Makro building one step ahead

The recommendation will be considered by the Mayoral Committee, which will make the decision. The building plan, bordering a residential suburb, is opposed by residents due to traffic, freight traffic, noise, aesthetic and property value impacts.

Chairman of the planning committee Alwyn Nortje said there was merit in approving the application. “The Mayoral Committee may not agree with the Planning Committee, and the applications could still be refused,” he said.

Reasons for the committee’s approval could not be given at this stage, he said.
Magaliessig Action Forum chairperson Mary Hanna awaited the reasons. “Our biggest challenge is obtaining reasons for the recommendation, and conditions imposed upon Makro, so we could know the scale of what we are fighting against,” Hanna said.

She said the forum would continue to oppose the development in the residential suburb. “There is no proven need for yet another huge retail or wholesale store in Fourways, and there is nothing that we know of that Makro could offer that we are not already able to buy in the Fourways business node,” she said.

If the building plan was approved, “it would mean that no area is safe from commercial creep, residents’ rights are of no consequence, and expectations that city council would adhere to their own policies have no value.”

Nortje said all parties would be notified once a final decision was reached. “It is a drawn-out process, however it is necessary to ensure that the decision can be justified along good town planning principles, whether approved or refused,” Nortje said.

Concerned parties are exhausted by the length of time it took the Planning Committee to reach a decision, since a public hearing last year.

Nortje said the committee had to apply its mind. Makro will respond to the Planning Committee’s decision soon.