Richard Stuttaford was looking for a suitable site to build a town in South Africa similar to Letchworth in England which had been built based on the Garden City concept of Ebenezer Howard.
The Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918 effected two out of every three residents in Cape Town, which had a population of 199 570. Stuttaford saw the need for better living conditions and believed that the Garden City concept was a partial answer. However not everyone agreed with him. His idea was turned down by the Cape Town Chamber of Commerce. The Administrator of the Cape, Sir Frederick de Waal, considered the project irresponsible.
The Department of Forestry had decided that the Uitvlugt Forestry Station was no longer economically viable, and was in the process of transferring responsibility to the Department of Lands. Stuttaford proposed that 2.3 square kilometres of the Forest and a further 95 morgen formerly part of the forest area be handed over to Garden Cities for the proposed housing development.
Stuttaford put his proposal to the Prime Minister and the proposal was accepted by Parliament in 1919. Among the conditions imposed were that the state could mine gravel, that a fence be erected with a clear 30-foot fire belt and a right of way be allowed for the Forestry Department.
Stuttaford then held a competition for a layout of Pinelands encompassing the principles of a Garden City. This was won by John Perry, an urban planner who had arrived in Cape Town from England in 1905. At the time he worked for James Morris in Cape Town but was able to start his own practice, KMH Architects, after winning the competition. He went on to win many other planning competitions and designed buildings such as Wynberg’s Boy High School and many Standard Bank buildings. KMH is currently recognised as one of the oldest architectural practices in continuous business in the world.
Sir Raymond Unwin and his brother-in-law Mr Parker won a similar planning competition for the first Garden City, Letchworth as consultants. Stuttaford had previously met Unwin and decided to submit Perry’s plans to him for comment. Unwin rejected Parry’s designs. As a result, the UK company of Thompson, Hennel and James was asked to prepare plans for the Uitvlugt development. AJ Thompson was sent to South Africa on a two-year contract to produce layouts which he completed in 1921.
This layout was the first town planning scheme prepared in South Africa and formed the basis for South Africa’s first and subsequent town planning legislation. The success of the development led to the passing of the Cape Ordinance for the Control of Townships in 1927.
The area to be developed was “bounded by the Cape Flats Railway in the west, the Main Railway line in the north and the Mowbray Golf links in the south.” The eastern boundary was not given. Today we would describe this area as bounded by Links Drive, Mead Way, Acacia Way and Broadwalk. The nature of the land was described as sloping toward Mowbray, giving excellent drainage with the topsoil of sand and the subsoil of gravel. 60% of the 3.1 square kilometres of the area was to be developed as residential and the remainder for roads, communal use, public buildings, etc.
Initially three roads were built. Forest Drive, then called Cemetery Road as it led to the Maitland Cemetery, was in reality just a sand track. Gravel mined from Central Square was used to create a hard surface for large and fast vehicles. A second road, Central Avenue was built for cyclists and light vehicles while a third road was for pedestrians only.
The first houses were built in the Meadway area. The starting price was 1 050 pounds for a house consisting of three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. A plot sold for 34 pounds. The plans for plot 21, now 3 Meadway, were passed in September 1921 with building work starting directly afterwards. By February the owner Mr Garth Cox started to move in. While a newspaper report in February refers to occupation in late January, a certificate supplied by Garden Cities indicates the house was first occupied in February 1922.
The township was to be called Midwood but a suggestion by Percy Horne, the secretary to Garden Cities Trust to name it Pinelands, was accepted.
The first houses were built in the Meadway area. The starting price was 1 050 pounds for house consisting of three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and bathroom. A plot sold for 34 pounds. The plans for plot 21, now 3 Meadway, were passed in September 1921 with building work starting directly afterwards. By February the owner Mr Garth Cox started to move in. While a newspaper report in February refers to occupation in late January, a certificate supplied by Garden Cities indicates the house was first occupied in February 1922.
The township was to be called Midwood but a suggestion by Percy Horne, the secretary to Garden Cities Trust to name it Pinelands, was accepted.
