11                                                            Northern Hillside Communities

(Cocorite/ Upper Bournes/ Road/ Dundonald Hill/ Dibe/ Maraval Valley / St. Anns/ Cascade

11.1                             Characteristics and Issues

11.1.1                             Area and Characteristics

The northern hillsides contain some 16 settlements.  Nine of these are located within the Maraval Watershed and the remaining seven are located within the St Ann’s Watershed. These settlements, which are geographically located on the valley floors and slopes of the many spurs of the Northern Range, are predominantly residential in character and provide the only real opportunity (albeit limited) for physical expansion of parts of the city.

However, they are located administratively within the jurisdiction of one of three Local Governing Authorities with different historical antecedents and development capabilities.

The physical boundaries of most of these settlements are not well-defined.  Those in the Maraval Valley are called Environmental Areas by the Town and Country Planning Division in its document, Planning for Development; Maraval Valley: A Strategy For Development. T&C.P.D.; 1974. Here, the eastern and western boundaries approximate the 100 m (300 feet) contour for the settlements of lower Maraval while further up the valley, other natural and cultural features are used. For purposes of this exercise, only the settlements of Boissiere Nos.1 and 2, Bergerac, Fairways and Hillsborough in the Maraval Valley are considered part of Greater Port of Spain.

Some of these settlements exhibit similar characteristics while others differ in some significant ways. The two groups of settlements are described separately and trends and issues are identified for each group: proposals for actions and time frame for implementation are combined for the two groups.

The North West Settlements

The settlements of North-west Port of Spain are Hillsborough, Fairways, Boissiere Village No.1 and 2, Bergerac/Champ Elysees, Dibe, Belle Vue, Dundonald Hill, Upper Bournes Road and Cocorite, all of which are contained in the middle to lower reaches of the Maraval watershed and exhibit a range of urban and rural characteristics.  Some are identified in Table 11.1 below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table No. 11.1   Selected Characteristics by Settlements

Area

Type

Income level

Piped water

Roads

Electricity

Drainage

Sewerage

Hills-borough

Urban residential with dominant single family on steep sloping lands

High to middle

Available

Good to fair

Available

Good to fair

Connected to Main

Fairways

Urban residential with dominant single family on flat to gently sloping land

High to middle

Available

Good

Available

Good

Connected to Main

Andalusia

Urban residential with dominant single family on flat to sloping land

High to middle

Available

Good

Available

Good

Soakaway

 

 

 

 

Area

Type

Income level

Piped water

Roads

Electricity

Drainage

Sewerage

Boissiere Nos.1and 2 showed decrease of 24% in population

between 1980 and 1990

Urban with commercial service center and residential area on flat land

High to low with 616 households in 1990

Available

Good

Available

Good to Fair

Connected to Main

Bergerac /Champ Elysees / Brieves  showed a decrease of 26.5% in population between 1980 and 1990

Urban residential with dominant single family houses on flat to gently sloping lands

High to middle with 197 households in1990

Available

Good

Available

Good

Connected to Main

Dibe showed a decrease of 6.4% in population between 1980 and1990

Urban to rural with squatting and agriculture on slopes up to 300 feet

Low to depressed with 443 households in 1990

Not available in several areas

Fair to poor

Available

Fair to poor

Soak away & pit latrine

Area

Type

Income level

Piped water

Roads

Electricity

Drainage

Sewerage

Belle Vue showed a decrease of 13.4% in   population between 1980 and 1990

Urban to rural residential with squatting and agriculture beyond the 500 foot contour line on hillsides

Low to depressed with 358 households in 1990

Not available in several areas

Fair to poor

Available

Fair to poor

Soak away & pit latrine

Dundonald Hill showed a 4.7% decrease in population between 1980 and 1990

Urban with squatting on slopes up to 500 feet above sea level

Middle to depressed with 465 households in1990

Not available in several areas

Fair to poor

Available

Fair to poor

Soak away & pit latrine

 

 

 

 

 

Area

Type

Income level

Piped water

Roads

Electricity

Drainage

Sewerage

Upper Bournes Road showed an increase in population of 9.7% between 1980 and1990

Dominant residential in urban to rural area with squatting above the 500 foot contour line.

Low to depressed with 443 households in1990

Not available in several areas

Fair to poor

Available

Fair to poor

Soak away & pit latrine

Cocorite including Waterhole and Fort George showed a decrease of 3.2% in population between 1980 and 1990

Urban to rural with mix of residential and commercial on flat lands and residential/ squatting on hillside up to 500 feet above sea level.

Middle to depressed with 1,530 households in 1990

Not available in several areas

Fair to poor

Available

Fair to poor

Connected to Main, soak away & pit latrine

 

Source: National Parks and Watershed Management Project; Watershed Areas—Development of Watershed Management Plans and Related Studies. Volume 2 of 6: Maraval Watershed Plan & Environmental Impact Statement. Kairi Consultant Ltd., 1998 and 1990 Census of Population.

The North East Settlements

Northeast Greater Port of Spain contains a large number of settlements.  However for this exercise, the ones to which attention will be given are Lady Chancellor, St Anns, Cascade, Mt Hololo, Casablanca and Ariapita.  These are described in Table 11.2 below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 11.2   Selected Characteristics by Settlements

Settlement

Type

Income level

Piped water

Roads

Electricity

Drainage

Sewerage

Lady Chancellor together with St Ann’s showed an increase in    population between 1980 and 1990

Urban with dominant single family detached residence on hillside