In a statement submitted to the City Times, Brendan Michie of Hammond Pole Attorneys said: “On behalf of the committee of the Benoni Country Club, whom we are representing, we would like to update the members of the community on the current status of the objection to the proposed development of BCC.
“As has been widely published in the local media the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality advised the community at the public participation hearing in November last year that the deadline for lodging any written objections was February 28, 2017.
READ: Public says no to development of Benoni Country Club
“Our offices have been assisting BCC to make the process as easy as possible by helping in preparing draft letters, circulating them and then arranging for the collection and submission of these objection letters.
“In this regard draft letters are still available at the pro shop at BCC or can be requested from the offices of Hammond Pole Attorneys by emailing benonicc@hammondpole.co.za.
“These signed letters, or those which are prepared by the members of the community themselves, can be mailed to the same email address for lodgement.
“We are happy to report that to date that we have lodged over 1 213 written objection letters consisting of 5 340 pages.
“We have also lodged the formal objection by the Benoni Country Club itself, which was submitted on February 17.
“This number is expected to increase substantially in the last week before the deadline is reached.”
Michie further stated that the grounds for objection are numerous and vary; however, some of the most common grounds are the following:
• That the club has been situated in Benoni for over 110 years and is crucial to the greater Benoni community;
• That the land was donated to the EMM many years ago, by the then Van Ryn Mining Company, in order for it to act as a custodian of the land for the benefit of the community;
• That the land is home to a variety of animal and bird species and no environmental impact assessment has been undertaken;
• That there is a lack of infrastructure to accommodate a large-scale development of the golf course;
• That the public made it clear at the public participation process that they were vehemently opposed to the development of the club;
• That the land was never properly identified as a Strategic Land Parcel (SLP);
• That the BCC has partnered with the Daveyton Golf Club and as such the members of the Daveyton club now have access to the world-class facilities at BCC.
“We, on behalf of our client, would like to thank the community for their support in providing written objections to the proposed development of the BCC and we urge those who have yet to do so to please take this opportunity and submit one,” added Michie.
“Hammond Pole Attorneys undertakes to lodge all objection letters received by our offices, and those of the BCC, before February 28.
“Lastly, we would like to thank the BCC, particularly Darren Millington and Cameron McCulloch, for giving us the opportunity to assist them and the Club in trying to ensure the long-term future of BCC.”
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