‘Consult the city before building’ – Hart

MMC for City Planning Ald Heather Hart urged residents to refrain from building or extending their properties without following the city’s building guidelines and regulations.

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Hart said the number of property owners referred to the city’s legal department and issued with demolishing letters is growing.

She said owners who have not followed proper channels in building or extending their properties risk losing thousands of rands when their structures are demolished.

Hart said common contraventions include:
• building without approved building plans
• Building on the service lines
• Not leaving enough space between the properties
• Building without catering for the parking lot
• Building a business structure in a residential area without legal rezoning, among other things

“Before you waste your money, consult our City Planning Department at your nearest customer care centre. Our officials can advise you on your building plans and zoning rights,” she said.

Hart said the city was working on concluding referred cases that contravened building regulations.

“We are investigating several buildings in the city that have serious flaws.

“We work with other departments, like Roads and Stormwater, Water and Sanitation and Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) in our investigations,” she said.

She urged communities to report new building structures that may seem to be against the building regulations for the city to investigate.

“Do not wait until it is complete. Report it as soon as you suspect that there is something wrong with the structure. It is easy to deal with it while it is still early, then to wait until it is completely built. You can be anonymous if you want. We will follow up on cases reported to us,” Hart said.

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