DA objects to planning appeals hike
At the recently held Economic Development and Planning committee members voted to increase the planning sector appeals tariffs by 354 per cent.
THE Democratic Alliance (DA) in the eThekwini Municipality strongly opposes the 354 per cent increase in fees associated to appeals in the land development process.
At a meeting of the Economic Development and Planning committee held on 2 February, the ANC majority voted to increase planning sector appeals tariffs from R967 to R5000 including VAT, an increase of 354 per cent.
Ward 31 councillor and member of the Town Planning Committee, Chris Pappas, said the DA strongly opposes this increase on the basis that the tariff will impact heavily on the rights and ability of poor and middle income citizens to appeal planning sector decisions.
“This will affect citizens’ ability to appeal, among others, special consent applications, consent applications, removal of conditions, township establishments, closure of roads or open spaces, zoning changes, and relaxation of space about buildings,” he said.
Pappas said ANC councillors have chosen to use this tariff as a punitive measure in an attempt to stop frivolous appeals. He said there were even calls to further increase the tariff to R20 000 next year.
“The fact remains that those that can afford to appeal, such as the wealthy or big companies, still have the means to appeal while the average citizen of eThekwini will be deprived of their right to appeal. Arguably the new tariff excludes the majority of eThekwini residents from property rights protected by the constitution,” said Pappas.
He said developers do not have any conflicts with the appeals process, and that their biggest concern is the lengthy time taken to get through the system in eThekwini.
“We must fix the system instead of punishing residents for governments failure. Speaking to residents about this decision, an overwhelming majority of residents have said that the tariff is an unfair and discriminatory against the poor and working class,” he said.
Pappas said a further concern to the DA is that this new tariff opens up the objection and appeals process to further corruption. He said the decision will allow money to influence what decisions are taken at a lower level of the planning process because the ability of people to appeal at a higher level will be curtailed.
“At the end of last year new Town Planning schemes were adopted for all areas of the city including areas formally without schemes such as townships and information settlements. This means that the ANC’s decision will affect everyone in the city, depriving poor and middle income families of their right to appeal land development decisions that may affect their properties and homes,” he said.
Pappas said the DA will continue to fight this matter in the interest of all the citizens of eThekwini.
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