Since February, this year, when a sign went up in the park, most residents have been opposed to the development and the manner in which it came to their attention.
The residents of Airfield claim they never saw a notice of the rezoning or the development prior to the sign going up.
The sign stated that the development would start shortly, even though the residents felt they had not been given time to object to the construction.
According to the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), the rezoning and development of any given area must be advertised in a newspaper and the public must be given an objection period before development can begin.
“All interested and affected parties were given 28 days from June 23 2004 to lodge their objections in writing, but no objections were received within that given period,” said Themba Gadebe, EMM spokesperson.
Gadebe sent an email to the City Times, containing a cut-out of the advertisements placed by EMM in 2004.
The advertisements stated that erven 4216, 4217 and 4218, in Benoni, were to be rezoned for residential purposes.
EMM stated the advertisements were placed in the Star newspaper, one in the June 23 edition, another in the June 30 edition.
Each advertisement stated that the public would be given 28 days to object to the development, starting on June 23, 2004.
