Residents of Oaklands Home complain that Orchards Clinic building is blocking their view.
Residents of Oaklands Home are extremely frustrated about the ongoing construction of the Orchards Clinic that has brought them nothing but mayhem and frustration.
Some of the residents told North Eastern Tribune that the construction, which was halted due to structural problems, makes their living conditions unbearable.
The construction project along Louis Botha Avenue, which started in 2015, was estimated to cost the City about R40-million. Although the building project was set to be completed on 31 March, this newspaper received reliable information that the completion date will be postponed due to the delays caused by the ongoing investigation into the structural issues.
Residents have a long list of complaints, including the fact that the building is blocking their view, rats are invading their properties, travelling on Oakland Road has now become a problem and the noise from the digging is unbearable.
“We have a school just behind that clinic and [with] the noise coming from there we really don’t think the children are able to focus.
“Another thing, they built the structure [to] overlap the pavement and [it] obstructs parents [from parking safely] when they collect their children from school,” said the resident.
Residents of Oaklands Home demand that the rubble in front of their residence be removed because it makes their place untidy.
The rules for the construction of encroachments on property bylaws states, ‘The design, arrangement and construction of a veranda, balcony, bay window or other encroachment on or over a public road, as well as the paving, kerb and gutter thereof must be to the satisfaction of and to the levels approved by the council’, however, the construction of the clinic seems to have ignored this bylaw.
It further states, ‘No person may place any veranda column over any pavement at the corner of a public road that is beyond the alignment of the building lines’, and the Orchards Clinic is built along the busy Louis Botha Avenue, the main arterial road leading to various areas of the northern suburbs of Joburg.
Residents said they want the standing structure to be demolished and, furthermore, they demand that the rubble on their pavements be removed as it makes their residential area untidy.
When contacted on 3 April, Susan Monyai, spokesperson for the Joburg Development Agency (JDA) said their investigation is still underway and they will be responding to all concerns when they’re done.
“We have confirmed that [the construction] has been halted to allow the process of the investigation to go ahead.
“As for the stakeholder relations matters, I have referred your queries to the contractor and we will be able to respond to the residents’ concerns when the contractor makes that information available to the JDA,” said Monyai.
