Name: 7th Avenue
Type: Pedestrianisation
Status: Proposed
Location: Melville
Completion Date: ?

I think that this plan is long overdue, and I really hope that it goes through, because I think it'll make Melville is an even more awesumness place than it currently is.

So make this the thread for posting any news/photos about Melville and in particular 7th Avenue.

Plans for pedestrian zone in Melville
12 Aug 2007 - Inet Bridge -
By Gabisile Ndebele

Melville may be getting a pedestrians-only zone after residents approved a plan to open trendy 7th Street to foot traffic only.

Cars on the congested street lined with bars and restaurants may give way to tables and revellers with parking provided in nearby Faan Smit Park.

Melville ward councillor Sharon Sabbagh said the plan had been well received by residents and business owners at a meeting held late last month.

"This is still early days and the meeting was mainly to get the views of residents and business owners," Sabbagh said.

Melville Grill owner Samson Mulugeta said he wished the walkway plan had been approved 10 years ago .

"The plan will capitalise on the reputation of Melville as a village that is different," Mulugeta said.

A portion of Faan Smit Park, which has fallen into disuse , will be used for parking.

City of Joburg Property Company marketing manager Nisha Moodley said the council was investigating all options for the park .

"In terms of the current lease, there is a portion of the property that will be used for a parking facility. There will also be a supervised play area, an artist market and other facilities," she said.

http://img.photojerk.com/joburg/DSCF4250.JPG

A meeting was held about a week after this was posted and these project won the heart of the community.

Looks like stuff is happening!!

The taming of 7th Street
04 Nov 2007 - Inet Bridge -

Intro
Huge face-lift planned for Melville’s hub

By Isaac Mahlangu

Melville’s embattled residents and business owners have unveiled far-reaching plans to rescue the Joburg suburb from crime and grime.

Among the ideas in a proposal they plan to present to the Joburg council in January are an outdoor theatre at the Faan Smit Park in 4th Avenue and a “walk of fame” — which will honour famous people who have lived in the suburb — on 4th and 5th avenues.

The plan is primarily about turning 7th Street — the popular hang-out with restaurants, bars and coffee shops that inspired the SABC2 soapie 7de Laan — into a pedestrian-only street between 1st and 5th avenues.

The redevelopment plan, which was unveiled for the first time at a meeting on Monday at the Melville Junction Church, also proposes that 4th and 5th avenues be closed off to vehicles and possibly turned completely into pedestrian-only areas.

It has been suggested that vehicle access to 7th Street be restricted to weekdays from 8am to 5pm and on weekends from 8am to 2pm, but this is subject to a traffic impact plan expected to cost about R50 000.

Some side streets off 7th Street could become one- way streets, and an underground parking facility is planned at the Faan Smit Park on 4th Avenue.

In recent years Melville has become more dangerous , with more crimes and drunken revellers partying in the streets till the early hours of the morning.

Richard Tait, chairman of the Melville Residents Association, said: “The main problem is that there are too many establishments with liquor licences (which tend to operate mainly at night) and not enough day traders.”

He said bringing back more day traders would attract “a better quality clientele during the day — more along the lines of Parkhurst or the old Melville.”

Johann Strauss, who owns The Space guesthouse and Studio Gesso in 7th Street, said: “ The mix is not right anymore. We have too many bars and too many clubs.”

Nuno de Gouveia, a businessman and restaurateur who has been active in the Melville area since the mid- 1990s, said : “We have the type of guys who come here and have a plate of chips and five beers, then cause chaos.”

He said the suburb needed a face-lift to begin competing with Sandton and Melrose Arch.

“When I had my first restaurant in the area in 1994 , we were averaging R80 per person, but now we are averaging R45 per person. ”

Joburg spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said that, while the city “does not encourage residents to develop their own precinct plans ... residents are not prohibited from developing these plans” if they fitted in with the city’s development framework.

Sunday Times

When I was in Melville during december, there was a meeting invite for communities in that area. I hope we gonna get feedback soon from JDA and other concerned parties about this.

