Have your say on city planning

By Ben Pettee

Are you aware that the City of Cape Town has released a document, which gives detailed descriptions of their plans to develop Cape Town within the next 5-10 years?

This document is called the municipal spatial development framework (MSDF), which has the power to completely alter Observatory as we know it, for better or for worse. It is extremely important to understand that this document is open for public review and comment, due by September 26th.

The city has declared they will take public comments under serious consideration.

Therefore, it is crucial all citizens take this opportunity to shape the collective future. If a decision made by the city hurts one person, it hurts all of us. This document is a whopping 230 pages.

However, there is an online summary which gives details on how the MSDF affects Observatory, which you can find on the Two Rivers Urban Park Association Facebook page. After looking over the summary, please email your comments to Future.CapeTown@capetown.gov.za.

The full document can be found by searching "msdf" on the city of Cape Town website.

A participatory Democracy cannot function without participation. It is up to us as Citizens to take every opportunity we can to create a more positive, all inclusive future.

As Margaret Mead once said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."