Residents of Beyers Park have raised their grievances about a truck company that opened for business.
The company has been operating since March.
According to residents, who wanted to remain anonymous, traffic congestion and noise pollution have increased due to the operations.
The residents said the truck stop is a huge concern for all residents in the area and as far they understand, one cannot open a truck business in a residential suburb.
The Advertiser found the property in question is zoned for agricultural purposes.
According to Ward 22 councillor, Ruhan Robinson, he has spoken to the metro.
“We are now in the process of serving notice to the occupant and the owner of the property that they are in contravention of municipal by-laws.
“The land, upon which the trucking company stands, seems also to be earmarked for a provincial road. The road is, however, only in the planning stages and as such, we are uncertain as to when the province will expropriate the land,” Robinson said.
Dave Hayward, from the Hayward Holdings Properties, said: “The land in question has a designated road reserve over but the land has not been expropriated by the government.
“What this means is that government may one day in the future want to exercise this right. It also means an owner of the land needs to plan carefully and should not put up any permanent structures if the road will mean they will have to be removed.
“This road reserve has been on the plans for years and may or may not one day be built. In the meantime, the owner of the land is entitled to sell the property, provided he makes the purchaser aware of the road reserve.
“We have been called by residents telling us the land could not be sold and they have expressed that they are unhappy about the sale. The legal side of the sale has been handled by Tucker Attorneys and is to the best of our knowledge a legal sale.”
Robyn Canning from Tuckers confirmed that there is a road reservation on the land in question.
“The owner of the land, therefore, uses it at his own risk. Should the local authority eventually decide to build the road they will be entitled to do so without compensating the owner as the reservation was done on the general plans and the owner has utilised the property at his ‘own risk’,” said Canning.
“Regarding the trucking business, if the property is zoned for business or commercial use, or if the owner has the necessary consent use from council, then the business may operate quite legally. If the zoning or consent use does not provide for this sort of business, then such use of the land would be illegal.”
The Advertiser spoke to someone who identified himself as a tenant and said the owner of the place was not available.
The man highlighted that they didn’t know that the place was zoned for agricultural purposes. He also said they were given 28 days by the municipality to go elsewhere.
Several attempts were made by the Advertiser to speak to the owner but failed.
ALSO READ:
Wheels come off for North Rand Road shop trading in stolen truck tyres
https://www.citizen.co.za/boksburg-advertiser/309879/wheels-come-off-for-north-rand-road-shop-trading-in-stolen-truck-tyres/
