Kyalami expansion meets resistance
Property group Abland is the project manager for R402m Kyalami Corner, which is co-owned by Dorpstraat and recently listed Pivotal Property Fund, Abland’s property fund.
Mother and children as pedestrians on this road at risk of high truck volume. Picture: ANTON VAN NIEKERK
The Greater Kyalami Conservancy, residents and business owners say there is no need for a shopping centre in the area as it would disturb the country living estate and environment.
“There are already two shopping centres in Kyalami within a kilometre of this development. This one is being positioned where it disrupts what is a very carefully managed area tremendously,” the conservancy’s chair, Kristin Kallesen, said.
“There are no plans to create a buffer between the residential country properties and the urban sprawl which the mall will create,” Ms Kallesen said.
Four years ago, the development, being built on the corner of Main Road in Kyalami and the R55, got environmental authorisation from the Gauteng government’s department of agriculture and rural development.
The authorisation was granted with conditions, including that certain facilities, environmental practices and safety measures were in place to ensure residents’ safety and the equine industry in Kyalami was not damaged.
Residents’ association chairman Darryl van Niekerk said construction had already disrupted horse-related businesses and residents’ daily lives.