‘Century-old’ house in Pretoria to be demolished

Residents of Brooklyn are worried that a Jan Shoba Street house believed to be 100 years old will be demolished.

This after law firm McRobert Attorneys confirmed that the property was earmarked for development, reports Pretoria East Rekord.

McRobert Attorneys managing partner Gerhardt van Der Merwe said the property belonged to the firm’s holding company McRobert Incorporated.

“We do intend to develop the property,” he said

“We were advised that the property is not of historic significance.”

Van der Merwe said the development would be an extension of the firm’s office as it is next door.

He said the firm had followed all the processes to ensure that the area was rezoned and the relevant checks were done so see if the house had any historic background.

He said the provincial heritage resources authority (PHRA) approved the development plan, and in all likelihood development would start next year.

Van Der Merwe said extensive consultations for the community to make contributions were held.

“Proposals were published, we even exceeded the timelines to allow people to make contributions.”

Concerned resident Marelie Barnard said she was not happy with the consultative process.

A document put up on the gate of the property showed the PHRA had already approved the demolition of the house and the advertised date of appeal had already passed.

“I can assure you that this document was not displayed on the gate on time and therefore there was no chance for me or any other interested and affected party to object to the planned demolition,” she said.

“I drive past this property every single day to work.”

She said she contacted the PHRA informing them that the document was not displayed disadvantaging any public participation.

“As these things go, the developer will get his way and demolish this beautiful 100-year-old house,” she said.

“I simply think that the residents of the area need to be made aware of this demolition.”

Barnard said she believed the house was a century old and needed to be protected.

Another resident, Maggie Stein, said she was not opposed to the development.

“If the house has some historic significance then they can at least still keep the design of the house while revamping it,” she said.

“Demolishing would be a bit too harsh.”

Gauteng department of sport, arts, culture and recreation spokesperson Tumelo Taunyane said that the building was not “conservation worthy”.

“It is not a heritage site but a heritage resource,” he told Rekord.

“Any structure/resource that is 60 years and older is protected in terms of section 34 of National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999 (NHRA).”

“For a total demolition application, the developer is required to advertise in a local newspaper and put a notice on site for a 30-day comment period. Any community member or an interested and affected party can object to the proposed demolition within the indicated period.

“In this case the closing date for comments was 6 November 2019.

“The demolition was submitted to the PHRA-Gauteng on 13 August 2019 and was approved on 20 November 2019.”

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