Albertville’s vacant stand issue gets attention

Municipal vacant stands in and around Albertville have long irked residents, however, the situation is being attended to.

Ward 86 councillor Philip Kruger brought it to the attention of the Northcliff Melville Times that various erfs in and around the area are owned by the City of Johannesburg.

READ: Ward councillor contacts 

He said there had been no development on the properties and they seem to have been forgotten. He explained that because there is no fencing and no entity seems to monitor the comings and goings on the land, they have become problematic dumping sites.

He explained that some residents who have excess refuse and cannot wait until collection day or don’t want to drive to a legal dump site, just leave their waste on these vacant stands.

“If you’re looking for a couch, you can definitely go find it there, that is how much rubbish and the variety of rubbish is dumped there.”

 

Kruger explained that he contacted the City to bring the situation to their attention as well as find a way forward.

He said they agreed it was a problem and want to start a process to sell the unused land to generate revenue, while simultaneously solving the dumping problem.

Kruger said he was still waiting for a response with more details around the timelines of selling the land.

While the City plans on selling the stands for development, people who dump there will probably move their dumping to a different location.

To this Kruger once again stated that Pikitup would collect residents’ bulk refuse a limited number of times a year, as long as residents call ahead of time to schedule a pick-up.

He explained that the quantity of refuse needs to be significant for the entity to come out and said it is perfect for a big property clean-up or a move when residents are getting rid of refuse as well as unwanted household items.

Details: Philip Kruger 083 225 4333; glpkruger@gmail.com

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