The revised Informal Trading Plan for Ward 49, Athlone CBD will see 72 informal trading opportunities being created along Old Klipfontein Road.
Subcouncil 17 resolved that the City’s Area Economic Development Department within the Urban Management Directorate must develop a new informal trading plan for Athlone CBD, Ward 49 to expand economic opportunities in the area.
The development process included the internal and external stakeholder engagements where interested parties were given an opportunity to provide inputs into the draft revised trading plan. The final revised trading plan was presented at the Subcouncil 17 meeting in November 2020 and approved by Council on 29 April 2021.
‘The previous trading plan was approved in 2009 and over the past 12 years, Athlone trading area has undergone significant changes, which significantly impacted on the socio-economic fabric of the area and the footprint.
‘Informal trading plays a vital role in creating much-needed local employment and economic opportunities. The City is therefore doing all it can to balance the needs of the formal retail sector with the need for economic development as we continue to build a city of opportunity,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.
Once an informal trading plan is approved by Council and implemented, the City monitors the demarcated sites to ensure that traders comply with the City’s by-laws and trade within their permit conditions.
‘The approval of the Informal Trading Plan for Athlone CBD means that informal traders and individual enterprises are able to create vibrant economic opportunities to support the local economy and at the same time, enhance the City’s economic and growth strategies.
‘More importantly, it is vital that the City acknowledges the relevance and contribution of the informal trading sector to the local economy and the vibrancy it brings to the social environment of the area. Informal trading provides an income to those who are unemployed and affords locals with the freedom to support either local or traditional formal sector retail options.
‘An Informal Trading Plan is needed because, strategically, we need to demarcate specific locations for informal trading by considering local conditions and circumstances in the area, while at the same time, we also need to prohibit informal trading in certain locations due to practical considerations on the ground,’ said Alderman Twigg.