Masiphumelele leaders have been left fuming, saying the clearing of the former Silole farm indicated the City’s intentions to go-ahead with its plans to build a multimillion-rand fire station on the land.
This, they said, was despite the deadline for public participation today.
The leaders charged their submissions would not be taken into consideration as the City had already made up its mind.
However, Mayco member for Safety and Security; and Social Services JP Smith said the building plans for the new fire station have not yet been approved.
Masiphumelele community leaders and activists said it was agreed between residents and the City that the city-owned site would be used to build low-cost houses.
Activist Rosemary Milbank said the clearing of the site started on June 5. The purpose of the public participation process is to deviate from the designation of medium density-zoned residential land, which would have seen the construction of GAP houses, to permit a building of a fire station, read the notice. It stated that the public participation process was also for subdivision of the property into two portions.
“How come they are grading everything on the side already. The land was bought for GAP housing but now they want to rezone it from residential to build a fire station. They should not be using that land for a fire station. They are not following the right procedure,” she said.
The City’s Building Development Management Department had no objection to the site clearing, said Smith. “No construction work will commence prior to building plan approval,” he added.