Contractor receives summons for building without approval

BUILDING without approval has become the norm rather than the exception on the Berea. In the latest contravention to come to light, it was discovered that construction work on Musgrave Court in Musgrave Road has gone ahead, despite plans not being approved by heritage body, AMAFA.

The matter was brought to the attention of Berea Mail in June, when a resident called to say alterations were going ahead on the building, but she was curious as no notices had gone up regarding permission.

When Berea Mail contacted the municipality and AMAFA, they confirmed that the plans had not been passed despite work having commenced on the building.

Tozi Mthetwa, head of communications for eThekwini Municipality said a contravention notice for unauthorised work and building without approval was issued to the owner of the property on 10 June.

Last week it was clear to see that work on the building had continued and was almost complete.

On approaching AMAFA, head of the Built Environment Section, Ros Devereux, said: “Amafa has not approved the plans that were submitted last year and all work on the site is not lawful in terms of the Heritage Legislation.”

Tozi Mthethwa, responding to the latest development confirmed that city officials had visited the premises which houses Sparksport Pharmacy last week. and had ordered the contractor to cease all work with immediate effect. “A summons was issued to the contrction by the law enforcement officer,” she said.

Ward councillor Jethro Lefevre and the building inspector met on site last Tuesday, where workmen were in the process of taking down scaffolding, following work which had been completed.

“I am impressed that the builders have kept to the original look of the building, however people need to do things properly and follow the by-laws. Plans have yet to be passed, and building work should not have started,” said Lefevre.

Cheryl Johnson from Save Our Berea said she followed up with AMAFA after she had received a complaint from a resident about the partial demolition of the heritage building. “In fact when we checked, we found the building was not on Professor Brian Kearney’s list of important places and buildings in Durban, however, it is still over 60 years old and is therefore subject to Amafa rules and regulations. Amafa got back to us and said that as they had received an incomplete application from the developer, they had not approved the plans. That was in March 2015. So we were astonished to see that substantial building work is almost completed on site,” she said.

Johnson said she understood from AMAFA that the city architect tasked with heritage issues, Frank Reitz, was involved when the submission was made to the City, and that the matter was in his hands.

“Because we heard nothing further from AMAFA, we assumed the plans had been approved. Now we learn that this is not the case. Once again the building inspector for the area appears to have turned a blind eye to a developer building without approved plans or without Amafa consent,” she said.

When Berea Mail contacted the owner of Musgrave Court, he said he was out of town and would call back. No call had been received at the time of going to print.