12 Feb 2020

Tutume Sub-district Council has resolved to establish guidelines for use of open spaces in all its villages.

The council’s principal physical planner, Mr Tebogo Moreetsi told a sub-district development committee meeting in Tutume on Monday that the public complained about open spaces turning out to be haven for criminal activities.

He said when layout for villages and towns was made, there was an allocation of open spaces that remained idle for many years with some attracting squatters.

Mr Moreetsi said they had since decided to come up with a tool that would help them manage such plots, hence outsourcing them to the private sector to have them developed and put to use under certain terms.

He noted that the council did not have capacity to develop these plots.

 Mr Moreetsi added that they were going to work with the land boards since they were the ones mandated to allocate land.

He stated that they believed their strategy would help different user groups in need of land for business.

 Mr Moreetsi further noted that allocation was going to be done through tender process in which interested parties will show through expression of interest.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the bid winner would have to sign a memorandum of agreement with the council with a timeframe of about five years to have made developments.

 They would have to follow all the building controls board conditions of making developments in the plot.

At the same time, he said they would be given a certain percentage of the plot to carry out developments, adding that some open spaces were too big to be allocated to one person. Ends