A “monstrous” boundary wall around a property in Valmary Park in Durbanville is disgruntling neighbours.
The construction of the wall around the property at 9 Suikerbos Way (corner of Nerina Road and Suikerbos Way) without building plans, was stopped by the City of Cape Town in 2019 already.
However, the owner of the property went ahead in March and recently completed the wall despite several notices being served by the City since 2019.
Not only is the wall built too high, but it also oddly features various window frames in it, say neighbours, who want to stay anonymous. One described the wall as “monstrous”.
When TygerBurger visit the property more than a week ago, it came to light that the owner of the property is also illegally operating a boarding house – letting out flats and/or rooms to at least eight tenants without authorisation.
This was confirmed by the City of Cape Town.
According to Eddie Andrews, the City’s deputy mayor and Mayco member for spatial planning and environment, the unauthorised use as a boarding house was discovered during a joint site inspection at the property on 30 March this year.
“A land use management notice was served and a second notice is currently being drafted to inter alia address the contravention of the development parameters of the development management scheme,” he says.
The saga of the boundary wall dates back to 2019 and various notices relating to the wall were served over time.
“The owner does not have approval to build the wall. The wall was erected without building plan approval by the City,” Andrews says.
“After the inspection on 30 March this year new notices have been served by both our building development and land use management inspectors.
“This notice relates to unauthorised building work and required the submission of a building plan.
“The owner must submit a land use application for approval prior to the building plan application.
“A land use application was submitted on 16 May and must be processed to completion before a building plan can be considered,” Andrews says.
“The City is currently awaiting the expiry of these notices for the owner to comply, which is 30 May. Once the notices have expired, we will determine the appropriate form of action,” he says.
“The outcome of the land use application and subsequent building plans process will determine the actions required, which may include demolition or changes to the boundary wall,” he says.