Anyone with updates on this?

The long forgotten, was the conclusion reached?

This is exactly what 7th Avenue needs - and a GOOD scrub ! Hard to believe that I met the love of my life there 8 years ago (21 July) :) Does anybody know whether or not "Question Mark" is still there ?

Bold plans to put new face on Melville
08 Sep 2008 - Inet Bridge -

Intro
Questions remain whether suburb's fresh look is the answer to Jo'burg landmarks problems.

Michael Bleby

Writer at Large

Melville is in for a facelift. The suburb variously described as “the closest thing Johannesburg has to Cape Town” and “Jo’burg’s bohemia” badly needs it. Melville’s unique character — since Hillbrow became more dangerous than fun — as a place to hang out in venues that spill onto the street is under threat.

Increasing crime, open drug dealing and a loss of decent restaurants all formed the preview to a slide down the Hillbrow path. The strip that was the inspiration for SABC2’s 7de Laan TV series risked becoming more Gotham City than the mythical and cutesy Hillside.

Under a plan outlined last week by members of the Melville Residents’ Association, however, that will be reversed.

Traffic will be curtailed on the central strip of Seventh Street when the footpaths are widened and it becomes a one way street. Lighting, benches and an outdoor art gallery are planned. And come evenings, the street will be closed to cars altogether, to give pedestrians more room to move.

The derelict area west of Seventh Street known as Faan Smit Park and best known for its dysfunctional tennis courts will be developed. An underground parkade for 300 cars will be built, and a ring of residential and commercial developments placed on top of a redesigned park.

What gives this story national, rather than local significance, is the tale it tells of bringing life back to community areas in a country where they are largely shunned in favour of private spaces. Melville, beloved of local students, creative types and even journalists, has a level of activity and social mixing that is worth preserving.

“It’s a model of more village style of living that is possible in our climate and desirable,” says Conway Falconer, a resident and owner of the Soulsa restaurant on Seventh Street.

“It is also one of the most integrated areas in the country. It’s important to protect that.”

Pretoria-based Atterbury Property Developments, the company building the R25bn Waterfall City development near Midrand, will build the new residential and commercial complex on Faan Smit Park and it will bear the R5m cost of paving Seventh Street.

There is a lot to reverse.

“It used to be a trendy, vibey place where people used to come with their children and go home and the night crowd would come in about 10pm. Now the night crowd comes in a lot earlier. It’s easy to buy drugs in the street,” says local councillor Sharon Sabbagh.

Sabbagh, who patrols the streets on weekend nights with residents, says the problems are compounded by drug dealers who pay off police, car guards who act as tip-offs for car-theft syndicates and bar owners who don’t obey licensing laws, but play music too loudly and stay open longer than they should.

“While I think their proposal is a good proposal, what we need to do is address the irregularities that are there at the moment in terms of the clubs. They need to respect the laws and bylaws,” she says.

The strategy is to make Melville a more up-market destination. The area will be maintained under a privately funded Community Improvement District scheme, the same scheme used in Sandton and Rosebank.

The new development in Faan Smit Park will encourage landlords in Seventh Street to upgrade their own premises, says Heidi Holland, an author and owner of one of Melville’s 40-odd guesthouses. The clientele will change as a result.

“I have always believed that the key to the upliftment of Melville lay not in moaning, praying or yelling for the police, but in raising the price of beer. Once everything else starts going up, so will the cost of drinking on Seventh Street.”

Atterbury director Coenie Bezuidenhout says that if City of Johannesburg approval is given within the next six months for the development plans, the upgrade will be completed in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, when thousands of foreigners are expected to visit the city.

Holland says the city council is behind the plan.

“The council was very keen to have Melville, which is known internationally, in shape for 2010,” she says.

Johannesburg city spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said the developers would have to complete a traffic impact assessment, which could take as little as four to six weeks and a rezoning exercise, before any work could begin. While rezoning can “drag a bit” as it usually required public participation, if there were no objections it could happen in as short a time as three months, Modingoane said.

