A DISGRUNTLED resident living near The Atrium Shopping Centre has accused the centre of believing it is above the by-laws of the city.
The resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said residents of the Riley and Juniper Road area have had to deal with noise coming from the re-surfacing of the parkade for weeks.
“The Atrium Shopping Mall seems to think that it is above the by-laws of the city. For weeks we have been subjected to the after hours noise of the re-surfacing of the parkade, up to 10pm or even later at night. I have complained umpteen times to the management via their Facebook page as I can never get hold of them on the phone. I have never had the courtesy of a reply and to the contrary they have now blocked me from communicating with them via Facebook. I have called Metro Police every time, as have other neighbours, yet we always get fobbed off with some excuse,” she said.
She said this ‘total disregard for the by-laws’ was shocking, not to mention the lack of consideration for neighbouring residents.
Ivan Nefdt, general manager of the Bentel Group, said it was regrettable that the work at the centre was annoying residents.
“We have tried our level best to accommodate our tenants, shoppers and neighbours who were all affected somehow or another. Our service provider was working under very strict instructions to reduce the noise during the evening, provide a suitable platform for our shoppers and to keep our tenants happy as best possible. We were unable to do all the work during the day, some of the work had to be done after hours as our available parking was substantially affected during trading hours,” he said.
Nefdt said there was certainly no disregard for any bylaws or consideration for anyone’s discomfort.
“The anticipated works program has been substantially delayed as a result of our concerns for the contractor to work late at night. We also dispute any work taking place anytime later than 8.30pm in the evenings. We trust that once the upgrades to the Centre are completed, that all shoppers and neighbours will have a very convenient and easily accessible Centre on their doorstep, and that the property values in the area will also benefit from these improvements,” he said.
The contractors said while they took a very sympathetic view to the concerns of the complainant, they said every attempt had been made to carry out the work with little or no inconvenience to shoppers, motorists, tenants and adjacent residents alike.
“Unfortunately, due to the lifestyles and trading hours of the of shopping malls in general, we are forced to execute some of the work after normal working hours. To this end we have co-operated at all times with the centre’s requirements to meet the needs of the shoppers and tenants as the number one priority. However, we will endeavor to complete the outstanding work with the least inconvenience as possible to the complainant,” he said.
The contractor said based on the slow productivity rate, it is anticipated that the final completion will be between mid to end July.
The resident said the audio is but a mere few seconds of the hours and hours of noise that residents are subjected to. This was taken at 9.45pm from inside the resident’s bedroom.
