ETHEKWINI Municipality has been accused of dragging its heels over the proposed development of the Star Seaside Children’s Home property in North Beach into social housing.
According to Councillor Nicole Graham, residents raised a number of issues at a recent street meeting, saying the property had become a security hazard. Residents claim people are illegally occupying the building, the palisade fence has been broken down and presumably sold for scrap and the property has deteriorated and impacts negatively on the area.
“There are apartment blocks that border directly onto the property and those residents have become fearful. This is one of the buildings the municipality earmarked for social housing. The Democratic Alliance was in support of the social housing programme but did not support this location or the one at Victoria Park. There was no consultation with residents to explain how they would be affected by the development plans, and it backs onto residential properties and is near the beachfront, which affects tourism potential,” she said.
READ RELATED: North beach social housing project stirs up concerns
Graham said she had written to the deputy city manager for human settlements and infrastructure to enquire when construction on the propsed housing project would start, what was happening with the timeframes, and to ask if the City could make plans to secure and maintain the property until construction starts.
“I received no response, so I have escalated this issue to the city manager. There appear to be security guards on site, however they don’t seem to be effective and the maintenance of the building is terrible. The City needs to have a plan until construction starts, they can’t leave the building like this, or the residents in the lurch,” she said.
Graham also approached Metro Police and SAPS requesting more patrols in the area as vagrancy in the park opposite the building was also a concern, and there had been an increase in car theft. She said had reported all problems at the park to the Parks Department and staff had done some cutting of trees and an audit was done on the play equipment, which will be included in the new budget.
“This is a prime residential area and it is near the beachfront. The City needs to come to the party, it is not on,” she said.
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