Crack down on illegal businesses

Walmer congestion

LATELY we have received numerous registered letters from the municipality regarding applications for rezoning of residential one properties to business two in the Walmer area which is affecting many residents. Concerns which need to be taken into consideration are:

•  Residential: Walmer was designed originally as a residential suburb and remains exactly that. A search through the internet shows all infrastructure attached to Walmer is that of a residential suburb.

A further search through estate agent and property pages illustrates that Walmer is a residential suburb, with generally, not more than 7% of properties advertised being commercial (so 93% residential). Many who reside in the immediate area in and around a particular erf have done so for many years and their reasons for doing so would’ve been on the understanding that Walmer is a residential suburb;

• Business: there are businesses operating in Walmer, some having applied for business rights, which were not addressed by the municipality, yet the businesses operate without any consideration or granting of commercial rights by the municipality. A number of years have elapsed, yet the municipality has not addressed the commercial rights issues and doesn’t prevent the businesses from trading.

As these businesses are operating without the relevant permission, one has no option but to interpret that they are operating Illegally. The onus lies on the municipality to deal with this;

•  Roads: Main Road and the particular erf are not geared for the increase in traffic flow that has occurred due to these unauthorised businesses operating. The introduction of a new business will only add to the burden on the roads.

The municipal roads department includes in its mission statement that it intends maintaining roads in a cost effective way. The mission statement isn’t possible as the traffic flow at present is not that of a residential suburb, yet the road infrastructure is one of a residential suburb and hasn’t been upgraded for commercial use.

All that’s occurring is that the roads need maintaining more often due to the commercial traffic being operated in a residential suburb, which the municipality doesn’t appear capable of maintaining. Increased traffic due to commercial activity in a residential suburb has led to daily and weekly motor vehicle accidents along the section of Main Road referred to.

While the causes of accidents may be considered as varied, less commercial traffic would decrease the number of vehicles using the section of road and would most likely decrease the numbers of motor vehicle accidents.

The motor vehicle backups lead to wear and tear on road surfaces, and an increase in vehicle emissions and noise pollution;

• Safety: play schools have emerged all over the Main Road area. Due to congestion, when parents arrive to collect their children, they block residents’ driveways, park on verges on the opposite sides of the road and run across the road. This all demonstrates that the schools have not considered adequate access planning and increases the risk of potential fatal accidents due to the increase in commercial traffic in a residential suburb.

In my view this is an extremely dangerous situation and one might argue that if the schools have been granted commercial rights by the municipality, that insufficient thought and planning has gone into the situation.

Are the schools in Main Road operating under commercial rights? I would anticipate that any business involving a school would involve a greater duty of care on all concerned, including the municipality.

There is further a potential increase in crime as individuals may have opportunities to break into business properties which have traditionally been occupied at night and during weekends and now are not.

Long standing residents in Walmer are being misrepresented by the municipality that allows businesses to operate with commercial rights in a residential area and allows businesses to operate without municipal authority when there’s an obligation on the municipality to ensure unauthorised businesses don’t operate in a residential suburb. The municipality has as a mission statement various plans, including “providing habitable stable residential environments”.

I don’t see that by allowing businesses into residential areas to be “habitable stable residential environments”, so in short, the municipality is ignoring its own mission statement by allowing the situation to continue.

The function of town and regional planning incorporates many ideals, including heritage and conservation. By allowing the residential suburb of Walmer to deviate from what it was designed to be and authorise commercial rights to properties only serves to be in conflict with heritage and conservation.

The municipal bylaws have many points relating to behaviour and conduct, stating generally that use of premises must not occur in such a manner that the convenience and comfort of other people is interfered with. In my view, businesses, whether authorised or not, interfere with the municipal bylaws.

-Barking villain, Walmer, Port Elizabeth