Westridge residents have been protesting daily outside a construction site in Dagbreek Avenue.
They claim that the sale of the erf, where 12 residential units are being built, did not undergo a proper public participation process and that the bus stop opposite the site will be moved to accommodate the construction.
However, the City says that the proper channels were followed and that “preliminary assessments” indicate that the bus stop will not be moved.
Documents and comment provided to TygerBurger are ambiguous and do not match up to statements made by councillors.
Charmaine Ross of Westridge was among the group of residents protesting in Dagbreek every day for the last few months since the construction on erf 555 began.
She said that according to the former ward councillor for the area, deputy mayor Eddie Andrews, the City agreed to sell the land in 2019.
“They said there was a meeting, but it was covid,” she said.
Ross says that when residents questioned when and how the public participation was done, they were told that “residents weren’t interested in the meeting”.
“Everything was done in the wrong manner,” Ross said. “There was no proper public participation.”
She said that residents had applied to have a museum and heritage park on the ground and in the public hall opposite it but instead the land was sold for development.
Residents, she said, had also been told that the bus stop would need to be moved to accommodate the development, but when they tried to meet with the current ward councillor, Ashley Potts, they were turned away from his office.
“We get no further with them,” she said.
Meeting in lockdown
Andrews disputes this. In a video which he posted on social media, he says that there was a public meeting about the erf in 2019, “during covid”.
“It was convened right here, at Dagbreek community hall,” Andrews said in a voiceover superimposed over images of a public meeting and him posing in front of an empty hall while wearing a mask.
Andrews says that the outcome of that meeting resulted in the number of units on the site being reduced from 18 to 12.
According to an emailed response, however, Andrews said the public participation, which resulted in the reduction, happened in August 2020, when lockdown level 2 restrictions would have been in place.
Andrews said: “An application for the rezoning of Erf 555 from limited use zone to single residential zone 1 (SR1), and subsequent subdivision into 18 portions, was submitted to the City on 19 June 2020.
“On 27 and 28 August 2020 the application was advertised in the media, to the ward councillor and community organisations for public comment. Notices were also placed at the site, and sent by registered mail to the surrounding property owners. A total of 73 objections were received at the time. These were referred to the applicants for comment, following which the original proposal was amended to subdivision into 12 portions, instead of 18.
“A comprehensive report, which included as annexures all of the 73 objections that were received, as well as the applicant’s response thereto, served before the Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) on 28 April 2021, who approved the rezoning of the property, and subdivision into 12 portions. A decision letter was issued on 25 May 2021, and the final notification letter was issued on 19 July 2021. “Approval was subsequently obtained for a Site Development Plan (SDP) indicating building typologies (as required by one of the conditions of approval). “The applicants have furthermore obtained building plan approval for six of the 12 erven.”
In his social media video Andrews states that the site did not have heritage status because it did not meet the criteria.
“It is not 60 years of age and is just basically a public open space,” he said.
Regarding the bus stop, Andrews says, in the video, that it “can remain exactly where it is”.
“If it needs to be relocated, there needs to be a public engagement with the community, to understand where best it would be relocated to.”
He goes on to say: “It could remain there or it could go further down the road.”
Among the documents that Potts sent is a letter from Andrews to residents which says: “Preliminary assessments indicate that the bus stop may remain in its current location”.
Private land
Potts also included the minutes of a meeting that took place in May this year.
In the minutes, Potts is quoted as saying: “Erf 555 is in fact private land. The developers went through all legal portals, zoning processes and compliance as per the by-laws to get this land approved. It was also noted that the developer has no obligation to have public participation since it’s their private property, but they have agreed to meet to engage with the community.”
In an email to TygerBurger he said: “It needs to be said that no matter how hard I’ve tried to respond to and correct every misinformed comment from those individuals, whom have been out to protest against the development which has been fully processed and approved through the correct channels, the residents have made up their minds to simply ignore or negate all they’ve been informed of, to simply proceed with their action.”
Potts adds that the process started and ended well before his term began.
“Having said this, I have on every request to engage by the community provided structured platforms to engage. I am clear that it remains the public’s right to protest and have not interfered in this public outcry but instead provided a response via social media to inform both the protestors as well as the greater public of the facts.”
When asked when the public participation regarding the sale of the land took place, the City said 27 March, 2015, with a closing date on 30 April, 2015.
