Stables fight is far from over

THE closure of the Newmarket Stables is not a done deal according to Durban lawyer, Belinda Stirling who is fighting the city’s decision to close the stables and riding school to make way for a sporting academy.

Stirling said this week that the matter was going through the court process and believed the Stables had a good case.

Nadine Parker, who lead the fight to keep Newmarket Stables said reports by the city that plans for the development of the property and the closure of the stables and riding school were misleading the public. “This shows the arrogance of the municipality and its disregard for the courts,” she said.

According to Stirling, the the matter is currently before the court and lawyers are opposing the eviction order served on Newmarket Stable. She said the city should be supportive of the courts before publicly announcing that the development of the Soccer Academy and High Performance Centre was going ahead.

She said three separate applications on behalf of the Newmarket Lodge, the Stables Lifestyle Market and the horses had been put before the court.

“I am acting on behalf of the horses. We have filed for documents for information and have only received a few documents,. We were told we weren’t obliged to receive some, which I disagree with in certain cases. There are so many things in play, not only the lease document. The matter has been set down for 24 June, however as the case is on the unopposed roll, it will not be argued on this date, it will just give us the opportunity to file all the papers. We have also asked for responses to the objections put through during the public participation process. The municipality’s response was that the objections were all the same and that the development was going ahead.” She said none of the objectors had received a response from the city with regard to their written objections.

Sirling pointed out that there was enough dispute of fact in the papers, and if this couldn’t be determined on paper, the magistrate would move for oral evidence, which would lead to a trial. She said this could possibly happen towards the end of the year or next year.

Parker said there were more objections to the development than people supporting the project.

“We are not opposed to the project, but to the way this is being done. There has been no attempt to save riding, which is so unique. We were willing to move to the mashe course, but have not been heard by the municipality,” she said.

Stirling said she was opposed to an academy on the premises when there were other suitable venues, and felt that the funds should be used to upgrade existing facilities.

“The municipality hasn’t complied with the processes they should’ve followed from the beginning, and now they can’t undo this. There are supply chain management policies that have to be complied to. They are not bigger than the law,” she said.

Parker said the riding school in the meantime continued to grow and more people are going to the school to learn to ride. She said over the past few months, 267 people had been trained to ride. Since the closure of the Mount Edgecombe Riding School, the horses, riders and liveries had all moved to Newmarket.

“This is not the end for Newmarket. The courts still need to make a ruling on the matter, and then it is open to appeal. I don’t think we’re going to lose. The municipality didn’t anticipate the amount of opposition, especially from Nadine’s camp. People who are involved in this case are passionate in fighting this battle,” said Stirling.