eThekwini Municipality has published its proposed plans to rezone the residential suburb of Clairwood into a major logistics park to support the demand for land for back-of-port developments as the Port of Durban’s container volumes grow in the coming years.
The municipality’s plans, outlined in a 524-page land development document released in February, specify in detail several studies the city has undertaken in preparation to rezone the suburb as “Special Zone 40: Clairwood Logistics Park”, while still aiming to preserve its historical and religious sites.
It highlights proposals for road upgrades and truck staging zones in the back-of-port area.
According to the document, the suburb consists of some 1 380 land parcels, excluding road reserves, which comprise an array of 12 zone categories. The intended purpose of Clairwood was to serve as a residential area, with 64% of land parcels currently zoned “Special Residential 400”.
“However, the area has evolved over time to cater for zones other than residential, which include but are not limited to general industry (20%), general commercial (5%) and noxious industry (9%),” the document noted.
A land use audit was undertaken to determine the current operations within the Clairwood Precinct.
“It was found that although the predominant zoning within the Clairwood Precinct is residential, the principal land uses lend themselves to the transport industry. The primary land usage is 29% for transport, of which 15% is for logistics operations. The industry land use consists of 26%, with motor garages forming 8% of operations, while residential land uses consist of 21%, with 16% being formal housing,” the document said.
The municipality’s recent Back-of-Port Study (Bops) proposed that the Clairwood Precinct’s cadastral (matters related to the boundaries, ownership, and value of land) and zoning should be reconfigured “to facilitate appropriate layout and zoning to deliver the demand for … (land side) support of the port’s goods operations”.
Three options were considered for the precinct in the Bops, including a residential-dominant option that would retain its residential core, a logistics-dominant option that would convert the entire suburb to logistics use, and a cluster precinct option that would retain a smaller heritage and residential heart surrounded by large logistics industry sites.
“Notwithstanding the considerable social issues involved, the logistics-dominant option, conversion to logistics use throughout the precinct, was recommended,” the Bops study noted.
It pointed out that the current port expansion strategy focused on the existing Port of Durban and maximised its capacity, targeting its preferred commodities.
“To this end, proposals to expand container berth capacity and container stacking areas are a priority focus,” the study said.
“The proposed dig-out Port of Durban, which was at one stage programmed to begin construction by 2016, has since been pushed out due to significant downward change in the projection of growth in goods and container movements through the port. The latest projection for the need for the dig-out port places its commencement beyond 2030.”
According to the study, the proposal to increase the targeted container handling capacity of the Port of Durban from the previous target of 5.5 million TEUs to 11.3 million TEUs has the potential to significantly impact the road network around the Clairwood precinct, even though some 3.5 million TEUs of this increase are located away from the precinct.
“A further point that should be borne in mind is that the proposals include the concessions of at least some of the container berthing, especially in the Maydon Wharf and Point zones. This has a high potential for making Clairwood an attractive logistics support zone.”
In addition, a “Road Network Improvements Integrated Freight Logistics Study” had identified “various responses to provide the capacity the port expansion proposals will need”, the document noted.
This study identified various road and intersection upgrades required immediately along major corridors leading into and out of the Port of Durban.
The road upgrades include:
• Developing an additional lane in each direction along Solomon Mahlangu Road (M7)
• Sydney Road and Bayhead Road intersection upgrade
• South Coast Road and Bayhead Road intersection upgrade
• South Coast Road upgrade between the Solomon Mahlangu Road (M7) and Bayhead Road
• Bayhead and Langeberg Road intersection upgrades, and Bayhead Road upgrades
“These upgrades are outside the Clairwood Precinct study area but are worth noting in terms of the access provision to the precinct,” the study noted.
Alternative proposals would link the back of the port through to the N2 along with a further truck staging facility in the Jacobs area.
The city also recently completed the “South Durban Basin Truck Stop and Staging Feasibility Study”. This research established the space, location, amenities and services that need to be provided for such a facility.
Seven preferred sites to meet the range of criteria that quality staging and/or holding areas must satisfy were identified. These include the corner of Umbilo and Rick Turner Roads, the corner of Sydney and Bayhead Roads, the corner of Inkosi Albert Lutuli Freeway, South Coast Road, the corner of Solomon Mahlangu Drive and Bluff Roads, the corner South Coast and Pendlebury Roads, and corner of South Coast and Hull Roads.
The full document can be accessed here. The deadline for written objections is April 8.
