Residents object to destruction of Durban heritage

RESIDENTS in Glenwood and Greyville say they are disheartened by the attempted destruction of Durban’s heritage.

Residents living in Cromwell Road, Glenwood, are opposing the proposed demolition of three heritage houses to make way for a large development, and in St Mary’s Avenue, a large building is being erected which concerned residents feel will destroy the life and “townscape” of the quaint area.

Tenant at one of the properties in Cromwell Road, Rosalie Scholtz, said notices for proposed demolition of the three properties went up last month, placed at the back of the houses, which she felt was out of sight. She said she did not receive notification by post regarding the plans for the properties.

Scholtz said she lived in the house 17 years ago, and last year, after hunting for a place to rent found the same house available.

“I moved in on 1 February and it took eight months to fix it up as it was very run down. The landlords had hoped to demolish, however the application had been denied by Amafa. I signed a year’s lease and I worked so hard to get my place sorted out, only to be told in June, via email, that the house had been sold,” she said.

Scholtz said she was told by the new owner that they planned to demolish the house and the two next door to hers.

“This is such a pity as these are heritage houses. A woman living over the road received notification via post, and I have made copies and walked from house to house to inform people and get objections to this,” she said.

Responding to a request for comment on the matter, property developer, Prasheen Maharaj, said: “We are planning to build studio apartments for single people or couples, we are definitely not building student accommodation as this area is not designated for student accommodation.”

He said in addition, in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality and the Glenwood Urban Improvement Precinct office, they aimed to assist with improving security and the maintenance and upgrade of the adjoining park next to the property.

“The park is currently used by vagrants and drug users and is therefore not accessible to the community due to safety concerns.”

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He said the developers had appointed a professional heritage architect to assist with their application for a demolition permit.

“The architect has a excellent track record with Amafa in terms of following the letter of the law with regards to all approvals required for property development. We are very confident that we followed the processes and notice procedures in accordance with the requirements of Amafa. If there has been any oversight or omission on our part, we will rectify it. It is our mandate to be fully compliant with the law in all our business transactions,” he said, adding that no party, including current tenants, will suffer any infringement of their constitutional rights by them conducting their business.

Commenting on the situation, Heather Roos from the Bulwer Safety and Urban Regeneration Forum (BSURF) said her team have identified properties that have or were earmarked for student residences and developments.

“Single houses, many of which are Amafa regulated as well, including the houses in Cromwell Road, have been included on our list of queries and concerns which we have sent to the municipality’s Land Use Management. We are waiting for feedback to the updated email they requested from us. Due to Covid, they are not having face to face meetings,” she said.

Cheryl Johnson from Save Our Berea said: “The previous owners submitted an application to Amafa for a permit to demolish, but Amafa refused. We agreed with their decision, and our position hasn’t changed. We stand with the residents in opposing this new application.”

Ros Devereux, Head of the Built Environment Section at KZN Amafa and Research Institute said Amafa had received the current demolition permit applications for all three houses but the applications had not yet been processed.

Further information or objections can be sent to: beadmin@amafapmb.co.za.

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Meanwhile, in Greyville, building has been going full steam ahead on a development.

Residents however say they had no knowledge of this proposed development before work started.

They said Greyville Village was identified as the area of small-scaled cottages and lanes.

In 1990, Professor Brian Kearney produced a conservation study for the National Monuments Council in which he provided detailed proposals for preservation of the area as a “townscape” with its mixture of Victorian and Edwardian architecture – including some wood and iron houses.

During the 1990s there was considerable activism by the residents to secure the area against the ongoing threat of commercialisation by rental landlords altering and hiring out space for businesses.

Residents said the City Council recognised the value of the area by declaring a protection as “Special Zone 51” with provisions which included that a portion of each site must be occupied as a dwelling house, external advertising be limited to the name of the business and less than 0.2m2, all building work must be in harmony with the character of the area, coverage of the site area by buildings must be less than 50 per cent and the maximum allowed building height was to be two storeys.

Now, residents say the Greyville Village is under threat with a development going up on adjoining sites at 11 and 15 St Mary’s Avenue.

Commenting on the development eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayisela, said the Building Inspectorate office had observed unauthorised work at the property and had served the offending owner with a contravention notice to stop with all work as there were no building plans approved by the local authority in line with the National Building Regulations (Act). Work continued unabated and a fine was processed on 17 March.

“Due to continued non-compliance, a second notice was served on the owner of the property which will be adjudicated in the Magistrate’s Court, the outcome and timelines of which we have no influence or control over. Both the Building Inspectorate and the Enforcement and Prosecutions officials will regularly monitor activities at the property in question in order to ensure compliance with structured internal procedures as aligned with applicable and mandated legislation,” he said.

Any residents wanting to get involved in the process to object to this development, can email: 4jeff33@gmail.com.