PROPERTY
From page 20
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more than 1 000m (and
Prince's Avenue is a commercial street).
Depending on the age of the
smallholding area, subdivision
is probably already allowed
by the local authority. Usually
this will begin with, say, a
2
20 000m property being
subdivisible into two, or
sometimes three portions.
Thereafter, those portions in
turn, may be divisible again,
and again, until the area is
properly urbanised with erfs
2
of around 1 000m .
By that stage, all the amenities
of suburban life will have
been planned into the area,
amount of land as a green
lung or garden. If the
developer decides against
this, he will have to pay the
with provision being made for 40 townhouses. There are
council to provide the
schools, shops, clinics,
obvious connections of
required green land close by,
retirement homes, parks and services which will need to be as a public park.
churches, as well as infrastruc- made, including electricity,
Then, building houses and
ture such as water mains,
water and sewerage, and the paving driveways materially
sewerage, electrical connecassociated cost of providing
changes the way land absorbs
tions and storm-water run off. cabling, trenching and
water run-off. Agricultural
pipework will be calculated
This development will take
land, for example, typically
by the local authority and will absorbs 80% of all rainwater
place over many years, even
decades, and often starts with be payable by the developer, run-off, leaving 20% to flow
before permission to develop into streams and waterone major development of,
is granted.
say, a lifestyle estate. As this
courses. Once the land is
development takes off, others But there are other consider- developed it's exactly the
take place around it, often
ations. For example, 40
reverse: the land absorbs very
making use of the additional
townhouses will mean up to
little and 80-90% is left to
infrastructure put in place by 80 or more vehicles departing flow into some sort of stormthe original development.
for work or a school-run in
water management system
the
mornings
and
coming
which, in an urban setting,
This leads one to the point
home at the end of the day.
requires construction.
that any developer has to
jump through many hoops in This may result in the council What occurs under the land
deciding that roads in the
terms of regulations and
of a proposed development is
area need upgrading, or that
planning permission before
also important. With much of
traffic lights need to be
he can start laying bricks.
Gauteng being dolomitic,
exploratory drilling will be
Say, for example, a developer installed at key intersections.
Also, all developments are
necessary to ensure that
finds a piece of land for sale
required to leave a certain
on which he wishes to build
Continued on page 26
A developer is required to contribute
towards the establishment of municipal
services connected to his property
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