RESIDENTS of Citrus Lane in Parkhill are concerned that their sleepy one-vehicle lane street is under threat of industrial sprawl.
This after local scrap yard, Wind Motors applied to rezone their premises from a residential plot to an industrial plot.
The scrap yard sits a stone’s throw away on Chris Hani Road at the site of the old Crown Hotel, although, a municipal notice on a Citrus Lane property states that it is under consideration for rezoning as well.
Wind Motors owner, Sagren Gounden said the application had been made to allow him to put in a retaining wall and driveway access to his scrap yard which sits on the the corner of Orange Grove and Chris Hani Road.
The pan handle will be built on the side of the property, off Orange Grove, and bordering along the Cirtus Lane properties above the scrap yard. While he also owns 16 Orange Grove, a property on Cirtus Lane, he has no intention of using that plot for industrial work.
“Under no circumstances is number 16 Orange Grove being rezoned, it’s just the pan handle drive way,” he said.
Gounden explained that his scrap yard sits below a steep bank which looms over the yard.
“The reason we are doing this is because of the danger of the bank, it’s for us to put up a retaining wall to hold up the bank,” he said.
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For, resident, Lucille Mathurine the plans to rezone the area are a concern.
“At anytime they could sell the property to someone else and a noxious company could come in, because it will be zoned as industrial,” said Mathurine.
“We accept that Chris Hani Road is industrial, but when you come up the side roads into the residential area, its awful to see. Turning a sleepy little residential lane into an industrial zone is horrendous. Noise pollution would be major because they would have the right to make noise,” she added.
The eThekwini Municipality’s spokesperson, Msawakhe Mayiselae said any property owner can initiate a change of use application which must be appropriately motivated.
“People are encouraged to get hold of the documentation as per the advert to examine the motivation put forward,” he added.
According to a municipal notice on 16 Orange Grove, the community have until 14 April to lodge their written objections to the municipality.
“We are not in a position to pre-empt a decision based on an intent to object. The intention of the public process is to allow interested and affected parties to submit comments. Once those are received, they will be evaluated as part of the planning assessment of the application resulting in a decision,” said Mayisela.
Among the concerns Mathurine will raise in her objection are the noise pollution, thoroughfare and safety issues that go hand-in-hand with industrial areas.
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“Logistically, getting trucks up this one-vehicle lane is very challenging. The residents would be completely inconvenienced. None of us want to live in an industrial area or walk past a scrap yard. Our property values would just plummet. I understand that industrial areas also pay higher rates. We need municipality to protect us and not allow us from being bullied by industry,” she added.
“If this is a scrap yard, people are going to target the area to steel scrap, which puts us at risk,” added husband, Andre Mathurine.
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