Rhodes University’s vision of consolidating a portion of land for residences was dealt a blow when the municipality announced that due to interest from developers the land is likely to go on public tender.
Rhodes University’s vision of consolidating a portion of land for residences was dealt a blow when the municipality announced that due to interest from developers the land is likely to go on public tender.
Makana Municipal Manager Ntombi Baart told the council this week that the municipality will be hiring an East London-based property evaluator to assess the land following a remarkable difference between the figures obtained from two evaluators.
Baart reported to the council that there are other parties which have indicated their interest in buying the land.
The university has requested to occupy the land between a small quarry in the vicinity of the 1820 Settlers Monument and and Gavin Relly Postgraduate Village to build student residences.
They say they are willing to rehabilitate the quarry in return. The university has already earmarked part of the land around the quarry for the future construction of residences.
The two evaluators estimated the value of the land to be R1 326 000 and R300 000 respectively, while the quarry has been estimated to be worth R10 and R700 000 respectively.
The kaolin quarry is now mined out and, according to the regulations of the Department of Minerals and Energy, it has to be closed.
The council resolved to wait for the third evaluator to determine a fair market value for the two portions of land before it sets a purchasing price.
The council further resolved that a special council meeting be convened to consider the university’s request.
Ross Marriner, the university’s registrar for finance and operations, wrote to the municipality on 25 February 2009 and offered to pay for the costs of closing and rehabilitating the mine in exchange for the 6.48 ha of land surrounding the quarry ‘as a package’.
The municipality estimates the cost of effecting Mine Closure Plans to be around R500 000. ‘This arrangement will save the municipalitythe expense associated with the rehabilitation of the quarry, estimated to cost at least R4-million some four years ago, and will provide the university with the land required for future expansion,’ motivated Marriner.
He said the university has budgeted more than R100-million to build seven residencesbetween this year and 2012 and that local sub-contractors will benefit significantly.
‘The Project Managers and Quantity Surveyors will be meeting shortly to decide on the positioning of the next two residences due for construction in 2011," he explained.
‘It is therefore critical that the purchase and transfer of the two erfs in question takes place as soon as possible, so as not to place the rest of the project in jeopardy.’
He argued that since the combination of the highest values given to the municipality for the two portions of land (R2.026- million) is considerably lower than the cost of rehabilitating the quarry, the council should sell the quarry to the university for R10 and the land around it for R1 on condition that the university incurs costs for rehabilitating the quarry and conducting a mine closure plan.
On Tuesday Grocott’s Mail reported that Pierre Ranchhod, a local property developer, is interested in the land but that he said the property should be advertised so that all interested parties can tender for it.
Democratic Alliance councillor Les Reynolds excused himself from the meeting when the land issue was considered in order to avoid conflict of interest as he is also the university’s estates director.
