South African black-owned consulting engineering firm, GIBB, announced the appointment of Charlotte van der Merwe as Head of the firm’s urban and rural planning division. Together with the engineering component of the firm’s Integrated Infrastructure Sector, the planning unit provides a totally integrated planning and engineering service to its clients with the aim of ensuring sustainable infrastructure development. “I am excited to be working with a team of such talented professionals at GIBB especially as we share a common ethos and commitment to human development and the betterment of society,” said van der Merwe.

According to Sean Molloy, GIBB General Manager: Integrated Infrastructure, the firm is delighted to welcome her as part of the growing and experienced sector. “With over 25 years of experience as a Professional Planner, Charlotte brings a wealth of knowledge to the position having extensive capabilities in the fields of strategic planning, planning and establishment of new development areas, land use management and local economic development. We are both fortunate and delighted that Charlotte made GIBB her employer of choice”.

Extensive experience

During her extensive career, van der Merwe has been responsible for large-scale spatial development framework plans for land development areas, township establishment, rezoning (including significant shopping centres), special consent, subdivision, consolidation and sectional title schemes. She has also gained experience in structure plans, township regeneration plans, town planning schemes and land use management schemes, as well as the compilation of several policy documents and development plans for use by private developers, municipal officials and councillors. Adding to her extensive experience, van der Merwe also acted as Project Leader for various spatial framework plans for Anglo Platinum, which included viability studies for the development for new residential townships in the Limpopo Province. As a consultant to the Department of Public Works, she also worked on the Transfer of Provincial Properties to Municipalities Project, Vesting of Provincial Properties Project, as well as the Disposal of Redundant Provincial Properties Project in the capacity of Project Manager and Secretary of the Provincial State Land Disposal Committee.

While consulting to the Development Bank of SA, she provided professional planning services to nine municipalities in North West, Mpumalanga and Free State provinces.

An integrated approach

“The urban and rural planning division provides complete solutions to both public and private clients, with access to specialists in the fields of water and sanitation engineering, stormwater management, electrification, waste disposal and management, project and asset management and agriculture engineering. This resource is available from a single source which when coupled with urban and rural planning, provides clients with a fully integrated solution and a single point of responsibility,” explained van der Merwe.

“I am also encouraged by the firm’s commitment to training and capacity building as it is also a passion of mine and will support my long involvement in skills transfer programmes especially where skills and knowledge are lacking in a new project for example.” She has been active in providing capacity building to provincial government officials since 2000 and each year, van der Merwe takes in students for their practical training or for holiday work.