Bruce Sutcliffe ready for 2015 challenges

HAVING taken up the position as the Ward 18 councillor, Bruce Sutcliffe said he now has a better understanding of the community he serves.

“I now have a better understanding of the situation relating to my ward in particular, and eThekwini Municipality in general regarding the problems residents have with their dealings with the municipality.

“Even though I am a councillor I still find in many areas that the standard of customer service is extremely lacking. But in other areas, in which there are competent managers, problems are resolved quickly,” he said.

One of Sutcliffe’s main objectives for 2015 includes the identification and listing of abandoned properties, which he has started.

“The greatest problem is finding the owners, as they just seem to have disappeared and left the properties.

“I will also be approaching council and the management of the municipality in an attempt to set up a municipal court in Pinetown. This would enable many of the building and other municipal cases to be handled locally instead of having to await court dates in Durban with the current serious delays found,” he added.

Another issue he will be investigating this year is the urgency of the Metro Police base being moved back to Pinetown: “It is a sad that in the second biggest commercial area in the municipality we do not have a permanent base for the Metro Police in Pinetown.”

One of the biggest problems within the ward, according to Sutcliffe, is the state of certain major arterial routes, such as Rodger Sishi (Blair Atholl) Road, as well as Dawncliff Road, which are in a serious state of disrepair: “It appears that these two roads are to be rehabilitated this year. I will be following this closely as they have degraded badly. I also want to try to ensure that all problems reported to me are resolved, when they can be, within 48 hours, and am tracking the mails sent to me to try to ensure this,” he said.

Sutcliffe said a further problem in his ward was illegal businesses being run in residential areas, such as car repair, plumbing and transport businesses.

“The greatest problem with these is that once the municipality has exhausted its notices the cases then need to proceed to high court, which creates delays of up to two years, and unscrupulous business owners operate on this.

“I will be taking this up with the legal department within the municipality to try to find a quicker solution to this problem,” Sutcliffe said.

Contact Sutcliffe on 082 822 6854 or email bruce@ward18.co.za.