The development will not bring more food and drink outlets into the area, apart from one family restaurant, to limit the number of alcohol outlets. The aim is to bring back retail stores, which will ensure local residents use the area more.

“With any new development you attract new tenants,” Bezuidenhout says. “Our focus would be to have an anchor like Woolworths, then concentrate on fashion.”

What is unclear is how far the upgrade will go towards resolving the problems of residents in the area. One consequence of the area’s decline has been that restaurants have moved out, to be replaced by bars. When the bars close at 2am, people carry on partying in the streets, many buoyed by alcohol sold out of car boots.

Whether moving more cars into underground parkades will keep the streets quieter or simply allow more people to drive in is unclear.

“We still have to look at the best way to deal with traffic,” says architect Jeremy Rose, who drew up the plans for the upgrade. “That’s part of the design process.”

Source: Business Day

Oi. It's just gone a year since I posted the first article! Let's hope that by September 2009 something is actually done!
I'll see if I can get the plans for the area.

^^ please do get them Tom.

Either something has to be done, or they must burn the place down.

Melville is a SHITHOLE.

^^ I must say that I love it there.

They will start with work soon...

I must say that I love it there.


Me too! It's definitively Joburg.

I guess that no approval took place\, I would have loved to see this project going through.

Any news for this one? Better start soon if they want it ready for the World Cup.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/xavixav_bucket/melville_top.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff301/xavixav_bucket/melville1.jpg

Plans made to improve Melville
Written by Makoena Pabale
Thursday, 16 July 2009

Make-over in Melville

Melville is traditionally one of Johannesburg's entertainment hotspots. Now plans are being made to boost its offerings.

THE dilapidated Frans Smit Park in Melville is scheduled for a make over that will turn it into a vibrant multi-use facility.
Planned developments in Frans Smit Park
Planned developments in Melville

Once finished, it will consist of shops and offices, with parking. This is according to Paul Spencer, a member of the Melville development steering committee.
"The current vacant Erf 973 [Frans Smit Park] has been standing vacant for years," Spencer said. "It was previously a park but lost its status as a park about eight years ago."

It had not only become an eyesore in the heart of Melville but also a place that criminals had taken over. "The development of the erf is seen as rejuvenating the old village of Melville as well as helping to address the criminal aspects associated with the vacant land."

Construction is expected to start during the last quarter of this year.

"A lease has been signed between Atterbury [the developer] and the JPC [the Johannesburg Property Company] which is dependent on the town planning issues being resolved by September," Spencer explained. "Currently, the application to rezone the erf is with town planning and is, as far as I am aware, on track."

Seventh Street
Seventh Street, which is adjacent to Frans Smit Park, is also scheduled for a transformation. Upgrades on this street will mainly consist of resurfacing existing roads and pavements. The parking bays along the street will be removed, giving space to pedestrians.

"The idea is to make Seventh Street far more pedestrian-friendly with cars being the guests in a human space," explained Spencer. "The parking bays will then be provided in the new development."

Members of the Melville community do not want the improvements to the street to be once-off; they are investigating adding art walls, fountains and play areas in the future.

"These projects will be addressed individually and funds will have to be raised by the community depending on the requirements," Spencer explained.

The two upgrades are the major projects in Melville, but other ventures are also on the go to ensure the safety of the suburb. One such is the setting up of a city improvement district on Seventh Street. It will oversee the maintenance of the new infrastructure.

Another safety measure is the development of a partnership between the Crime Sector Forum and the Brixton Police. The forum assists with regular patrols, office work and answering phones.

Spencer said the reasoning behind the drive to revive Melville was to send a message to the public that "we are proud of our suburb and will not allow it to become run down or dilapidated".

He hoped the developments would be finished by 2010 - in time for the visitors for the football World Cup - because Melville was traditionally a Joburg entertainment hotspot.

"It will be a great place for local and international visitors to go during the World Cup. I am sure that we will have many visitors in the area over the tournament and be able to entertain [them] in a unique street setting."