Angry residents of two of Joburg's spacious northern suburbs have squared up against developers - blocking the construction of new cluster homes.

Now the battle between developers and residents of Craighall and Craighall Park, in northern Joburg, could end up in court as residents have hired attorneys to protect the character of their suburbs.

This week John Turpin, chairman of the Craigpark Residents Association, told Metro that the body had resolved not to allow any home to be built on an area smaller than 1000m². He said most houses in the neighbourhood were built on stands of at least 2000m².

"We have developers wanting to put up one unit per 500m² and selling these units for between R2-million to R3-million," he said. "This has nothing to do with alleviating housing shortages. Residents don't want these kinds of developments because they create problems with water, electricity and traffic."

Turpin said that due to the densification of the city, which the council supports, residents had proposed a compromise, agreeing to tolerate a housing density of one home for every 1000m². And they have hired an attorney to prevent a developer from building four cluster homes on a piece of land smaller than that.

Dave Martin, property developer from Kirchmann-Hurry Properties, confirmed that residents were trying to block his development of four cluster homes in Craighall's Portland Avenue.

The old house on the property was knocked down about four months ago to make way for the clusters, at a density of 300m² per unit, which will sell for between R2.5-million and R3-million.

He said the matter was being handled by attorneys from both sides, adding that the development had been approved by the Gauteng MEC for Finance and Economic Affairs in 2005.

"If they (residents) have an issue, it should be with the MEC who approved the project," said Martin.

Construction had been delayed by two months, mainly because the council had not approved site development plans, he said.

Ian Ollis, councillor for Ward 90, which includes the suburbs of Craighall, Craighall Park, Hyde Park, Rosebank and Illovo, said: "There are developers who are constantly pushing the limit. I don't have problems with developments that are close to the main road but the problem comes when the development is in the middle of the area."

He said that apart from traffic congestion, residents feared a loss of privacy, as the new buildings enabled neighbours to look into their homes.

Sunday Times
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge