Swakop cuts red tape on town planning

Swakopmund has become Namibia’s first authorised planning authority, allowing the town to make faster land-use decisions without requiring ministerial approval.

The approval was granted by the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development on 2 September and is expected to be proclaimed by the end of October.

Swakopmund’s town planning manager, Johannes Heita, confirmed the town’s new status last week.

“The new status of the planning decisions will be more speedily taken, and development and service delivery will become more efficient and effectively achieved,” he said.

This achievement comes after the council’s initial attempt at authorisation in December 2020.

Heita said this status means private companies can now apply directly to the town council for services like rezoning, creating new townships, changing or removing old township boundaries, joining or dividing pieces of land, and changing rules linked to land use.

Before, land applications had to obtain ministerial approval in addition to approval from the Swakopmund Municipal Council.

The town started working on its first structure plan in 2018 to meet these requirements.

“This process was cumbersome and to a certain degree slowed the town’s developments and discouraged some potential investors,” he added.

He said the declaration brings forth benefits to local authorities as planning decisions are taken locally and will be understood to be more sensitive to the concerns of residents and local circumstances.

“The enhanced public image of a local authority, planning and approval processes are shortened, and service delivery happens in a shorter period,” Heita said.

He said applications for the council’s own land or for land that deviates from the approved Swakopmund Urban Structure Plan must still be submitted to the Urban and Regional Planning Board for consideration.

For a town to obtain the status of authorised planning authority, it must follow the Urban and Regional Planning Act of 2018.

This requires an approved zoning scheme, a structure plan, and at least one qualified town and regional planner with three years’ experience.

The Swakopmund Structure Plan 2020 to 2040 was adopted by the council in November 2020 and was approved by the Urban and Regional Planning Board in April 2022. Swakopmund currently has a housing backlog of 17 000.

According to the town’s 2020 to 2024 structure plan, the council has planned 13 extensions in the area called Northern Wedge along the Henties Bay gravel road, and four extensions in the DRC area.

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