ALBERTON – Unfortunately, the ratepayers will have to wait for new political leadership with the political will to address all the problems effectively, efficiently and timeously. This can only be achieved with your vote for the DA.
The EMM has let down the Alberton community with service delivery. Non-functional street lights, potholes, water and sewer leaks, and the general degradation of the CBD are the order of the day, despite every effort made by DA councillors and some officials to attend to these issues.
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In particular, the following issues in Ward 37 are of great concern to the community:
- Eskom plans to erect electricity pylons through the Alberton CBD and Alberton North.
- The pylons would be erected across the road from the municipal offices through a Strategic Land Parcel, which is earmarked for development. However, the safety of such pylons is not fully established; they are interfering with property values, IT connections and will be close to throngs of shoppers at Alberton Mall.
Councillor Haipel, with the help of the community, the Ward Committee and the Council is strongly opposing this.
The latest reply to my questions to the officials is as follows: The item detailing progress and the way forward with the Eskom servitude has served at the mayoral committee and has subsequently been referred to the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Oversight Committee. Concurrently, the administration has again met with Eskom (and Aurecon – the engineering company) to investigate an alternative alignment and the office of the MMC for CPED is in the process of arranging a meeting with affected ward councillors.
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The DA propose that the pylons be installed along the centre of the N12 motorway, which is wide enough and will not affect property values, safety of residents or compromise aesthetics. These pylons can also be installed underground.
- The original rezoning application for Erf 279 Alberante, which proposed the development of over 230 units on the previously zoned “education” land, elicited huge opposition from the community. But thanks to negotiations by Councillor Haipel, with the developer, the application has been withdrawn.
There is now a new application for a greatly reduced development on only a portion of this land. There are, however, still certain concerns which Councillor Haipel has raised, such as:
- The density, which is still over the Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF) limit;
- The traffic impact study which has to be re-done during school days and not during school holidays as the previous one; and
- The upgrading of all the relevant infrastructure.
Residents also have until August 8 to raise their concerns on the following issues:
- The BOMA which is still standing empty after many years with a pending court case where the lessees refuse to pay what they owe council; and
- There is also a hair-brained scheme to lease, for a period of 30 years, the Strategic Land Parcel across the road from the Town Council Building for the purpose of mixed development.
