Heritage Cases

The applicant, Umlaas Junction (Pty) Ltd, wishes to establish the Umlaas Junction Light Industrial Estate on a 139-hectare portion of the Remainder of Farm Crookes No. 15723, Mkhambathini Local Municipality and Umgungundlovu District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. The proposed Light Industrial Estate is located centrally at GPS co-ordinates 29°43’30.79’’S and 30°28’58.05’’E. The development site is bounded by several road networks, namely the P338 to the north of the site and the N3 Dardanelles Interchange, R603 and R103 located east of the site. Adjacent to the development site’s eastern boundary, is the existing Onelogix VDS facility. The proposed Light Industrial Estate will be served by a predominantly 24-metre-wide private internal road (reserve) network and will be accessed via two (2) points along the P338 Road. The proposed development will comprise of 23 subdivisions, of which will be utilized for light industrial activities. A road network will be developed, covering an extent of approximately 7.39 Hectares within the development footprint. It will further form part of the emerging Umlaas Road Logistics and Light Industrial Node. The proposed logistics-friendly estate will comprise of the following facilities: • Medium to large light industrial facilities; • Mini factories; • Supporting commercial / office facilities; • Supporting service infrastructure, and; • Access points and internal road networks The site is also traversed by several existing servitudes, this includes two (2) New Multi-Product Pipelines (NMPP's) located on the eastern portion of the site and an existing non-operational Transnet Limited Railway servitude that was registered in 1952 and runs east to west. These servitudes will be respected within the development footprint. The proposed development site is currently unzoned, however, a rezoning application to zone the site as ‘Light Industrial’ is currently being undertaken. The proposed development footprint has also been adopted into the 2019 Mkhambathini Municipality Spatial Development Framework for “Light Industrial” development within a five-year period. The development site is currently and has historically been used for agriculture and is entirely under sugarcane cultivation. The proposed development footprint has been released from agricultural land use in terms of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act (Act 70 of 1970). A Phase 1 HIA and Desktop PIA were undertaken and form part of the Environmental Authorisation process under the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) 1998 (Act 107 of 1998) for the proposed establishment of the Umlaas Junction Private Light Industrial Estate. The proposed development triggers Listed Activities in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 2014 (amended 2017) under NEMA for which a Basic Assessment Process is required.