Emily Jonker and her husband Pieter live on a small holding in Eljeesee, Tarlton, on a street that borders the new development of more than 6 000 low-cost houses.
Although both of them want their workers and other beneficiaries of the area to have houses, they believe that building these high density housing units will ruin the country lifestyle they moved there for.
Photo: Bianca Pindral.
Read more about the Brickvale development here: Tarlton community said no against the building of 6 000 RDP houses!
Emily used to live with her family in Noordheuwel, which has a more city-like vibe. There they couldn’t start a vegetable garden, they couldn’t keep poultry and they didn’t have the quiet they now have on their Eljeesee smallholding.
Emily and her family feel if the housing project goes on, nothing will be the same.
Photo: Bianca Pindral.
Other concerns she has are their water systems that can’t be built within the dolomite ground, that there are no schools for the more or less 6 000 children that would live in this development, and the lack of clinics, shopping malls and other necessary buildings.
Emily said her neighbours are also upset about the development and that they are angry at the government’s failure to communicate with them since they did not receive any notices.
“We found out via the grapevine. We didn’t get notices or anything. Nonetheless, it seems like the development is going full steam ahead, as fence line posts have been planted and bulldozers are moving earth like nobody’s business. We hope that they reconsider the development of so many houses.”
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