The City of Cape Town has produced a series of information booklets to help expedite the submission of building plans and cut the red tape often associated with planning and building development.
The City’s Planning and Building Development Management Department produced the Development Management Information Guideline Series to encourage residents, developers and officials to submit improved development applications.
“The Department has produced this series of 11 booklets because we believe that well-informed customers submit better applications which in turn can be processed faster. The streamlining of applications is in keeping with this administration’s commitment to building an Opportunity City that creates an enabling environment for economic growth,” says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Councillor Garreth Bloor.
The booklets will provide customers with relevant advice on how to prepare an application, as well as setting out application requirements. They also provide general information on why applications are needed and the ways they are assessed.
“This forms part of the City’s commitment to service excellence and modernisation of its planning regime. We will continue to make every effort to assist and support those who want to invest in our city and its residents – no matter the size of their project,” says Councillor Bloor.
The booklets are available free of charge at each of the City’s eight district planning offices, as well as online on the City’s Planning Portal.
The booklets cover the following topics:
- land use management and the development process
- making a planning application
- acquiring new or additional land use/development rights
- removal of restrictive title deed conditions
- subdivision of land
- site development plans
- landscape plans
- zoning scheme departures
- building development management
- building plan preparation and submission
- land use and building complaints, contraventions and enforcement
(During the 2012/13 financial year 26 817 building plan applications were submitted for approval. The department approved 25 483 applications with an estimated value of R14,6 billion. A total of 9 961 land use applications (of which 9 399 were finalised) was also submitted.
Any queries related to the booklets can be sent to lums@capetown.gov.za.
