Douglasdale residents need clarity over conflicting reports about new church
Residents of a boomed-off area at the bottom of Leslie Avenue in Douglasdale are concerned that a local guesthouse has been sold and may soon be operating as a church. With no public consultation, conflicting responses from council, and possible zoning irregularities, frustrated locals say they are being kept in the dark about developments that could impact their community.
Residents living at the bottom of Leslie Avenue in Douglasdale said they are confused after learning, without any public consultation, that a guesthouse property in their quiet, boomed-off neighbourhood was recently sold, with further plans to turn it into a church.
The news has rubbed locals up the wrong way, alleging that the sale and future plans for the property were handled with a lack of transparency, possibly in violation of zoning laws and public participation rights.
“We don’t know anything,” said Janice Labuschagne, from Glenluce South Security Committee, who is spearheading the area’s boom renewal process. “Not a single notice was given. We found out about the church through a Facebook page and the owner.
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“We are not against the church as an institution, they are important for the community. We have a church called Sandton Bible Church just as you come into the boomed area already. We do, however, want to ensure that all the by-laws and property laws have been followed properly, and that residents are given the opportunity to voice their concerns.”
She said the confusion came when they received two conflicting emails from council, which raised residents concerns about the zoning of the property. The first email confirmed that the property was, indeed, approved for a church. “We then received a new email stating that only a house has been approved on the property. We have numerous emails confirming that it is the intention of the owner to have a church on the property. They have also declared publicly on Facebook that this property is their church’s new home.”
She said, as a result, they are not sure what to believe. “There has been no consent application or any rezoning application applied for the property at this time. They were told there is an approved site development plan (SDP), which is why they are currently building. Most people we have spoken to, in the industry, indicated that these plans can take some time to be approved, so we don’t know how they got it approved so quickly.”
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The Cross Centred Community Church, which is the church in question at the property, declined to comment.
Fourways Review reached out to Ziningi Mkhize, from the Department of Development Planning, in an email to clarify the concerns raised by the residents, but, unfortunately, no comment was received at the time of publishing.
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