Residents object to car wreck yard

RESIDENTS living in and around Lorraine Avenue, Umbilo, are calling for the immediate closure of a wreck yard that has been established on Lorraine Avenue.

According to resident, Helen Noble, around two months ago, a vacant piece of land in the road was suddenly, without warning, turned into a car graveyard for vehicles that had been involved in accidents.

“Tow trucks arrive throughout the night and in the early hours of the morning to dump cars on the site, which makes a big noise, and is incredibly unsightly. I have heard children living in the block of flats overlooking the land have been traumatised by cars brought in covered in blood. This is just not on, it’s unacceptable that this is happening in a residential area,” she said.

Noble said there were already 10 vehicles on the land, and she was concerned that the Christmas weekend hadn’t even started yet, which meant more vehicles would more than likely be brought to the lot.

“The fact that the grass was recently cut could mean we can expect more cars being offloaded at the site,” she said.

Cathy Osborne, chairperson and supervisor of the block of flats overlooking the land, said the yard was having a detrimental affect on the building.

“I can’t sell the flats as people who have come to look at them have been put off by the fact that the lot across the road from the flats is filled with vehicles. Besides the noise, we have noticed an increase in mosquitoes, flies and snakes,” she said.

Osborne said the security guard on the site had no ablution facilities, and the urine smell coming from the land was ‘chronic’.

“The guard has to walk to Umbilo Park to get water and we have been feeding him,” she said.

Osborne, who lives in a ground floor flat, said she was also being overwhelmed by the fumes from the diesel exhausts when tow trucks arrived on site. “It’s horrible. Something needs to be done. This area is not zoned for this sort of thing,” she said.

Ward councillor Mmabatho Tembe said she had contacted Eric Parker, regional co-ordinator for Land Use Management Central South, regarding the complaints about the activities at the site.

“He confirmed that this land is zoned for residential use and said investigation and enforcement will be taken up,” she said.