 | Drakenstein Municipality cracks down on problem buildings
19 April 2023 | Press Releases |
19 April 2023
The opening of the Drakenstein Municipal Court in Paarl on 1 December 2022 paved the way for Drakenstein Municipality to officially start cracking down on owners of dilapidated, unsightly buildings in the area. These premises not only create an eyesore and hamper potential investment, development and tourism to the area, but are also unsafe and demoralising for local communities and businesses.
Currently 42 cases are being addressed via the Municipality’s Problem Premises Bylaw. The Municipal Court has already found in favour of the Municipality in one case since December, while 10 cases were resolved without legal action. These properties vary from privately owned to parastatal owned.
The nature of the matters reported at the Drakenstein Municipal Court ranges from buildings requiring maintenance, to buildings which are derelict, require structural repairs, or are a hazard to human life and should be demolished.
“We welcome the opening of the Municipal Court as it allows the Municipality to follow a legal process to bring transgressors of our various bylaws to task,” says Alderman Conrad Poole, Executive Mayor of Drakenstein Municipality. “One such bylaw is our Problem Premises Bylaw of 2020, which replaced the repealed Problem Building Bylaw of 2012, and enables us to address the appearance and safety of a building or property.”
The Municipality first affords the owner of the premises an opportunity to address the issues before officially declaring it a problem premises - by serving a notice informing the owner of the intention to declare the property.
The owner then has a certain amount of time to engage with the Municipality and indicate by when the matter will be addressed or resolved.
Should the owner fail to engage with the Municipality, the Municipality has no other option but to serve a further notice and declare the property a problem premises. Thereafter, the matter is taken to the Prosecutor and a legal route is followed to achieve compliance with the notice served.
Drakenstein Municipality encourages members of the public to report problem buildings to the Municipality at 080 131 3553 toll free or by sending an email to customercare@drakenstein.gov.za.
They can also use the Municipality’s SeeClickFix app to report issues.
Visit Drakenstein - SeeClickFix or download the app here:
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Issued by: Communication and Marketing, Drakenstein Municipality
