown Golf Club, with a special condition which included a pre-emptive right in favour of Makana Municipality over the land.
Caution over land-swap
Recommendations made to the Makana Council regarding the Belmont Development Company’s proposed land swap and request for the municipality to lift its pre-emptive right to the golf course land, as recorded in the original Deed of Sale, were that:
-The Belmont Valley Development Company develops a golf course at Belmont Valley before the transfer can take place
-The Belmont Valley Development Company pays a market-related value for the existing golf course land and the costs for lifting the restrictions
-The sworn valuer be instructed to evaluate the existing golf course land
-The Belmont Valley Development Company will be responsible for all the transaction costs involved in the land swap
-The land where the golf course will be developed at Belmont Valley be rezoned from agricultural purpose to open space 2, at the cost of the Belmont Valley Development Company
-That the land-swap be advertised in the local newspaper for comment.
