The City of Cape Town’s Spatial Planning, Environment and Land Use Management Committee (Spelum) tabled an application earlier this month requesting that the undeveloped portion of the Vissershok site be rezoned to allow for the extension of the solid waste and landfill site. This would mean rezoning the current site from ‘rural’ to ‘noxious industry’ and extending it by 50 hectares. The decision is pending Council approval and is subject to the conditional use in terms of the applicable Zoning Scheme Regulations.

“There is a need to rezone this area in order to deal with the high demand on the City’s landfill sites,” said Spelum Chairperson, Gisela Jespersen. The City currently has two other landfill sites besides Vissershok, namely Coastal Park and Bellville South. “Coastal Park and Vissershok are the only two sites designated for long-term use, and the existing Vissershok site is the only landfill licenced to receive hazardous waste. We therefore need to utilise this site to its full potential, especially while we wait for the Regional Landfill Site to become operational,” she said.

Once the regional site is operational, Vissershok will continue to function until it reaches capacity, which is estimated to be 2020. Vissershok North will be reserved for disposal of refuse and solid waste transported by road in collection vehicles within a radius of up to 20km; road transported containers from the Swartklip Transfer Station; and private contractors. The Regional Site will initially be used for disposal of the balance of the waste.

The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry first issued a permit to operate a solid waste disposal facility on a portion of the farm in April 1998. This was carried out in accordance with the Environmental Conservation Act of 1989. However, the City’s register has always reflected the zoning for a portion of the land as ‘rural’ with waste disposal utilisation permitted as a conditional use. The land use and zoning requirements were recently addressed and the process for rezoning commenced. On 27 January 2010, the restrictive title conditions were removed by Provincial Government. Later, on 10 March the Spelum Committee approved the application to rezone a portion of the farm from ‘rural’ to ‘noxious industry’ for the purposes of solid waste disposal and landfill activities and associated noxious industrial infrastructure.

The application to rezone the area has been submitted, advertised and considered in terms of the Land Use Planning Ordinance (LUPO). An Environmental Impact Assessment has also been conducted.