Mayberry Park residents don’t want RDP housing

RESIDENTS of Ward 94 met at the Council Chambers at the Alberton Civic Centre on May 16 to discuss the proposed development of the area to be known as Mayberry Park Extension Two.

The proposed development, of which the planning reportedly started in 2015, is to consist of RDP and low cost housing.

Residents present largely expressed great concern and unhappiness about the nature of the development and especially the way that the public participation element of the project was handled by the municipality.

According to Councillor Marina van Wyk of Ward 94, the project was approved by all relevant departments within the municipality in January 2016.

She further stated that according to the drivers of the project, the public participation element was completed as it should have been. They claimed the development was gazetted in both the national and provincial gazette and notices were placed on the implicated area for a period of two weeks.

“They also claimed to have advertised the developments in local newspapers,” said Van Wyk. The “local” newspapers in question were the Beeld and the Times according to her.

Van Wyk added that the consulting company for the project, Shuma Africa Project, said that they did not receive any comments or complaints from the community.

When this was stated the residents present cried out in outrage. “With more than 20 000 residents in the area, how could there not have been a single complaint,” said a Ward 94 resident, indicating his unhappiness with how the residents were notified of the proposed developments.

Shuma Africa was instructed to hold public participation meetings with those affected by the project, but to the knowledge of the councillor this has not been done.

It was the feeling of those present that not enough was done to notify the residents and give them the opportunity to comment. They feel that there has been a complete lack of information regarding the project until very recently.

The public felt this was a failure on the side of the councillor and the ward committee. In her defence Councillor Van Wyk said that she was only made aware of the project on February 26 and that as soon as she had all the information she notified the public.

The community asked whether the current communication methods, WhatsApp groups, were the best way to notify people to which Van Wyk said it was the most efficient way to notify people. The proposal was made to switch to Facebook as an alternative communication method as that can reach more people.

Breaking ground

The municipality has set the date of breaking ground in the affected area, between Vereeniging Road, Hennie Alberts and Delphinium streets and JG Strijdom Road, on May 24. This is to build the infrastructure of roads and services such as electricity and plumbing and set them in place.

This development is set to continue despite the area not being proclaimed and the building plans for the proposed housing not submitted.

A meeting was called with the MMC to explain the project to the public which was supposed to take place on May 21, but the MMC had requested the meeting to be moved to May 28.

This meeting will, therefore, take place after the ground has been broken.

During the meeting on May 16 a steering committee made up of volunteers were elected to liaise with the consultants of the project. This committee is made up of Ward 94 residents who will give feedback to the community regarding the project. The committee is supposed to meet with Shuma Africa on May 20.

Residents of Mayberry Park and the surrounds have been signing a petition to appeal the development which Van Wyk says has more than 500 signatures, A Facebook page was also started to inform the residents of developments within the ward. It is called Mayberry Park, Ward 94. If you would like to add your voice to the discussion of the developments you are welcome to contact the steering committee on that platform.

ALSO READ:

MMC to meet with Mayberry Park about proposed RDP development

For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.

Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za

Get regular news updates sent directly to your inbox: Newsletter-Signup