Crèche built without final municipal stamp

GEORGE NEWS - The Glenwood Conservancy has appealed against the approval of a rezoning and building line relaxation for the establishment of a crèche and aftercare facility on erf 19056, Glenwood Avenue, opposite Glenwood House School.

The appeal process is still underway, but the school had gone ahead to complete the building work.

The chairperson of the conservancy, Ingrid van Wyk, is also appealing the approval by the Eden Municipal Planning Tribunal. She is the direct neighbour of the crèche.

Approval was granted in October last year and there was opportunity for appeals until 25 November. However, according to Van Wyk, construction began on 18 November. Her attempts to get the municipality to stop the building work were to no avail.

"The municipality did not lift a finger before the school opened and welcomed its first learners on 16 January," she says.

She also reported that staff of the school were living on the premises despite a condition of the rezoning approval that staff accommodation would be prohibited. [On this point, the approval letter of the tribunal contradicts itself. It grants relaxation of the 5m building line to 1,9m for staff accommodation.]

Van Wyk says sections of the building are located right up to her fence. (The building line was also relaxed to 0,15m for a classroom, 0,9m for a toilet, and 3m for "offices, staff bathroom, change room and bathroom".)

She will be directly affected by noise levels from the classrooms and playground where up to 100 children will be accommodated. The type of outbuildings erected will also have a detrimental effect on their property's value.

Furthermore, the sewerage point that was a requirement for the first authorisation of the school has not been implemented yet, which means the French drain still remains on their side of the fence.

"All this, while my own application to get the plans of my current house approved was submitted long before the school's application. My only request was to approve the building erected prior to 2013 so that an architect could submit plans to improve the property. These plans are yet to be approved. This is a very good example of how George Municipality fails in its duties in terms of the laws governing their conduct and also their disrespect to the rights of taxpayers."

The crèche buildings are close to the boundary fence.

Lauren Waring, director of planning, in response to a query from the newspaper regarding the completed building works, said the building control and town planning sections conducted a joint site inspection on 18 January.

Two notices were served on the school - one for illegal structures and another for change of usage with reference to an existing garage that was converted into habitable space.

"These notices will expire on 9 February. A further inspection was conducted on 31 January and it was found that no school is being conducted from the property. A follow-up inspection will be conducted on the expiry date to confirm whether the owner has complied with the notices.

"Should the owner not comply, further action will be instituted. The grounds of the complainants' appeals are being investigated and a report is being prepared in this regard. The municipality cannot comment on these matters until the report has been finalised."

One of the outbuildings erected right next to the fence between the crèche and the Van Wyks' property.