It must however provide sufficient clarity to guide decision-makers in respect of development applications, which means that it needs to be quite specific and precise in cases where it is needed to enforce or prevent certain types of land use. This, however, does not imply that is has to be prescriptive with regard to the way each and every piece of land shall be used.
The guidelines and principles that form the basis of spatial development and planning are contained in the Development Facilitation Act, 1995 and were included in the White Paper on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management and the Land Use Bill.
In summary the spatial development principles are, in our opinion:
§ Sustainability
Sustainable management and use of resources (environmentally, economically etc.).
§ Equality
Everyone affected by spatial planning, land use management and land development actions or decisions must enjoy equal protection and benefits.
§ Efficiency
Development of land uses with the minimum expenditure of resources by means of the discouragement of urban sprawl, densification policies to provide compact towns and cities.
§ Integration
Development planning and land uses should be combined and co-ordinated into a more complete and harmonious whole. Spatial integration and Corrections of historically distorted spatial patterns must also take place.
§ Fair & good governance
Land development, spatial planning and land use management, must be democratic, legitimate and participatory to provide among other, security of tenure, fair access to land, discouragement of land invasions etc.
1.2 PURPOSE OF SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
The purpose of a Spatial Development Framework is to provide general direction to guide Integrated Development Planning and decision-making as well as actions over a multi-year period, and to create a strategic framework for the formulation of an appropriate land use management system. A spatial plan should be of purpose to indicate the desired spatial form of the municipal area, enabling visual representation of spatial objectives, formulate spatial strategies and provide a strategic development framework.
The compilation of a Spatial Development Framework was identified as an important Land Use Management project in the Lephalale Municipality. Such a framework should also be of purpose to inform the decisions of development tribunals and other decision-making bodies, as well as create a framework for investor confidence.
1.3 METHODOLOGY
A specific approach is followed with the formulation of the Spatial Development Framework for the Lephalale Municipal area. The phases and tasks which form part of the planning process and which will be executed during this study are as follows:
i) Phase 1: Current Reality Analysis
This phase consists of a number of important tasks to develop an understanding of all relevant facts and the current development situation, viz.:
§ The relevant legal framework;
§ Socio economic overview of the study area;
§ Physical and environmental features;
§ The existing land-use development situation;
§ Bulk infrastructure; and
§ Economic overview of the area.
ii) Phase 2: Assessment of the development situation and development scenarios/options
An assessment of all the relevant issues or factors, which could influence future development, will be the point of departure for the formulation of spatial development proposals. The assessment is also required to determine the development potential of large land parcels for future development and if necessary the identification of alternative (more suitable) uses for these land parcels.
This phase includes that the following key issues are addressed:
§ Formulation of objectives with respect to the desired spatial form for future development;
§ Identification of macro land parcels and classification as far as possible indicating possible restrictions and potential;
§ An assessment of bulk infrastructure inclusive of major movement patterns and higher order roads in terms of the areas identified for future development and its support for the desired spatial form; and
§ The formulation of alternative development scenarios or options.
iii) Phase 3: Proposals, standards and implementation
This section primarily consists of the formulation of development proposals and the implementation of spatial development within the municipal area. These proposals will be accompanied by a plan, which illustrates the proposals as far as possible.
The following key issues will be addressed as part of this phase:
§ The finalisation of the appropriate and most sustainable development scenario;
§ The demarcation of macro land parcels and the formulation of strategies and policies regarding the desired patterns of land-use with a specific indication of the major land-uses and the location and nature of development within the municipal area;
§ The formulation of basic guidelines for land-use management which are consistent with the spatial development framework proposals;
§ Final audit with respect to the level of alignment with local spatial development frameworks;
§ Capital investment framework (i.e. projects and programmes) for the development of land in Lephalale Municipal area as contained in the IDP; and
§ Specific proposals to secure the implementation of the Spatial Development Framework in terms of an Action Plan.
1.4 RELATIONSHIP AND GUIDELINES IN RELATION TO A LAND USE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The main purpose of the SDF is to guide the form and location of future physical development within a Municipal area in order to address the imbalances of the past. The urban environments of South Africa are characterized by unsustainable urban forms, which have been shaped by Apartheid planning that was integrally linked to blueprint or “master” planning (Guide Plans compiled in terms of the Physical Planning Act (125/91)).
Government realized that these inequalities needed to be addressed and adopted a new system of spatial planning. The new system requires every municipality to have an indicative plan (SDF) showing desired patterns of land use, directions of growth, may delineate urban edges, indicate special development areas and conservation-worthy areas as well as a scheme (Land Use Management System) recording the land use and development rights and restrictions applicable to each erf in the municipality. The former has a legal effect of guiding and informing land development and management and the latter has a binding effect on land development and management.
The SDF should be flexible and able to change to reflect changing priorities, whereas the Land Use Management System (LUMS) should be tighter and only amended where required for a particular development. The SDF should therefore inform the content of the LUMS, rather than act as the direct source of rights and controls itself. In this regard, the SDF should:
§ Only be a strategic, indicative and flexible forward planning tool to guide planning and decisions on land development;
§ Develop an argument or approach to the development of the area of jurisdiction which is clear enough to allow decision-makers to deal with the unexpected;
§ Develop a spatial logic which guides private sector investment;
§ Ensure the social, economic and environmental sustainability of the area;
§ Establish priorities for public sector development and investment; and
§ Identify spatial priorities and places where public-private partnerships are a possibility.
In rural context it will be necessary also to deal specifically with natural resource management issues, land rights and tenure arrangements, land capability, subdivision and consolidation of farms and the protection of prime agricultural land.
The purpose of the SDF is not to infringe upon existing land rights but to guide future land uses. No proposal in this plan create any land use right or exempt anyone from his or her obligation in terms of any other act controlling land uses.
The maps should be used as a schematic representation of the desired spatial form to be achieved by the municipality in the long term. The boundaries created through this process should therefore be left for interpretation and not be scaled.
1.5 CONTENT OF THE SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK
The White Paper on Spatial Planning and Land Use Management indicates that the SDF comprises four components, namely:
§ Policy for land use and development
§ Guidelines for land use management
§ Capital expenditure framework for spending
§ Strategic Environmental Assessment
In response to the White Paper, the regulations for integrated planning and performance management (Regulation No 7146 of GN 796 of 24/08/01) stipulated that a SDF must:
§ Give effect to Development Facilitation Act (DFA) principles
§ Set out objectives that reflect desired spatial form
§ Define strategies & policies to achieve the objectives which must indicate:
o Desired pattern of land use
o Address spatial reconstruction
o Strategic guidance in respect to location and nature of development
§ Set out basic guidelines for land use management system
§ Set out a Capital Investment Framework for development programmes
§ Incorporate a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the SDF
§ Identify programmes and projects for development of land
§ Be aligned with neighboring SDF's
§ Provide a visual representation of the desired spatial form of the municipality, which representation:
o Must indicate public and private land development and infrastructure investment
o Must indicate desired /undesired utilization of space
o May delineate the urban edge
o Must identify areas where strategic intervention is required
o Must indicate where priority spending is required.
1.6 REPORT FORMAT
The SDF product comprises text and a set of maps in hard copy and electronic format. The mapping data has been designed to be compatible with the municipal GIS system.
In accordance with the brief, seven colour copies of the final document and A1 Maps are to be provided, with an additional 3 x A1 copies of the Spatial Plan.
*To continue reading this document please download by clicking on the link provided below and select either the "Open" or "Save" option when the dailog box appears.
Thank you,
Lephalale - SDF Verslag 8 -11-06 - 2nd Draft.doc
