PROPERTY
Is your plot a developer’s dream?
I
f you've lived on a
smallholding for any length
of time you'll have noticed
property development
inexorably taking place
around you, swallowing up
plot and farm land and
converting it into residential
What developers look for when buying up
plots (and what you can do to make your
plot more attractive to them)
developments and
commercial spaces.
It's an inevitable part of plot
life, with the band of land
CO2 EMISSION
From page 18
while green or soon after
flowering it is termed a green
manure. Cover crops improve
carbon sequestration by
enhancing soil structure, and
adding organic matter to the
soil.
K Crop rotation means
planting different crops on
the same area of land, one
after the other. Varying the
type of crops grown can
increase the level of soil
organic matter. However,
effectiveness of crop rotating
depends on the type of crops
and crop rotation times.
Grazing practices also make a
big difference. Overgrazing
reduces carbon sequestration
and productivity, but stock
owners can avoid it with a
rotational grazing system that
incorporates multiple
paddocks. Stocking density
and rotation time depend on
the season, the weather and
the health of the soil. A rough
guideline is to move animals
to a new paddock after
they've consumed about half
of the biomass, and then rest
each paddock until new
immediately outside a town's
suburbs, which are very often
smallholdings of various sizes
and descriptions, being the
growth is evident.
Overgrazing is probably the
biggest single agricultural
problem facing Gauteng's
smallholder, particularly those
who keep horses, as most
smallholdings with livestock
on them are greatly overstocked.
Nevertheless, following these
guidelines to foster healthy
pastures will store more
carbon in the soil, thereby
helping to ease global
warming.
20
www.sasmallholder.co.za
next-available land for
development in any growing
town or city.
So, what is it that a developer
looks for when seeking out
land to buy and build on?
According to a leading East
Rand developer there are
many factors weighing on the
equation but in a nutshell it's
all about “location, location,
location.”
A history of any Gauteng
town reveals over time how
development, and
densification, takes place.
When Benoni was founded,
for example, the first properties proclaimed along what is
now one of the main streets,
Prince's Avenue, were five
acres (or just more than
2
20 000m ) in extent.
Gradually, over the decades,
they were carved up into
smaller and smaller units,
until the current common
Continued on page 22