Gillitts at a glance
Gillitts is a small residential suburb located about 35 km inland from Durban's city centre at an elevation of 1 800 feet above sea level. Gillitts originated as an extensive farm that extended over the whole of the Upper Highway area, but over time, the farm was sold off and today only the 100-year-old farmhouse remains.
Although Durban is semi-tropical and very humid, Gillitts is above the humidity and is not humid, except when it is in the clouds, which generally occurs in summer.
It is positioned near the burgeoning Hillcrest and Kloof and the whole area is known as the Upper Highway Area as the M13 highway intersects it.
The area of Gillitts extends along either side of the M13 highway which stretches from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. The M13 replaced the Old Main Road between the two cities, and a section of Old Main Road is now the major road through the south side of Gillitts. On the northern side of the M13, known as Gillitts Park, the old train line from Durban to Pietermaritzburg winds through the residential areas. This train line is no longer in regular use, and is only used by the Umgeni Steam Railway, who runs a tourist service of carriages through from Kloof Train Station to Cato Ridge on the last Sunday of every month. This train is pulled by 'Maureen', a restored Class 3BR No. 1486 steam engine built in 1912 and the sound of the train whistle echoing through the neighbourhood on a Sunday morning is a reminder of a quieter time of life. The Gillitts Train Station on the line in the middle of Gillitts is no longer operational, but is a beautiful example of 1900-era architecture.
The Gillitts Conservancy is a very active organisation who manages the Iphithi Nature Reserve in the middle of northern Gillitts. Situated in a valley between two roads, the nature reserve was a stand of invader species Blue Gum trees for 50 years until 2001. The residents bordering the valley organised a committee and contracted a logger to fell the Blue Gums. As the wood was valuable as timber, the committee was paid a lump sum which it used to fund the nature reserve, fence off the additional entrances and pay for the laying of paths, building of viewing decks and planting of indigenous species. Today the Iphithi Nature Reserve is a 15-hectare stand of indigenous forest, wetland and grasslands and home to many species of birds, small mammals and even a dam has been built which is populated with fish. The walks and park benches are popular with the residents and the park is quite heavily used on weekends.
Gillitts still houses hundreds of birds and indigenous wildlife including small buck, duiker, Iphithi and porcupine.
Comprising the northern half of the suburb of Gillitts, Gillitts Park is a green belt residential area with almost no commercial development and no industrial development. In its entirety, Gillitts Park consists of about 900 homes in freehold, residential sites with a minimum plot size of 2,000 m2.
There are also many cluster developments scattered through the neighbourhood, the most prominent being Augusta Golf Estate. Commercial development is limited to home-offices and small, single-storey office buildings.
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