RESIDENTS voiced their opposition at a public meeting on Saturday to the eThekwini Municipality’s proposal to build a taxi and bus holding facility on a vacant plot of land in Prestondale.

Ward 35 councillor Bradley Singh was joined by close to 300 residents who said the proposal for such a facility housing more than 500 taxis would put additional strain on infrastructure in the area and negatively impact traffic in the area.

Robin Chetty, the public transport planning senior manager for the eThekwini Traffic Authority (ETA), was joined by members of Gabhisa Planning and Investments, the town planning practice appointed by the City involved in the proposal.

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This comes as various roleplayers, including residents, the City and the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO), try and find a solution to the lack of a designated taxi and bus rank in the area.

Currently some taxis are parked on the off-ramp of the M4 at the entrance to uMhlanga while a temporary rank behind the R4-billion Oceans Umhlanga Mall accommodates 50 taxis, however this is insufficient.

This all came to a head last year as several taxi operators blocked routes coming in and going out of uMhlanga, leading to complete traffic gridlock.

The new proposal, currently in the public participation phase, proposes a three-level holding facility with 570 bays in Prestondale, near the Umhlanga Ski Boat Club.

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Singh, who addressed residents, said it was ‘imperative’ that residents, businesses, and interested parties formally object to the proposed development.

“We feel this is poor planning by the City as alternative sites like Cornubia were proposed. Cornubia is a more suitable location, with better infrastructure and less residential impact. This development will have significant implications for the uMhlanga, Prestondale, and Izinga communities, and it is crucial that their voices are heard. My stance is to support the residents in this matter and they are not in support of this proposal. We have to look at how the facility would impact property values, traffic and the environment and we feel it would not be favourable,” Singh said.

The deadline to submit objections to the proposed holding facility ends on Sunday, December 22.

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