‘Container house must go’ – residents

Salt Rock residents are outraged about an unsightly “container house” that has appeared in the neighbourhood recently.

Ward 22 councillor Malcolm Hubner said he had received five written complaints from Salt Rock residents about the two “unsightly containers” that have been placed on a plot in upmarket Gifford Crescent.

Cllr Hubner said he had found out from the KwaDukuza town planning and building department that no plans had been passed for a house built of containers.

“There are people living on the property as there is a shower in the yard. There is no electricity,” said Cllr Hubner.

KDM posted a stop notice to the owner of the property, a Max Greenblatt of Greenblatt MJM Pty Ltd, last December. The notice stated that Greenblatt had to return the property to its original state during January. This has not been done.

However, Greenblatt told The Courier that his “environmentally friendly housing project” will be completed in about six months.

He claimed that he does not live on the property but that he visits to keep an eye on the containers. “I started this project because I want to build a house that is going to require less water and building materials.

At the moment I have an architect working on the plans for the house.

The plans have not yet been approved by the municipality.

“The architect said it is a bit difficult and might take a bit longer to get the project approved because it is so different from normal housing projects.” Greenblatt said the inner structure of the house would be built using containers.

“The house will have a roof and, once construction is complete, people will not be able to tell the difference between a normal brick house and this house.”

Using shipping containers to build homes is a massive international trend that is seeing unique designs from double story mansions to tiny bachelor pads.

An outraged Salt Rock resident of about 30 years, Lynn Patterson, said Greenblatt was setting a precedent that would not be tolerated.

“We first saw the containers in November and thought that they would be used for storage. When we saw him building a foundation, we realised that it was going to be a structure. This looks untidy and is unfair to home owners because it devalues our property. The man is living in the containers. He is actually squatting.”

Another Salt Rock resident, who did not wish to be named, said the containers were an eyesore that could affect the tourism economy of the area.

“The place looks untidy. The site will devalue other properties in the vicinity. We are a community that stands together and communicates. People cannot just do what they want.”

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