CIVIC organisation, Save Our Berea (SOB), has reiterated the need for a Commission of Inquiry into Town Planning issues in the city after the Constitutional Court turned down an application to appeal the decision to retain the development at 317 Currie Road.
Cheryl Johnson and Kevin Dunkley from SOB said the much publicised development at 317 Currie Road was only one of many new developments on the Berea that troubled ratepayers.
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They said the organisation wholeheartedly supported senior legal professionals from the city, the Advocates for Transformation’s (AFT) call on the city to hold a Commission of Inquiry into town planning, plans approval and building practices in eThekwini.
“The legal case against the developers of 317 Currie Road, Serengeti Rise, ended in the Constitutional Court and one of the lawyers acting for the winning side claimed their client now intended to complete its ‘one of a kind development’ and that it would ‘transform the Durban skyline positively and enhance the beauty of this city’, a view totally at odds with the thousands of ratepayers and Save Our Berea supporters who have followed this story for two years,” they said.
Johnson and Dunkley said while the community should hold the view that good town planning and with it, new development, was vital to a successful future for the city, nobody should be prejudiced by any one development.
“This is not an anti-development stance. Good town planning enhances investment and should have the support of all. Truth is Save Our Berea is currently inundated with complaints regarding a number of developments across the Berea. Residents who live adjacent to these developments are refused sight of the approved plans by city officials and even the most basic information is being withheld by these same officials who tell ratepayers to use the Protection of Access to Information Act to get the information they require. This is nothing but a stalling tactic by politicians and officials who abuse the Constitution which protects the right of citizens to access information. The town planning and plan approval process in this city is in a mess,” they said.
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They said the letter of request for the Commission of Inquiry was signed by the chairman, Adv A Choudree SC and they had been told that anti-apartheid struggle activist and a revered former high court judge, Hon Thumba Pillay had made himself available to chair such an inquiry.
“The 317 Currie Road court battle may have been lost, but the war is by no means over,” they said.
