ETHEKWINI Municipality has given the green light to drawing up a student accommodation policy aimed at policing student residences in residential areas.
The need for a policy first came to light last year during a public meeting where a proposed student accommodation precinct project earmarked for wards 33 and 101 was debated.
At the meeting, a representative from the municipality’s Land Use Management Unit, Shikar Singh, addressed residents, stating there was no specific policy to address student accommodation and that the policy was a way to stop property owners and investors, who have found loopholes in the city by-laws, from building student residences in suburbs without any consequences.
Singh said the department received a lot of complaints from residents regarding student accommodation.
As a result, a study was commissioned in May 2017 to look at issues surrounding student accommodation and how the municipality could delineate areas which could be made into student accommodation zones.
Addressing residents, Mike Kahn, speaking on behalf of Zimanga Urban and Rural Development Consultants, said the University of KwaZulu-Natal had quadrupled in numbers and something needed to be done to address the problem of accommodation.
It was stated that the policy would guide in the ongoing management of the precincts of UKZN Howard and Westville Campuses, and eventually be rolled out to other precincts in the municipal area.
ALSO READ: Student accommodation precinct: Not in our backyard, say furious residents
Commenting on the approval of the policy, former ward 31 councillor Chris Pappas, who established an online petition calling on the city to deal with the uncontrolled and unregulated increase in student accommodation in the city, said the approval of the student accommodation policy should be welcomed.
He said he felt the submission of the petition helped to put pressure to expedite the policy approval.
“Uncontrolled student accommodation has been mushrooming all over central Durban and surrounding areas causing a headache for many residents. Complaints from residents inlcuded noisy parties, noisy buses, loud cars, and late nights and they were powerless to stop any of this. Landlords living far away from the nuisance do not have to put up with the consequences of the students, but reap the benefits of the rentals. The DA in the Economic Development Committee under the leadership of Councillor Marlaine Nair has consistently put pressure on the department after the policy had been stalled for years. This persistence has paid off with the approval of this policy. Now we must fight for its enforcement,” he said.
Councillor Mmabatho Tembe, who has been championing this issue, said she was glad the policy would regulate student accommodation especially since there had been so many issues in the Glenwood and Umbilo areas, where illegal accommodation had sprung up and students were placed in areas where it was not suitable for them to be.
ALSO READ: Urban renewal precinct moves ahead
“This policy will regulate student accommodation and make sure proper town planning by-laws are put in place. My biggest worry is that proper enforcement must take place. The student precinct policy will be rolled out in areas around wards 33, 101 and the Westville UKZN campus as pilot project zones, and then rolled out in other areas of the city,” she said.
Commenting on the policy, Councillor Marlain Nair said the policy’s objective is help house students closer to their respective campuses; provide management tools for the municipality to be able to better facilitate and manage the provision of private-sector student accommodation; ensure that the design of new student accommodation does not degrade the privacy and amenity of abutting residential land uses and respect the existing character of the area; to provide appropriate parking for student accommodation and ensure student accommodation embodies principles of good urban design, sustainability, affordability and durability.
“The policy envisages the identification of suitable precincts for student accommodation and thereafter designation of these precincts for this purpose. Thereafter prospective applicants wanting to set up student accommodation will have to apply and meet the stringent criteria, which includes the assessment of infrastructure and its suitability to support student accommodation, the effects of the influx of people, the availability of facilities nearby and also the impact to the essence of the neighbourhoods,” Nair said.
Nair added that the public will also have an opportunity to lodge objections before an approval is made.
Do you want to receive news alerts via Telegram? Send us a message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
