Opposition grows for hospital parking extension
Residents are against the propsed extension of the parking garage at St Augustine's Hospital.
PLANS by St Augustine's Hospital to extend its parking garage by adding another floor has been met with opposition from residents in Chelmsford Road.
According to resident Jesse Wesseloo, he was approached by a woman from Netcare with a letter asking for permission to have the parking garage at the hospital extended by a floor.
“I have taken this up with the residents who are against this extension. We are concerned about our view being taken away and the value of our properties decreasing. Traffic congestion will also be a problem as the main entrance will be in Chelmsford Road. There will be hundreds of additional cars, and existing cars parked in the road will still be there as people will not park in a paid parking lot if parking on the road is available. We will have more lights, which will burn 24/7 in the parking lot, fumes and noise,” he said.
He said Chelmsford Road was already a nightmare, as it was used as a thoroughfare from South Ridge Road.
Wesseloo said when he bought his property he was told the vacant land where the existing parking lot now stands, was unstable and would not be built on, however building still went ahead.
“Has proper testing been done for the extension and erection of further floors? I feel it is unstable under the ground. There are sloping floors on top of sloping land, what's going to happen when this is extended? Where will it stop? I feel the hospital should build on top of the lower ground parking lot in Cato Road,” he said.
Wesseloo said there were also aspects which could be controversial, for instance Netcare did not themselves apply, but did so via a CC company in Pretoria.
“Maybe they are planning further extensions besides the extra three storeys Netcare applied for on the corner of Cato and Clark Roads. Have impact studies been done? The value of the properties of many residents like ours will be negatively affected if this goes ahead” he said.
However, Dr Augusta Dorning, general manager for St Augustine's Hospital, said the land was stable and deemed suitable for extension, which had always been the case. “We have applied to extend the existing parking garage within the hospital perimeter. The roads are already congested, hence our application to extend parking within the hospital premises. A company from Pretoria has applied, as it is appropriate that the appointed architect apply for the extension to the eThekwini Municipality,” she said.
Ward councillor Nicole Graham said: “I have spoken to a planning official about this proposed development. It is zoned 'institutional 2' which does not have a height restriction for development and the proposed parking garage does not exceed the floor area ratio that is permitted on this site. There may be concerns around increased traffic resulting from the parking garage, but there are currently a number of traffic concerns emanating from insufficient parking on the site. Metro Police are in regular attendance to try and deal with these issues.”
She said unfortunately the loss of views of surrounding residents did not form part of town planning considerations, as frustrating and potentially costly as it may be for homeowners.
“A number of objections have been received and I will ask our Town Planning councillors to ensure the public view is considered in this instance. I will continue to monitor progress on this matter,” she said.
