“For nearly a year now, I have been trying to get the land cleared up, but no-one seems to know who is responsible for it,” said Bushlands Road resident, Glynda Herbst.
The area is listed as one of the problem plots for the team of the Bluff War Room and ward 66 councillor, Duncan Du Bois has contacted the municipality on numerous occasions to have it taken care of, but none of the departments seem to know who has responsibility for the land.
An email from Du Bois to the Parks Department on Thursday, 19 September has yet to receive a response. In the email he suggests the land be sold off to generate rates for the area. At a public meeting on the Bluff last week, he spoke about the problem of illegal dumping throughout the suburb.
“There seems to be a perception that verges are simply an extension of one’s private property, judging by the dumping of garden refuse and building materials that proliferates verges to an increasing degree. The reality, however, is that verges are public property. While personal maintenance of them is commendable, that does not give anyone the right to use a verge as a dumping ground.
Verges are council property and should be clear of anything which impedes public access. Ivor Aylward (Bluff Ratepayers Association chairman) and I routinely issue a letter to verge defaulters asking them to clear up any mess they may have made. The response is generally positive but there are those who either ignore our reasonable request or who are very tardy in co-operating.
Legally, if one wants to use a verge for storing materials of whatever description, one is supposed to apply for a hoarding permit from the building inspectorate.”
Glynda, who has lived on the Bluff for 40 years, said it is frustrating. “I don’t know why people think it is OK to dump their trash there. The more people who do it, the more other people think it is OK and it is not. It attracts rodents and snakes and apart from being horrible to look at, it is unsanitary. Someone needs to take responsibility for the land and people must be fined.”
– erinh@dbn.caxton.co.za
