Two of our 110% Green flagship – Nedbank and the City of Cape Town – joined forces and signed a cooperation agreement to ‘go green’ as part of affordable housing development projects. The agreement to provide development finance goes back to 2006 when Nedbank was appointed a joint venture partner with Inframax Holdings and Shisaka Investment to develop affordable housing on City-owned land in Ottery, Wetton, Silvertown and Rugby.
With the conclusion of the rezoning process, development will commence in the Rugby and Silvertown projects. The low-density housing development in Rugby will be known as Silver Meadows and will provide 92 one- and two- bedroom apartments and 23 three-bedroomed semi-detached houses. The housing development is aimed at individuals and families in the lower income range.
As stated by Alderman Belinda Walker, “In order to be truly successful, it is important that planning for quality green spaces occurs in the very beginning stages of housing developments and not as an after-thought... Urban green spaces are critical in reducing the effects of global warming and are now a necessity and not just an appreciated add-on.” Thus, keeping in line with the vision of the City to provide more than just mere housing, Silver Meadows provides residents secure living in a greened environment with easy access to the Integrated Rapid Transport (IRT) system. The housing development has also incorporated energy efficiency and resource conservation such as:
- Heat Pumps with individual storage tanks
- Insulation of hot water pipes
- Dual flush toilets
- Water efficient fitting in bathroom
- Dual sized double bowl sink
- Permeable paving
- Storm water management on site as far as possible
- House design elements
- Shading of windows
- Optimisation of window sizes for energy efficiency
- Insulation of roof space
- Energy efficient lighting
Well done Nedbank and the City of Cape Town. 110% Green is looking forward to seeing this project complete!
Image from left to right are: Alderman Belinda Walker (City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Special Projects); Chantal Hanslo (Director: City Parks) and Manie Annandale of Nedbank. (Photo courtesy of City of Cape Town)