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Today there is a @CapeTimes story about Mouquet Farm in Retreat. There were plans for the 2,7ha site to be developed into social housing but now the plans have come to a halt. THREAD 
I believe progress on this site may be just one victim of this season's political infighting within the @Our_DA the WC... and there are at least 4 other pieces of land suffering the same fate
In 2015 the City wanted to strip Mouquet Farm for cash. By 2017 the politics around urban land appeared to have changed, reflecting the national mood regarding land and debates around #EWC plus the work of @NdifunaUkwazi @ReclaimCT
By 2017 the City joined the @c40cities @ReinventCities competition. Here 19 cities around the world picked vacant and underutilized public land and ran a competition for how these could be used for sustainable growth bit.ly/2J4wR2N
The City chose 4 great sites all of which prioritised housing. Ottery site (48ha), Mouquet Farm (2.4 ha Ottery), Bishop Lavis Town Center (1.4 ha), Civic Center Car Park (1 ha CBD). Click the map for details bit.ly/2B8jZ6E
The competition has 2 phases. Bids which it make it past 1st phase get shortlisted to proceed to the final phase of the Reinventing Cities competition. The competition is in the 2nd phase - yet there isn’t a single proposal for Cape Town. bit.ly/2S237HO
@CityofCT had an opportunity to use international platform to receive design work from the private sector (for free) as well as assistance from the international community (including potential funding) on how best to unlock these pieces of public land. But...
Political infighting within the Western Cape @our_DA appears to have destroyed this opportunity.Had these sites received bids the City could have saved 1-2 years worth of work - because otherwise they have to get budget allocated for design, put tenders out etc.
Also lost the opportunity to potentially receive multiple proposals about what to do with a piece of land and then go with the best one.
Instead without political support from a unified @Our_DA hardly anyone has even heard of the competition… and the land put on the table for land reform will be quietly taken off the table unless someone makes a noise about it.
So @MarvinCharles17 the story is about more than Mouquet Farm alone. It's about City wasting opportunities and time because of political infighting… in the face of a housing crisis
Correction the story was in today's @TheCapeArgus
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