{"id":272223,"date":"2025-10-28T13:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T11:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/?p=272223"},"modified":"2025-10-28T13:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T11:32:11","slug":"families-plead-for-otters-creek-junior-schools-survival-amid-zoning-battle-with-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/families-plead-for-otters-creek-junior-schools-survival-amid-zoning-battle-with-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Families plead for Otters Creek Junior School\u2019s survival amid zoning battle with City"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CAPE TOWN-<\/strong>An eight-year-old school in Ottery that has battled to remain operational is facing imminent closure after being handed a letter to \u201ccease operations\u201d from the City of Cape Town.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of the letter, Otters Creek Junior School (OCJS), situated on 11 Serissa Street, is in contravention of the City\u2019s Planning By-Law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"School\"
Otters Creek Junior School (OCJS). Photo: supplied. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to the letter, the property is zoned as \u201cSR1 Single Residential Zone 1\u201d, therefore cannot be used as a school.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter, dated September 9, warned the school to stop operating from its current premises on Tuesday 11 November.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school has three campuses in the Ottery area: a Baby Centre focusing on infants under
two years old, a pre-primary school for ages two to six and a junior school for Grades 1-7.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They support kids with learning disabilities and provide individual attention and teach in small classes.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The imminent closure has left parents, staff and learners in distress as the institution
searched for alternative premises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People’s Post spoke with founder and managing director Yomna Allie to uncover how the
school is managing this crisis.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the very start of the school we applied for compliance. There have been numerous challenges, and every time we tried to mitigate them we just faced more and more. So our school is operating without compliance, but not because we haven\u2019t made every effort to meet
the required criteria for compliance.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allie said she bought the property in 2017 and tried to apply for consent use before opening
the school.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI discovered the City of Cape Town actually had no building plans for that property
on record,\u201d she said, accusing the City of the \u201csetback\u201d.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was then forced to draw as-built plans which delayed my initial application. We restarted the rezoning process in 2021 after an attempt to apply for consent use failed between
2018 and 2020.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rezoning application process was managed by a professional town planner and
the process concluded only this year. Even our appeal failed.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school was asked to do a noise assessment and a traffic assessment, Allie claimed.
The letter the school was served to \u201ccease activities\u201d has been upsetting for parents and
staff, she said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis instruction from the City of Cape Town has caused enormous distress for the parents,
children and staff who earn their living at the school. We decided to look for alternative premises, which we are still currently doing, premises that can fit into our budget and that are easily accessible for parents and suitable for the children.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When People\u2019s Post<\/em> enquired from the City how it was engaging with the school the municipality said it remained committed to ensuring development across the City took place in a lawful, safe and responsible manner.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere challenges arise, particularly in cases involving schools and community institutions, the City seeks to apply the law with fairness,\u201d said Mayco member for spatial planning and the environment Eddie Andrews, \u201cwhile advising affected parties on areas of non-compliance and the steps required to rectify or regularise their applications in line with planning requirements and the municipal planning bylaw (MPBL).\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City said it had empathy for the parents, learners and broader Ferness Estate community regarding the recent notice of closure of the school.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the school has since 2019 been operating illegally from a property that is
zoned as single residential,\u201d Andrews pointed out, \u201cwhich does not permit a place of instruction as a primary land-use right. As part of our commitment to transparent and supportive planning processes officials from the local planning district will be available to engage with the applicant during the pre-application phase, in line with the provisions of the MPBL.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The land-use application will have to comply with the provisions of the MPBL and will be
assessed on its merits, he added.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA public-participation process will also be required to allow surrounding neighbours and
property owners to comment on the application before any decision is made.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) noted that the school is having issues with their municipal zoning.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe school is an independent school, and the WCED is not closing it,\u201d said school spokesperson Kerry Mauchline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQueries would need to be directed to the independent school.\u201d Andrews said the City remains sensitive to the impact such matters have on families and communities.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur approach is to guide and support applicants through the proper legal channels so
community-serving facilities can continue their work in a way that is lawful, safe and beneficial
to all residents,\u201d he said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school is still engaging with the City to submit a new application of consent use so they
have another chance to apply, Allie added.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHopefully they can assist us to overcome the technical challenges we faced with our first
application,\u201d she said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerned parent, Nazreen Sonday said her 10-year old son is one of the special needs
learners at the school.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe has been attending OCJS since Grade R. We struggled to find a suitable school for him
and were fortunate Allie opened her doors for us. Our boy has been thriving at the school and
they have been incredibly accommodating of his needs,\u201d she said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fellow parent, Waybah Phillips said her children are neurodiverse and require small classes
with lots of individual attention.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCurrently the government special needs schools do not cater enough for higher functioning special needs. For government special needs schools my kids have been on the waiting
list for the last five years. Where do we take our kids if Otters closes? We are appealing to the
City. Help us keep the school open.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An eight-year-old school in Ottery that has battled to remain operational is facing imminent closure after being handed a letter to \u201ccease operations\u201d from the City of Cape 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plead for Otters Creek Junior School\u2019s survival amid zoning battle with City | People's Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/families-plead-for-otters-creek-junior-schools-survival-amid-zoning-battle-with-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Families plead for Otters Creek Junior School\u2019s survival amid zoning battle with City\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An eight-year-old school in Ottery that has battled to remain operational is facing imminent closure after being handed a letter to \u201ccease operations\u201d from the City of Cape Town.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/families-plead-for-otters-creek-junior-schools-survival-amid-zoning-battle-with-city\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"People's Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeoplesPostNewsPaper\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-28T11:31:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-28T11:32:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/peoplespost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/58e37f23-7293-4f89-8d71-80b0be3d7e4d.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"382\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Keanan Harmse\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@thepeoplespost\" \/>\n<meta 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