A property with a long history of problems dating back to 2016, is still not showing any signs of progress in the current year.
The Melrose Bowling Club situated in Melrose Estate, has been a source of concern for the residents of properties close to the club as they are now faced with maintaining it amidst seeking answers from the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) regarding the ownership of the club.
Giving a history of the club, Ward 74 councillor, Dave Fisher said the City-owned facility zoned Public Open Space (which allows for land uses associated with sport and recreation only), had been leased to a commercial college in 2016. “The club is in a quiet tree-lined residential street which was not designed for commercial activity. This conflict of land use created an impasse which took a long time and lots of my intervention to resolve. In November 2017 after negotiations, the lessee agreed to cancel their lease which was a great relief to the residents who would not have welcomed a commercial undertaking in the area,” said Fisher.
He added that during this period to date, the burden has been on the council to maintain the premises and this has not been at the level that the local residents would have liked.
Resident, Adele Plitt wrote in an email sent to JPC in February this year. “After four years of battling with the various responsible parties, who keep passing the buck and are never accountable for the upkeep of the Melrose Bowling Club, as residents of the area we ask for a reason explaining why nothing has happened to date at the bowling club.”
In response to the email, Region E property manager from JPC, Miliswa Bayi had said the JPC Property Management were finalising a lease agreement as the property was awarded to a successful bidder who would take occupation in March this year.
On enquiry by the Rosebank Killarney Gazette in April, Bayi gave the following response, “The property was awarded to a new tenant for the purpose of sport and recreation and JPC is finalising the lease agreement with the new tenant. City Parks will clean the property shortly and will in future be maintained by the tenant in terms and conditions of the agreement.”
However, upon contacting Region E manager from City Parks, Jerome Ogle, he said City Parks was not responsible for the club and the matter had to be brought to the attention of the Sports and Recreation Department.
The Sports and Recreation personnel that were contacted did not respond to either phone calls nor emails for a week up until time of publishing.
Details: Melrose Bowling Club is located on 18 Venus Street, Melrose Estate.
Filler: Who do you think should take responsibility for the up-keep of the bowling club? Share your views on Facebook at Rosebank Killarney Gazette.
Related articles:
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/232296/residents-gets-power/
https://northeasterntribune.co.za/232209/nine-fire-stations-upgraded-city-johannesburg/
