In plain English
Public open space is often municipal land. Changing its use can involve closure of the public place and the municipality's own land-disposal procedures, in addition to rezoning.
Local schemes may use several designations for this family, or none at all. Numbers such as density, height or coverage are set locally and are only shown on local pages where they have been verified.
Questions owners often ask
- Can I buy the open space next to my property?
- Can open space be developed?
Each of these depends on your specific property. The checks below are what a planner looks at before giving an answer.
What to check
- The property's zoning as recorded by the municipality (zoning certificate or official map)
- The exact wording of the applicable land-use scheme for that zone
- Title deed conditions, which can be stricter than the zoning
- Overlay zones, heritage or environmental controls and servitudes
- Any previous approvals and conditions attached to the property
- Who owns the land and whether it is a public place
Scheme provisions vs property-specific restrictions
The scheme sets the general rules for the zone. Your property may also carry conditions from earlier approvals, overlay controls, servitudes and title-deed restrictions. All of them apply together.
Possible application routes
Local guides
- alice
- apel
- ashton
- balfour
- barkly west
- beaufort west
- bela bela
- belfast
- bergville
- bethlehem
- bizana
- bloemfontein
- boshof
- bothaville
- bredasdorp
- brits
- bultfontein
- burgersdorp
- bushbuckridge
- cala
- caledon
- calvinia
- camperdown
- cape town
- carletonville
- carnarvon
- carolina
- ceres
- christiana
- chuniespoort
- clanwilliam
- cofimvaba
- colesberg
- cradock
- creighton
- dani lskuil
- dannhauser
- de aar
- delareyville
- delmas
- dendron
- douglas
- dundee
- durban
- dutywa
- east london
- ekurhuleni
- emalahleni
- empumalanga
- ermelo
- eshowe
- estcourt
- ficksburg
- flagstaff
- frankfort
- ganyesa
- garies
- gcuwa
- george
- giyani