Cape Town - Milnerton residents affected by the proposed development at erven 222 and 223 Weir Road have requested the extension of the second public participation period.
The fiercely opposed development features a six-storey building in the middle of a current single residential neighbourhood.
The residents claimed that while the Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Department stated it had sent out notifications to all affected parties and organisations on February 21, some residents associations and conservation groups confirmed they had not received notification emails.
The City had temporarily withdrawn the advertising of the development last year but it was later re-advertised with an additional parking departure. The period for comments and objections now ends tomorrow.
The proposed development was met with fierce opposition by the Milnerton Central Residents Association, which vowed to vigorously fight it.
Activist Paul Naylor said it was still a mystery how the developers, City, and Heritage Western Cape (HWC) would allow a development of this nature on a historical enclave of Milnerton.
Naylor said Weir Road and surrounding roads had houses older than 60 years and should be protected by the City’s by-laws.
“As the process of seeking and granting development approval appears to be very long and convoluted, I believe the developers and City benefit from this, knowing that most of those who would wish to object don’t because of these processes.
“The public’s general attitude is that the developers, City and environmental impact assessment organisations tend to be seen to be just going through a box-ticking exercise,” he said.
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning spokesperson Rudolf van Jaarsveldt said the department was made aware that an interested and affected party (I&AP) did not receive the initial notification of February 21 and that the environmental assessment practitioner had provided the identified I&AP with an extension to submit comments.