This suburb is the greater Westville area offers good value family homes close to excellent schools and the university.
Considered part of the greater Westville area, essentially Westville North, Atholl Heights is tucked between Pinetown and Westville, and bordered by Cowies Hill/Cowies Hill Park, Dawncrest, Chiltern Hills and Reservoir Hills.
Atholl Heights is increasingly popular with homeowners who are moving up the property ladder and looking for an a¬ffordable family-oriented and culturally diverse community. Its other great appeal is its close proximity to freeways leading to all directions, most easily accessed from Durban to Pinetown via the M19 freeway.
For those who work at Springfield Park, Umgeni Business Park, Sea Cow Lake, North Coast Road and the Nandi Drive precincts, Atholl Heights is perfectly located; likewise for the broader Pinetown region. All North Coast and South Coast locations can be easily accessed via the N3.
When you get o¬ the M19, you can turn right over the freeway to Atholl Heights into the main Dunkeld Road, or left along Rodger Sishi Road, which winds through Westville North. For your retail needs, it’s a quick ride to the Westville North shopping centre, or further, to the ever-growing Westville Mall or Westwood Mall off¬ King Cetshwayo Highway. For greater variety, residents head to the The Pavilion, KwaZulu-Natal’s second-largest shopping mall, for movies, restaurants and other entertainment.
Schools in Westville are among the best in the province. Many Atholl Heights homes are within the Westville Boys and Westville Girls high school zoning belts – public schools with excellent reputations.
For younger children, there are also excellent primary schools nearby. For tertiary education, the Westville campus of Varsity College is easily accessible, as is the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville campus, which also has a Hindu temple and Islamic place of worship. Members of the Muslim community are drawn to Atholl Heights because it contains a Musallah.
The property landscape in Atholl Heights consists largely of freestanding houses, many in excess of 1,200m2, priced between R1,5m and R2m – it’s possible to find a four-bedroom house with pool and double garage in this price band. Being elevated above Durban, some houses have views towards the city. Sectional title complexes aren’t common, and prices average in the region of R10,000/m2.
Westville has always had a range of sports clubs and activities for young and old alike, and neighbouring Chiltern Park Sport Club o¬ffers everything from tennis and soccer, to bowls and snooker; Westville Old Boys Sports Club o¬ffers soccer, rugby, hockey and baseball. Westville Athletics Club has been represented in all the major running races countrywide since 1974, and the clubhouse at its headquarters in 123 Maryvale Road address is a hive of activity.
For families wanting to experience the great outdoors, Westville has the well-managed Palmiet Nature Reserve with its 15km of guided and self-guided trails, sunset and night trails, and braai and picnic sites.
Jusuf Ali lives alongside his brother in Atholl Heights, and the two families visit Palmiet once a month. “We believe that being in nature is linked to health and well-being, and we want our children to enjoy this beautiful reserve and benefit from it,” says Jusuf.
The schooling in Atholl Heights is excellent, from primary to tertiary, so we don’t ever need to move from here.
-Shariffa Khan, resident.
Top schools:
- Star College: primary and high school for boys and girls
- Atholl Heights Primary School
- Kainon
- Avon Primary School
- Pitlochry Primary School
- Deutsche School
Hospitals and medical facilities nearby:
- Life Westville Hospital
- The Crompton Hospital
- Prime Cure, Pinetown
- Ethekwini Hospital and Heart Centre
Transport plus:
- Atholl Heights borders the M19, a dual carriageway which extends from Umgeni Road in Durban, to Pinetown.
- At the Umgeni Road end, the massive new intersection provides seamless access north and south on the N2.
This article originally appeared in Neighbourhood, Sunday Times.
