Alleged bakery causes a stink

A home industry operating from Riley Road in Overport has come under the spotlight after neighbours complained that the property was being used to run a commercial bakery rather than the home industry they originally agreed to.

Neighbour, Sushila Kisson said she had been battling with a number of issues surrounding the bakery for many years,but didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

“When the owners originally approached neighbouring residents for permission to run a small home industry from the house, I felt sorry for them, as they were from overseas. I wanted them to move forward. However, I signed for special consent for a home industry, as the owner said she would be baking around six cakes a day, but they are running a commercial bakery, operating 24 hours a day from the premises in this quiet, one-way road,” she said.

Kisson said she was aware that the bakery supplied a number of shops and sold directly to customers from the property. “The large truck comes to deliver eggs and supplies and comes to fetch the cakes and blocks off our narrow road,” she said.

She said extractor fans from the house made a terrible noise and she couldn't open her windows because of the stench from the wheelie bins which are pushed up against her boundary wall.

“The rubbish has resulted in problems with flies, cockroaches and rats. I had the health department inspector around this week and have been told there is evidence of rats outside my property. They said they would come back to fumigate. A woman living over the road from the house has had to move as she had a newborn and felt the business posed a health risk. She couldn't open her windows because of the flies and cockroaches,” she said.

Kisson added that bakery staff also lived on the property and made a noise which was also a disturbance.

“This is a residential area. I called Metro Police about the noise, but they said they didn't want to go onto the property and that it was something the health department needed to deal with. I don't understand how a commercial business can be allowed to operate in this suburb,” she said.

While Berea Mail visited the with Kisson and ward councillor, Jethro Lefevre, city health inspectors arrived. They said they were there to follow up on complaints, as the owner had previously been instructed to improve general hygiene at the property. They said they had been told it was operating as a home industry where eight cakes a day were baked.

Ward councillor Jethro Lefevre said he had been made aware of the problem after residents contacted him and had been in touch with the relevant departments to ensure action was taken.

“It is a problem that a business of this size is operating from a residential home. The owners applied for special consent, which was granted. Residents have, however, been hoodwinked and it will be harder now for the city to close it down,” he said.

Lefevre said the dustbins should not be pushed up against Kisson's boundary wall, as this posed a health hazard.

eThekwini Head of Communications, Tozi Mthethwa, said the owner had been granted consent many years ago for a part conversion into a bakery. “The approval was a conversion and not a home business application. The matter has been referred to the Health Unit and Department of Labour to investigate and address other issues that the complainant has raised,” she said.

Owner of the property, Lena Ostrovsky, was adamant that her business was not a commercial bakery.

“I am running a home industry, it is not a 24-hour operation. There is no sign outside, there is no machiner, we have done nothing wrong. We come from Russia, and we work from home, as we live on the premises,” she told Berea Mail.