ONE of Musgrave’s gracious old Victorian homes has become the centre of a storm of protest as concerned neighbours, residents and civic activist group, Save Our Berea vented their outrage at the building operations that have been undertaken by the new owners of the heritage property at 10 Overdale Road. A meeting to discuss the controversy was held on Monday evening where residents and municipal officials raised their concerns.
According to alert neighbours, the owners have demolished the original front wall, including the original gate posts that bear the name of the house and replaced it with a new wall, with no plans having been submitted in terms of section 4 of the National Building Regulations and Buildings Standards Act no 103 of 1977.
eThekwini Municipality has confirmed that it had received no plans for approval to build the new boundary wall at the property. Subsequently, the city served a contravention notice on the owner. The order to stop building however was ignored and building continued, forcing the city to respond to the owner’s non compliance by issuing a fine which is currently being processed.
Overdale House was the home of the Payne family (founders of the department store Payne Brothers) for over 40 years. The land was bought from the Povall family in 1882 and the house was built to George Payne’s requirements. This unique building is ‘listed’ in Professor Brian Kearney’s listing of the important places and buildings in Durban and is therefore protected by heritage laws. Last year the house changed hands, and alarmed neighbours alerted Save Our Berea, to the destruction of large old trees, including a protected yellowwood tree, by the new owner.
As with all listed buildings, AMAFA must give permission for changes to be made not only to the building, but the surroundings which would include the front wall, gates, gateposts.
“Applications for approval for demolition and or alterations and additions to the protected structures on this site must be assessed by a consultant panel of senior architects who may or may not grant the owner a demolition order and permission to develop the site,” said Cheryl Johnson of Save Our Berea.
“Save Our Berea has joined and supports the fight of the residents in the Overdale Road area. This property is 122 years old and is protected by the KZN Heritage Act of 2008, and yet a flagrant disregard for the law, and despite numerous stop orders issued by the City, the owner of this property arrogantly continues to demolish and alter a heritage property without approved plans or AMAFA permission. This is done daily in full view of the surrounding residents. It is as if the owner is saying to the citizens of eThekwini, the mayor of our city, the city council and the city officials, “I am above the law.” We call on the city to urgently get a court order to interdict the owner, and if work does not stop immediately, to arrest those responsible.
When the civic organisation posted pictures of the building alterations on its Facebook page, angry residents were quick to respond and condemning the owners for what appeared to be a flagrant disregard for city by-laws.
Responding to the post on Save Our Berea’s page, a family member of the new owners of the property took the civic organisation to task and slammed it for posting the information without first having approached the owners. The woman also claimed that plans had in fact been submitted in November 2015 which outlayed plans for two units and a boundary wall.
Despite an invitation to attend Monday evening’s meeting, the property owners declined to meet with neighbours and other stakeholders.
Resident, Maxine van Wyk who has lived adjacent to the property at 10 Overdale Road for a decade, said she felt the owner was acting with impunity. “Workers have been on site from 5am to 8pm, despite the fact that the owner has been served two stop build notices,” she said.
Officials were denied access
Frank Reitz, an accredited conservation architect from eThekwini Municipality, and part of the AMAFA committee, advised residents who lived near listed buildings to contact both the Municipality and AMAFA if they noticed the buildings being demolished. who said: “There are strong rules in place to prosecute offenders. The process is that property owners need to advertise and give neighbours an opportunity to comment on building plans,” he said.
Reitz said the owners of the property had started the process by submitting plans, but these had not been approved. By going ahead without approval, the owner, he said, was violating a national act and a charge could be laid by residents.
“When I visited the site, I noticed aluminium windows had been put up and beams to carry alterations inside, which are illegal,” he said.
Reitz confirmed at the meeting that he and a building inspector had been denied access to the property on two occasions. He said that a group of 11 officials from various departments had also been denied access. However, he said the owner had subsequently visited him after the heated encounter when he realised he needed AMAFA approval.
“The owner needs a special consent plan which he has applied for, but which hasn’t yet been passed,” he said.
Community must brace themselves for a fight
Attorney Pops Aboobaker, who was also at the Monday evening meeting, said Save Our Berea was only able to agitate certain issues, but depended on people from the community to take civil action and put pressure on the municipality’s compliance department.
“Following the 317 Currie Road debacle, I hope the Musgrave community will remain united and determined and brace themselves for a fight,” he said.
Ward councillor Martin Meyer said the enforcement arm of the City had confirmed that it had served papers on the owner.
“Politicians on their own aren’t going to sort out this problem, we need the community to also put pressure on the municipality,” he said.
Ward councillor Chris Pappas said buildings and town planning violations are occurring all the way to Overport and something needs to be done now.
“Together we can ensure the law is enforced,” he said.
Berea Mail has made repeated attempts to contact the owner of the Overdale Road property, but received no response.
