GEORGE NEWS - The Wilderness and Lakes Environmental Forum (Waleaf) is concerned about the George Municipality not addressing encroachment on municipal property on the Wilderness beachfront in the form of staircases leading from private properties onto the sand.
According to Charles Scott, a spokesperson for Waleaf, the forum first took up the matter with the municipality seven years ago, but the various encroachments have not been corrected.
"The municipality could possibly be sued if a member of the public were to injure him or herself on these staircases. Bear in mind that if the municipality were sued, we, the ratepayers, will foot the bill.
"Another issue to be considered, was that if a member of our poorer community was to erect a shack on this land owned by the municipality, law enforcement would be there in a flash to remove them, whereas the well-to-do residents can erect whatever they like on municipal land, and no one lifts a finger to stop them," said Scott.
He furthermore brought to the municipality's attention that a deck on one of these properties is also encroaching on municipal land. In e-mail communication between Scott and municipal officials in 2016, one official wrote that this property's staircase, like most of the others along the beach, was erected a very long time ago, well before the municipality took over governance of Wilderness.
The official writes, "We do not know if it was erected with the council's permission. The municipality can be held liable if someone injures himself/herself. The municipality therefore will need to issue a notice for all the illegal structures on their property with a view of the owners signing an encroachment agreement where they indemnify the municipality from any liabilities."
This official also stated that an instruction had been issued to the owner of the deck and they have applied for it to be legalised. "The OC [occupational certificate] has not been issued due to the deck," he wrote.
During that same time, another official was ordered via e-mail to investigate the encroaching staircases and issue notices to the various property owners. In response to Scott's recent query as to why there has been no action from the municipality, Lauren Waring, head of the Planning and Development Department, wrote to him in an email that the nature of the encroachments requires an IGR [inter-governmental relations] approach.
"I can confirm that the matter is being addressed and action taken by various government departments."
In response to a query from George Herald, the municipality declined to give official comment, but said that the Planning and Development Department had responded directly to the complainant on the issues raised. "The George Municipality considers the issue as concluded and cannot entertain it further in the media.
"It must be noted that there are also private properties referred to, and the municipality cannot enter into a public debate about private properties, irrespective of the nature of the concern he raises. However, the complainant is welcome to approach the municipality should there be any follow-up on the response supplied by the municipality."
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