An Application for the rezoning of Erf 41, Parkwood has been submitted to the City.
This is situated at 18 Chester Road and the Application is for the approval of an Early Child Development Centre. Loading and off-loading are planned to be within the site, to the satisfaction of the City.
The notice of Application may be downloaded here, the motivation downloaded here, and the site plan downloaded here. SAPRA has entered an objection, which may be downloaded here.
A third Notice was posted on the wall of this property on 5 June 2024. SAPRA submitted its third Objection today, which can be downloaded here. This Objection has the full history and can be used as a template for those residents who wish to lodge their own Objection, which would help. Should additional information be required, email townplanning@sapra.org.za
Click here for a copy of the Objection.
The current situation surrounding this erf is very unclear.
None of the Applications are listed on CoJ’s ADVERTISED LAND USE APPLICATIONS, and SAPRA has received nothing from CoJ in response to its Objections of March and June 2024. Steve Baylis, our Town Planner, has also had no response to an email he sent via his contacts.
One Parkwood resident asked why we are “so against the two stand numbers (the other being erf 40)” seeing that they have been in business for at least 20 years and the current owners “just want to be legal”.
One aspect that should be considered is that of removing the restriction to sell alcohol. There seems to be no logical reason for applying for this restriction to be removed.
Due to SAPRA’s restricted funds and limited human resources, SAPRA will no longer pursue this matter. However, if any SAPRAlander would like to champion the cause, either on their own or under the SAPRA banner, please let townplanning@sapra.org.za know. However, any further costs (e.g. to get documents from CoJ, lodge an Appeal, seek advice from Steve) would need to be carried by the champion (and their team).
An MPT (Municipal Planning Tribunal) hearing will take place at 09h30 on Tuesday 1st October via Teams. A copy of the hearing agenda can be requested by sending an email to townplanning@sapra.org.za. The hearing focuses on the removal of restrictions. SAPRA has objected to the removal of restriction b) which restricts the sale of alcohol.
The MPT took place as scheduled. The Tribunal was made up of the Chair (Cedric van der Merwe) and 5 Panel Members, none of whom was an "Independent" as called for in SPLUMA (Spacial Planning Land Use Management Act). In the ensuing discussion, it became clear that considerable wheelings and dealings had taken place behind SAPRA's back between the original Application in October 2020 and the new notice posted in February 2024 about the rezoning. One gathers that the process followed was illegal. Appealing at this late stage would involve considerable time, effort and, no doubt, money. Therefore it would be best to accept the rezoning. Improvements to the site have been made, as can be seen from the photos above. The 1st is how it was some 4 years ago, the 3 other photos are recent ones.
On the question of alcohol, there was a misinterpretation of SAPRA's Objection. It was agreed that the restrictiove condition would be modified to read "The owner of the said Lot shall not have the right to open allow or cause to be open thereon any canteen, hotel, restaurant or other place of sale of wines, beer or spiritous liquors."
The resolution of the MPT hearing held on 1st October 2024 has just been received. SAPRA's request to amend the Restrictive Condition b) has been confirmed and now reads “the owner of the [erf] shall not have the right to open or allow or cause to be opened thereon any canteen, hotel, restaurant or any other places for the sales of wines, beers or spiritual liquors." The full resolution can be read by clicking here.