THE Bellair Community Police Forum (CPF) held a public meeting recently with residents of Seaview and Rossburgh about illegal dumping and unregulated truck yards that have impacted their community.

The meeting also offered a platform for residents to share their experiences, and for stakeholders to discuss possible solutions.

Another issue raised by residents was weight restriction signage.

The meeting was chaired by Bellair CPF chairman Clive Reddy who urged residents to stand united against illegality, in whatever form it took on.

Residents raised concerns about the values of their properties going down because many residential roads had been taken over by truck yards.

Also read: Seaview pensioner warns of restrictor scam

In Victor Avenue in Seaview, residents said weight restriction signs were stolen on both sides of the road.

They also highlighted the increase in illegal dumping in the area.

Ward 64 councillor Norman Gilbert, who also addressed residents, said he will meet the roads department to raise residents’ concerns.

“I will be raising this with the department as there are land use management breaches, and insist the City takes the appropriate action. I blame the City – they’ve turned a blind eye to by-law infringements where people have started to operate truck stops, service depos from residential properties, and they haven’t enforced the by-law. What that does is, it damages the infrastructure and damages the road.

“You have residents sell their houses and move out. Then another trucking company purchases the property, then turns it into a truck stop. Some of these operations require cheap space and what’s cheaper than a residential property?

“What happens is the area gets so far gone that the city then says, let’s just turn it into a logistics hub, which is what has happened in Clairwood. I had to help a resident recently where a truck parked across the front of her property for three days. I shouldn’t be having to phone owners of transport companies to say please move your truck; your truck shouldn’t be there in the first place,” he said.

He added that he would look to formulate a plan of action on how to address the issues.

Also present at the meeting were Nosipho Sindane and Makhosi Nzimakwe who spoke on illegal dumping.

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