Bright future beckons Rosebank taking off

As councillor for Ward 90 (which includes Rosebank), Ollis chairs the Rosebank Management District (RMD) security and operations committee. He's been heavily involved in the RMD city improvement districts (of which there are now two in Rosebank), the urban design framework (completed by the RMD) and has worked with the council-appointed consultants currently busy with the nodal design. 

Ollis has also given input into the regional spatial development framework for Rosebank and sits on the Rosebank Action Group, the Rosebank Community Policing Forum, Dunkeld Village Association and the Rosebank Community Liaison Forum (Bombela and Gautrain provincial committee).
  
Through those various initiatives he's managed to improve proposals for the car park at the Rosebank Station, the road diversions, the densification proposals of the city and is currently dealing with the dangerous intersections and crossings in Rosebank and the Gautrain bus routes. He also regularly liaises with all the property developers in the area and sits on the RMD board of executives, which includes all the property owners and role players in Rosebank.
 
Ollis says that to attract people to use the Gautrain, the City of Johannesburg has increased the densities allowable in Rosebank, particularly those close to the station. Properties on both sides of Oxford Road are allowed very high densities - in the case of residential properties it can go up to 250 dwelling units/ha.

Besides the Gautrain, Rosebank's entire transport system is set to change, requiring a diverse range of transport infrastructure, says Ollis. A new bus system is also on the cards and a major bus route from Soweto, via Rosebank to Sunninghill, is being planned by the city, the idea being that there will be a bus virtually every three minutes to ensure almost a continuous flow of buses from Soweto to Rosebank.

In addition, the Bombela Consortium has been asked to provide 200km of bus routes to connect the various stations, including Rosebank Station, to various suburbs and shopping centres. Those include the Cresta, Hyde Park and Dunkeld West shopping centres, with routes also going through Melrose, Houghton and in and around the Rosebank Box (business centre).
"Hence significant road upgrades - including priority lanes and road widening - will be needed to accommodate all the buses, all of which will affect the Rosebank area as well as adjoining suburbs, such as Melrose, Houghton, Dunkeld, Saxonwold, Parkwood, Parkhurst, Greenside and Parktown North."

That's prompted the City of Johannesburg to redesign the Rosebank node, and subsequently the Rosebank management district (RMD) began with its own urban design framework, paid for by Rosebank's property owners.

Completed at the beginning of the year, the framework suggests, among other things, the upgrading of open space and improving the landscape in and around Rosebank, repaving pavements and removing street furniture to make Rosebank a pedestrian-friendly node.

Meanwhile, the city has appointed consultants to redesign the node and, hopefully, similar principles to those of the RMD to "pedestrianise" Rosebank and to turn the node into a sidewalk café environment with wide pavements. Rooftop and African markets will be incorporated in the framework, which is expected to be tabled within weeks, says Ollis.
 
Their proposed regional spacial development framework indicates that they want to raise the height restriction for commercial properties in the Rosebank Box to 20 storeys, as requested by Old Mutual. Ollis says that could be controversial, as there's been no community participation. However, a height of 20 storeys supports the city's general plan for Rosebank: namely, to densify both commercial and residential areas.

The lack of parking in the area also causes concern. Ollis says some developers are reluctant to provide sufficient parking due to its cost. "Those developers are being rather disingenuous in trying to reduce the number of parking bays for the shopping malls and office blocks. And there simply is no public parking in Rosebank. People aren't allowed to park on Tyrwhitt, Cradock and Bath Avenues, so it's a huge problem. The requirement throughout the city for business uses is six parking bays per 100  q m - and that should apply to Rosebank as well."

Ollis's other concern is Rosebank's services infrastructure. While the city is currently upgrading the electrical infrastructure, water supply is limited and should be addressed.

Due to the road diversions, it's currently difficult for people to cross the road outside the Rosebank Medi-Clinic, which now is a high-speed road instead of a pedestrian road. There are also no adequate pedestrian crossings at the Oxford road junctions, particularly at the Glenhove/Oxford intersection. 

In addition, the east-west routes for the Gautrain buses need to be upgraded and, hopefully, adequate attention will be paid to that in due course so that, when the 2010 Soccer World Cup starts those problems will be something of the past, says Ollis, who intends following transport plans and developments closely in the coming months to ensure they meet Rosebank's growing requirements.

Despite all those factors, Rosebank is certainly taking off and is set to become a vibrant node "completely different" to any other in the city. "As one of the safer city precincts - with the promise of more policing, greater accessibility and a general upgrade - an exciting future beckons," says Ollis.