PLG won’t back down

After KwaDukuza municipal council recently denied PLG Ballito Academy‘s appeal for special consent, the school has come back saying they will not give up.

CEO and founder of Pembury Lifestyle Group (PLG) Andrew Mclachlan said this matter remains very much a live one.

“It is clear that KDM’s decision to refuse the appeal is susceptible to review and that we have good prospects of being successful in such review application to the High Court,” said Mclachlan.

“The utter disregard by the Appeal Authority for its own and our experts’ common cause evidence presented concerning the very traffic and safety issues in and around the school premises on which KDM’s Appeal Authority has apparently relied to reject our special consent appeal. No mention is made in the reasons of this evidence at all and which evidence in fact runs counter to what is recorded in the reasons for the decision.”

He said on the last day of the appeal, KDM’s expert witness from SMEC South Africa gave evidence on behalf of both parties’ experts after they had conducted a joint investigation regarding traffic issues which were identified by agreement between the parties during the appeal hearing.

“This evidence thus amounted to agreed facts and graphic depictions of what the existing traffic flows in the area are and what increased traffic flow would be in the future, as well as what the agreed circulation system for vehicles inside the school premises ought to be, which would satisfactorily resolve the space and safety concerns raised by the Appeal Authority. KDM’s traffic expert specifically recorded that in his opinion the traffic circulatory system within the premises would not pose any unusual risk to learners’ safety. Evidence of public transporters’ dropping students off presently within the school premises was also uncontested at the hearing.”

According to Mclachlan, the Appeal Authority recorded in their findings that the use of public transport had not been taken into account.

“The evidence was either not taken into account by the Appeal Authority, or appears in some respects to have in fact been inaccurately recorded in the reasons.”

He further said a revised layout of the school grounds and entry and exit points was indeed submitted at the conclusions of the appeal hearing, dealing with specific queries raised during the inspection of the premises by the Appeal Authority.

“This was not only ignored entirely, but the Appeal Authority referred to previous parking layouts and the absence of a revised pedestrian gate in determining this issue.

“In light of these factors, we are confident in the review process and are therefore proceeding with the launch of the review application without delay. While we proceed, we are putting into place alternate measures to ensure that we will be able to operate and that our learners’ studies and academic year is not interrupted. This is our prime concern and we will continue to take such steps as may be necessary to do so, notwithstanding KDM’s best endeavours to prevent us from doing so for no rational or justifiable reason.”

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