Four-storey block sparks petition

Table View residents have started a petition to put the brakes on the construction of a four-storey block of flats on the corner of Blaauwberg Road and Grey Avenue.

Patricia Bond, who lives next to the construction site and started the petition, says she wants the City to stop the developer from completing the fourth storey and remove all balconies facing her yard, and prove to her that the submitted building plans match what is actually being built.

This comes after the developers, CIJ Property Developments, said their plans to build right up to the neighbour’s boundary wall had been approved by the City in June last year.

In our original story, Marian Nieuwoudt, mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment, said a public-participation process had not been needed because the property was zoned General Residential 3, which allowed for flats.

Ms Bond and other residents demanded that developers turn balconies to face another direction because “it’s an invasion of privacy,” and fix or refund residents for damages to their property.

Ms Bond also wants the construction vehicles to park on the developer’s property and not in her driveway.

Ms Bond said she had woken on Monday April 12 to find water flowing into the street from a burst pipe under her driveway. She said she had paid a plumber from Wellington Plumbing in Heideveld R800 to fix it.

Wellington Chirimo confirmed he had fixed the pipe at Ms Bond’s house, and he sent Tabletalk a copy of the invoice. The pipe had been cracked and heavy vehicles parking in her driveway could be one of many reasons for the burst pipe, he said.

An Athens Road resident, Stefano Duesimi, went door-to-door to get neighbours signatures for the petition because he believes Blaauwberg Road is being targeted as a “desification area.”

He said he would have accepted a two-storey building and would have appreciated it if the developers had informed residents, but they had failed to do so.

David Ayres, of the Greater Table View Action Forum, said he had signed the petition because properties people had put a lot of work into over the years were losing their value because of ill-suited developments.

“You cannot pass plans where balconies are invading one’s privacy. These properties are becoming unsaleable,” he said.

Emails sent to the City about the development and its approval process had been ignored, he said.

“We have asked the City if they have ever been taken to court for such matters because they fight these cases with ratepayers’ money, which is unfair,” he said.

Table View ward councillor Dr Joy McCarthy said she had submitted a building-contravention complaint and had asked for a building inspector to be sent to the site.

“I think the building is non compliant,” she said.

She said the submitted building plans she had seen had only referred to a three-storey building.

Johnny Khella, a spokesman for CIJ Property Developments, said it was a pity that some neighbours were unhappy with the development, but the City had approved it and the necessary requirements had been met.

“We cannot remove any of this,” he said. “The developer is under no obligation to comply with the demands of the neighbours or entertain the demands of the neighbours.

The City did not respond to questions by deadline.

Email Ms Bond at patriciamaybond@gmail.com if you want to sign the petition.