Answers needed, say Stables supporters

SUPPORTERS of the Newmarket Stables in Durban have accused the eThekwini Municipality of leaving them in the dark and not following due process in dealing with tenants of the Kings Park Sporting Precinct.

Former Kingsburgh mayor and councillor, Jeff van Belkum, and Nadine Parker, head coach at Newmarket Stables, chairperson of KZN Dressage, and stables committee member, met with Berea Mail to discuss the stables’ impending closure.

According to Parker, the Newmarket Stables is situated in the heart of what will is to become a sporting precinct, and it is for this reason they are being forced out.

“We were told at a meeting with eThekwini Municipality and management representatives from Hoy Park in November 2014, that it was going to happen and that there was no point in fighting it. They told us we would either have to move ourselves or we would be evicted. It’s scary! We were told attempts would be made to find us an alternative venue and develop it. We desperately need to find land. We have 90 kids at the riding school and members with horses stabled here. We were told we could move to the Bluff, but we investigated this and have found the land has been rezoned for hotels, how will we go there if this is true? It is not suitable, we need somewhere central,” said Nadine. She said Berea Rovers had been given a lifeline, and the same should be done for the Newmarket Stables.

The Stables has been in existence for 130 years, and operated on a 100-year lease which recently expired. “We were here before the first Durban July and the Queen’s horse was stabled here. This is where the stables need to be, it works! If we have to move, we will have to put down five of the 10 riding school ponies stabled here. Metro Police have 25 horses stabled here. They are concerned about having to move, as these premises are closer to their workplace,” said Parker.

She said in light of eThekwini bidding for the Commonwealth Games, not one of the games included in the Commonwealth games required the grounds of Newmarket.

“Within the sporting precinct there are facilities that cater for all the games offered. Soccer is not a Commonwealth Game, the plan is to turn all the fields into soccer fields. The SAPS mounted unit will be needed in the Commonwealth games and the same applies for the Metro Mounted Unit which is also based here,” she said.

Van Belkum said he had got involved with the cause when he saw an article published in a daily newspaper about the closure of Berea Rovers and other clubs which were deemed ‘too white’.

He got hold of Parker to see how he could help. He said he had been in constant contact with the city manager, and had written numerous emails asking for answers.

Van Belkum said there had been a council resolution, which stated tenants would be issued notices to terminate their leases in preparation for the development of the facility. It also indicated that the city manager should be mandated to continue with consultations with parties affected by the development of the sports academy.

“I have only received one response from the city manager’s office. According to the estates department, no lease has been signed for the land. However, contract workers are already digging up the Durban Velodrome and laying astroturf. The one worker said they would start on the stables’ grounds in two months time. No one from the municipality has even come to the stables to speak to us about plans, there has been no due process when dealing with tenants. I feel the municipality has no intent on doing what is right,” he said.

Ward councillor, Martin Meyer, said the matter was unclear.

“Council has made a decision to give the lease to Hoy Park Ltd. The City Manager got the instruction to sign this lease, yet I have received no confirmation that this has happened. No eviction orders have been served yet work has begun. There were some negotiations but not with all parties involved,” he said.

Meyer said he wanted to know why Hoy Park was being left to do the negotiating.

“The leases (now expired) are between the city and the current tenants. Even after the lease with Hoy Park, the land still belongs to the city. It is thus the responsibility of the city to be talking to the current tenants, not the new tenant. Last year I warned the city they were going into this too quickly without following due process, and I predicted it would become a mess, and sadly my predictions have come true!” he said.

Berea Mail has approached the Municipality for comment but no response had been received at the time of going to print.