ALBERTON – At a public meeting held on December 9 at the Brackenhurst Bowling Club was hosted by the ward councillor, Estelle Visser. The meeting invited residents to join so that they have an opportunity to table their concerns.
The owner and consultants were also invited by Cllr Visser. Consultants were present to give an overview of what the proposed development would entail. Town Planner Wynand Theron, Regional Manager for the Life Healthcare Group Sagran Sukhessan, architect Manus Heunis and David Ingle from Seeff Properties were present to shed light on the development and to answer questions posed by the public present at the meeting.
The owner did not attend the meeting, but sent a legal representative.
Some of the concerns raised by the public were that the lack of a shopping centre would inconvenience the residents of the area, an increase in traffic, a small amount of job creation in relation to that of a shopping centre and the kind of developments that will follow after the wellness clinic.
Consultants tried to put the public’s mind at ease by explaining that there are multiple shopping centres in the surrounding areas. They mentioned that the traffic will be considerably less than that of a shopping centre. The clinic will only have visitors on set hours, where with a shopping centre there will be more traffic during the day. The clinic will create 60 permanent jobs and 100 more that will be outsourced, such as catering. It was also important to note that psychologists and psychiatrists present confirmed that local residents would also be employed at the hospital.
Life Healthcare Group also motivated that this site was chosen because it was located in a residential area and that the clinic was to be situated in a peaceful environment.
The meeting was purely informative in nature, there were no decisions made on the evening. The rezoning application will still go to the Tribunal and only then will a decision be made.
