Vacant house an eyesore

FOR more than 20 years Westville residents have watched as a property on Rodger Sishi (Blair Atholl) Road has continued to be neglected.

One such resident, Steve Young, said over a period of 20 years or more he has watched this property be neglected: “This is a part of Westville which holds much pride with older families, and now a resurgence of new younger families, like mine, are investing in the area,” he said.

Young said among some of their problems with the property is the pollution threat to the Palmiet River and the Palmiet Nature Reserve, and the threat to their property values as a collective area is at the top of the list. He also said the area has become an eyesore as well.

According to ward 18 councillor, Bruce Sutcliffe, the current situation with regard to the property is the owner.

“He has been handed notices, and has been contacted by the Building Inspectorate regarding the building work done on the property where there are elevation problems and so on.

“It appears that these are minor in nature, but they are getting no assistance from the owner or his architect. It has now been handed over to the legal department at the municipality in an attempt to get the court to force him to act on their requirements, as well as to remove the people living on the property under squalid conditions,” Sutcliffe said.

It is believed the property was condemned some years ago after a flood caused the Palmiet River to flow through the property.

“In the late 90s or early 2000s there was a major flood, which caused the river to run along the bridge at the intersection of Rosebank and Blair Atholl Roads. As a result the property flooded, and it was later condemned by the bank,” he said.

The family who originally lived in the house were paid out and moved.

“It then stood empty for about seven or eight years, before the bank sold it to the current owner, who started building about two or three years ago. The work, however, stopped about a year or so ago,” Sutcliffe said.