Time Warp Estate Battles To Hold Clock Back

Fierce rules, tough fines and a ferocious code of conduct keep the residents of this Gauteng paradise in order, while their tranquil way of life is under threat from all sides. Jack Lundin dropped in

- Jack Lundin

JOBURG’S BEST-KEPT SECRET LIES WITH only the N3 and the teeming township of Alexandra separating it from the hustle and bustle of Sandton City. Yet in the rarified time warp that is the “virtually crime free” Thornhill Estate the clock is kept firmly back: old tin-roofed houses set solidly on enormous tree-laden stands, numerous parks and public gardens, a stream and ponds with tadpoles and frogs, lakes and 1,600 open hectares along the boundary.

But from outside the wire, this bygone way of life is under threat. Nevada Group razed 290 pine trees from the wood around the Chapel of St Francis in the Wood to make way for its Flamingo Shopping Centre; there’s Balwin’s Eco Estate with its hundreds of upmarket apartments; property mogul Irene Tsai’s M&T Development has secret plans to pepper those 1,600 empty hectares with 30,000 high density homes; development has decimated the 900ha Modderfontein nature reserve, with its 280 species of birdlife, to just 230ha.

For some of the 513 households on beleaguered Thornhill Estate it’s all doom and gloom; for others the exciting march of progress. Either way, all the fuss and development outside has made it boom time in the old estate. Most of the 123-year-old houses have been revamped, in some cases razed and replaced – like the ponderous old 1940s arrival, a semi that’s going for an unbelievable R8.5m.

Thornhill stands are more than generous – 929m2, 1,335m2, 1,641m2 are just some. And, you immediately notice, everything is immaculate – no unsightly washing hanging out to dry; no barking dogs or noisy kids; no pellet guns or quad bikes.

That’s because it’s not allowed. There are a lot of Rules. You’ve got to behave yourself, or the homeowners’ trustees will be on to you.