Update: Industry an ‘unwelcome neighbour’
Neighbours are still waiting for the ruling, following their successful appeal, to be implemented.
UVONGO homeowners are adamant: No industrial development next door, full stop!
And they have proved they will go to any lengths to stop industrial activity taking place illegally on an agricultural property bordering their homes.
The matter has been bouncing about council and the courts for nearly two years, but it still won’t lie down and die.
Now Hibiscus Coast Municipality is seeking further legal advice regarding a request from Siva Pillay, the owner of Lot 1959 Uvongo, for yet another extension on the deadline for stopping this activity.
The owner operates Siva Pillay Construction from Lot 1959 and stores and maintains heavy vehicles there.
In June 2013, neighbours contacted their ward councillor Peter Naude, expressing concerns about the noise, the mess, the oil and diesel pollution, the damage done to the roads by increased heavy traffic and the negative effect the industrial activity had on property values in the area.
The following month, the municipality served an order on Siva Pillay Construction, prohibiting it from operating on Lot 1959. The order was ignored, as was another served by a Port Shepstone attorney a few months later.
Eventually, the property owner agreed to stop operating the business from Lot 1959, but then he requested and was given an extension, allowing him to continue working from there pending an application for rezoning.
The rezoning, from ‘agriculture’ to a split zoning (comprising ‘light industry’ and ‘conservation’) was eventually granted, but not without great opposition. The municipality received 23 objections and 39 residents signed a petition.
One of the objections came from Ivungu River Conservancy, expressing great concern about the threat of pollution posed by oil and diesel spills to the Ivungu River and other sensitive areas.
At the relevant portfolio meeting, consensus about the rezoning application could not be reached and it was put to the vote. It was subsequently opposed in the executive committee meeting as well and went to the vote… again. The ‘yay’ vote eventually went through.
The objectors then turned to the KwaZulu-Natal Planning and Development Appeal Tribunal for relief.
At the hearing, presided over by Thulani Nkosi in Durban in April this year, the tribunal upheld the appeal against the rezoning. It ruled that Hibiscus Coast Municipality had been precluded from approving the application for rezoning Lot 1959. It pointed out the application proposal was in conflict with the municipality’s integrated development plan, a component of which was its spatial development framework
Hibiscus Coast spokesman Simon April said soon after the appeal outcome had been received the municipality had been obliged to implement the ruling and to notify Siva Pillay Construction it would have to cease all industrial operations on Lot 1959.
“A letter to that effect was addressed to the owner who failed to adhere to the 72-hour deadline as was instructed in the letter. Subsequently, Hibiscus Coast Municipality appointed an attorney to enforce compliance. A few weeks ago the owner requested a further extension of time since he was abroad until the beginning of August,” said Mr April.
He added that the municipality was now waiting for legal advice regarding the matter.
