IN an effort to restore Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s city centre, the municipality has resolved to resume the major project of identifying and demolishing problem buildings contributing to urban decay and the degeneration of Central Business Districts.
This comes after executive mayor, Retief Odendaal, recently held a meeting with the Eastern Cape Provincial Heritage Resources Agency (ECPHRA) to discuss, among other issues, the state of buildings classified to fall within the heritage threshold of 60 years.
The mayor and the metro’s Human Settlements officials were joined by a team from by ECPHRA, led by chairperson, Dumisani Sibayi.
“The current state of these buildings is contributing to urban decay and degeneration of our city centre, and is not in line with our urban regeneration initiatives. It has been agreed that the municipality must lead the process of listing and identifying all the dilapidated buildings that are classified as problem buildings in the Problem Building Bylaw developed by the municipality,” said Odendaal.
Once identified, the buildings will be demolished and property owners will be held liable for all the associated costs.
“We are also of the view that there must be platforms held monthly to deal with all administrative processes. Nelson Mandela Bay has some of the oldest buildings in South Africa. It is important that the restoration of heritage resources is done without contributing to the current urban challenges, to be sustainable for the growth of local economic development and be investment friendly,” he added.
ECPHRA’s Sibayi said that they have agreed to work very closely together and share information.
“We will provide professional guidance on how to manage the problem buildings after the municipality has provided us with the list of the buildings. Most of these buildings are old, beyond 60 years. Any building older than 60 years is protected by the National Heritage Resources Act and whoever wants to demolish the building must apply through ECPHRA,” added Sibayi.
“Some of these buildings are a danger for the metro because their owners are not looking after them.”
– ISSUED BY THE NELSON MANDELA BAY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE
