Suggestions invited for transport re-routing plan

Hot seat for the development of East London….Buffalo City Development Agency CEO, Gaster Sharpley, embraces all industries to gear the city for growth. KEVIN MAYHEW IN LIGHT of the anticipated development of East London, the newly constituted Buffalo City Development Agency (BCDA) is planning to better utilise existing land to move heavy vehicles through the city to the port more easily. The Agency – funded by the Industrial Development Corporation for its first three years – is the responsibility of CEO Gaster Sharpley who says its mandate is to take the area Nahoon to Leitch’s Bay and develop it to meet the needs of all stakeholders. “We have to look at the needs of the manufacturing, freight, tourism, construction and other parties to try to put together a plan for East London that meets their requirements. It is a holistic development of the city using the tax incentives provided by central government as it is part of the Urban Development Zone (UDZ) initiative,” says Sharpley. The UDZ initiative provides tax benefits for establishing new buildings or refurbishing old buildings in the area for use as business units. The Agency is one of 19 in the country. The proposed transport re-routing plan involves central city land owned by Transnet’s Propnet that will provide facilities and alternative routes for industry to access the port. The master plan for the development and other elements critical to the growth of the city have been thrown open to planners, architects and artists to come up with designs.