Residents shocked as trees get the chop
"This is the day we’ve been dreading and have fought against for the last 10 years."
Some Modderfontein residents have expressed their concerns after several trees were cut down to make way for the proposed development of the Lakeside Shopping Centre.
Ms Margie Pretorius, a Modderfontein resident, was shocked when she saw some of the trees being cut down.
“This is the day we’ve been dreading and have fought against for the last 10 years. They have started to cut down our forest,” said Ms Pretorius.
“Nine years ago the residents of Lakeside Village and Thornhill Estate came together and held a picnic in the forest in a futile attempt to protest the planned decimation of the trees and the building of a shopping centre.
“We tied yellow ribbons around our precious trees, we signed a petition against the destruction of the forest – all in vain. Once again the quest for monetary gain has triumphed over the need to preserve the little bit of green belt which we have left, in total disregard of the history and heritage of the area,” said Ms Pretorius.
She said requests by residents to not go ahead with the plan had fallen on deaf ears as the construction of the shopping centre seemed to be going ahead.
In a statement, the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) said they have looked into the matter and have no objection as the trees are inside private property.
“We have checked the said properties on the geographic information system (GIS) and our finding is that erven 183 and 183 are privately owned and serviced.”
The statement from the JCPZ, which was forwarded to the NEWS by Nevada Group, further said that the JCPZ had no objection for trees inside a private property being removed subject to provisions made for new or retained trees when a Site Development Plan (SDP) is submitted for evaluation by their SDP section. This permission letter should always be on-site and produced when required.
The JCPZ said no trees should be removed without the relevant permission.
