Community upliftment and entrepreneurial opportunities seem to be right at the top of Ongegund residents’ wish list for the area.
Thanks to the new Regional Socio-economic Projects (RSEP) planned for Vredenburg, residents may get exactly what they have been waiting for.
A supermarket, fast-food restaurant, a satellite police station and an ATM are just some of the possibilities planned for the commercial hub in Kootjieskloof Street in the township.
The plans for the project were discussed on Saturday at the local stakeholder workshop where Macroplan, a town and regional planning firm, gave feedback on a previous workshop with the community. “What we have done is taken the community’s suggestions from our previous meeting and looked at how we can practically implement them in the space,” said Rudy Oosterwyk, the process facilitator from Macroplan.
The aim of the planned commercial hub is to expand on the existing local economic development (LED) units and the car wash. At the top of the community’s wish list were developments that would stimulate economic development, as well as help to create a safer environment.
For would-be entrepreneur Sipho Tibane (32), the new plans are exactly what the township needs. “I think these ideas are what the community is looking for. We want economic growth because the area is expanding so fast and going into town for everyday things can be costly,” Tibane says.
Other residents hope the future commercial hub would help keep some of the criminal elements in the area at bay. “Building this area will hopefully mean more job opportunities that will keep more people off the street. There is a lot of crime here,” Primrose Manxiwa (49) said.
Macroplan looked at integrating the needs of the community within the municipality’s RSEP plan and developed two scenarios on which the community will have to give feedback. Both scenarios include a supermarket, a public open space, industrial units, an open-air/informal trading market and active box from which police or the local neighbourhood watch could work from.
According to Marius Meiring, manager of spatial information and intervention, the next step is to get more input from the community, as less than ten community members attended the meeting.
The date of the next stakeholder workshop will be announced by the municipality
