Residents on Hilary Drive and Freda Avenue refuse to put up with the presence of a local crèche, which opened its doors at the beginning of 2013.
Noise levels, buildings being constructed without approval, increased traffic in the residential area and lowering property values are some of the issues that have been raised.
Wonderland Crèche on Hilary Drive applied for special consent to operate the crèche in a residential area, which was disapproved by the KwaDukuza executive committee in November last year.
The decision has been appealed and the crèche has continued to operate, much to the dismay of the crèche’s neighbours.
Elsabe Diemel, who lives next door has lodged numerous complaints to the municipality since the crèche began operating.
“I am very disheartened with Ballito. I come from Bedfordview where bylaws are enforced. You would be fined so severely that you would never break the law again,” she said.
Diemel and another neighbour, who did not want to be named, moved to Ballito to retire. Both have struggled with health issues and believe the crèche is disturbing the peace they once had in their homes.
However, crèche owner Gerald Hodgson believes the neighbours’ attitudes towards the crèche are uncalled for.
Gerald also said they are in the process of resolving an issue with their occupancy and have an architect who is submitting a revised draft of their housing plan to council for approval to resolve deviations from previously approved building plans.
His daughter Lichelle Hodgson, who runs the crèche and lives on the same property, believes it is needed in the area.
“When we moved here there were no spaces in any of the schools for my children. Having run a crèche in Johannesburg, I decided that I should start my own,” she said.
The crèche caters to over 20 children from 7am to 5.30pm during the week. Lichelle said the children play outside for an hour and half in the morning and afternoon and that the noise levels are not that high.
She cannot understand why there are no issues with the other three crèches that operate on the same street.
At the time of going to press, KwaDukuza municipality could not confirm the status of the appeal process.
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