KDM moves ahead with hall plans

Plans to develop the Scout Hall in Townsend Park are quietly progressing.
KwaDukuza municipality’s decision to provide ward six (Ballito) with a community hall was strongly resisted last year, with angry residents saying they had been totally left out of the development and decision process.
KDM eventually reached an agreement with the Ballito Lions Club members who presently use the Scout Hall as a base and the Dolphin Coast Ratepayers and Residents Association (Docrra), resolving to upgrade the existing hall.
Mazwide-Mageba-Singatha Joint Venture have since been appointed to assist KDM with the planning, design and construction of the R2,5m hall.
The site was officially handed over on July 31 last year but to date only R122 721 (four percent) of the budget has been spent. The anticipated contract period was initially set for six months but is currently undecided due to the change in development plans.
The new concept and design, incorporating the existing Scout Hall, has been agreed upon and geotechnical surveying has been completed.
Event bookings at the Scout Hall until December also caused a delay in the finalisation of plans.
Council’s most recent progress report states that the area was not available for development due to “resistance from the beneficiary community and Lions Club Trust” and has requested a 155-day extension on the project’s completion period.
The budget for the hall has been rolled over from the 2012/2013 to the 2013/2014 financial year and the envisaged cost of the 350-seater hall has climbed to an estimated R6,9m.
Ward councillor Colin Marsh said plans for the hall are presently quiet but should get back into gear soon. There has still not been any public consultation on the matter.
Questions forwarded to the KwaDukuza municipality communications department about the cost inflation, and requests for copies of the designs, went unanswered at the time of going to press.