Town planning, in its statutory form, is the process of securing and defending the right to use land for a particular purpose. Glensburg Town Planners is a boutique, research-led practice in Illovo, Sandton, led by SACPLAN-registered professional planners. We prepare, motivate, lodge and argue land development applications across the City of Johannesburg and the wider Gauteng City-Region.
You need a town planner whenever the use you intend is not already permitted by your property’s zoning and title. In our experience, these are the clearest triggers.
If any of these apply, the first step is establishing what your zoning and title actually permit, before you commit to a route.
Most projects need more than one of these. We establish which applications your property actually requires at assessment stage, before anything is lodged.
Land use applications are governed by national legislation, by the by-law of the municipality in which the property falls, and by the land use scheme applying to the erf. These are the instruments we work under.
The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act 16 of 2013. Chapter 2 sets the five development principles binding every municipal decision-maker; Section 35 constitutes the Municipal Planning Tribunal.
Each municipality has its own. Johannesburg operates under the Municipal Planning By-law, 2016 as amended in 2023, which sets procedure, notice periods and the decision-making structure.
Assigns a land use zoning to every Erf and sets the parameters that apply to it: such as permitted land use, coverage, height, building lines and parking.
The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000. A decision on a land use application is administrative action: it must be lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair, and reasons must be given.
Sector-specific statutes apply where relevant. Agricultural land engages the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act 70 of 1970; sectional title schemes engage the Sectional Titles Act 95 of 1986 and the Sectional Titles Schemes Management Act.
Every land use application follows the same five phases. Knowing where you are in that sequence is most of what clients want from us.
| Application | Unopposed | Opposed or referred to Tribunal |
|---|---|---|
| Building line relaxation | 2–4 months | — |
| Consent use | 3–6 months | 6–12 months |
| Rezoning | 6–9 months | 12–18 months or longer |
| Subdivision or consolidation | 6–9 months | 12–18 months |
| Township establishment | 12–18 months plus proclamation | 18–24 months or longer |
A clean rezoning typically runs six to nine months. Opposed matters run twelve to eighteen months or longer, and township establishment twelve to eighteen months plus proclamation. We give you the realistic figure at assessment, not the optimistic one.
In our experience, few applications fail on the merits of the proposal. They fail on things that were knowable before lodgement.
A missing consent, an unresolved title condition or an outdated site plan sends the application back to the start of the queue rather than on to the next desk.
Where the scheme does not permit the proposal, a compliance argument has nowhere to go. The motivation has to engage the development principles directly.
Objections are largely predictable if you know the area. Answering them after the comment period closes is far weaker than addressing them inside the motivation.
Zoning and title are separate instruments. A restrictive condition discovered after lodgement usually means a second application and a restarted clock.
All four are visible at assessment stage. That is why we do the assessment before advising on a route, and why we will occasionally tell a client that the application they came for is not the one they need.
We prepare land use applications across the Gauteng City-Region, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West — in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, Midvaal, Mogale City, Cape Town, eThekwini and Mahikeng. Each municipality’s by-law sets its own procedure, notice periods and decision-making structure.
What property owners and developers ask most often, answered from practice rather than from a template.
Tell us about the property and we’ll advise on the application route.
Not sure which application your property needs? Tell us about the site and we’ll advise on the route, the likely timeline, and what the municipality will want to see. Initial consultations carry no obligation.
35 Fricker Road, Illovo, Sandton · Applications across the Gauteng City-Region