Cape Town - The Camps Bay Bowling Club has lost a major battle in its attempts to hold on to the property it has leased from the city for nearly a century.
The Municipal Planning Tribunal has decided in favour of an application to rezone several erven of 6 710m² from open space to community zone, which paves the way for the Camps Bay Preparatory School to use the property in future.
The city had already agreed to a 10-year lease with the Western Cape Department of Education two years ago to address overcrowding and the lack of play area for the children at the school.
The rezoning does not permit additional buildings on the property.
On Wednesday, Camps Bay Bowling Club president Michael Brand said the fight was not yet over and he would meet lawyers to decide on the next step.
The club, which was established in 1919, has about 50 active members and a long lease with the city until 2018. It can still appeal the tribunal’s decision to the mayor.
Tribunal chairman David Daniels said the tribunal concurred with arguments advanced by the applicants that the rezoning would allow for more optimal use of the space by catering to a broader community.
“The land is public land and we have to decide what is the highest and best use of that land,” said Daniels.
“If the parties still want to continue discussions (to share the property) that’s for the parties to decide. The rezoning doesn’t preclude that option.”
Daniels said the tribunal had considered the fact that the school did not have any playing facilities and that it catered for children beyond the Camps Bay community.
In its objections to the city, the bowling club had used this fact to argue the opposite - that because many of the children were not residents of the area, the bowling club represented a broader spectrum of the Camps Bay community.
But Daniels said that although the tribunal was sympathetic to the long history of the club, the needs of the school outweighed this.
“The fact that the school is serving a much larger community interest and beyond Camps Bay is extremely important. It’s a transformative consideration,” he said.
The head of the Camps Bay Preparatory School, Linda Murray, said the school was in desperate need of space to play sport, such as cricket and netball.
The school also needed extra classrooms.
Murray said the school would look to convert the existing buildings for its needs.
The school has 235 pupils from Grade R to Grade 2.
“Our staff don’t even have a staff room. They have to make use of a small aftercare room in the mornings,” Murray said.
She said pupils who attended the school came not only from Camps Bay, but Sea Point, Hout Bay and Green Point. The school had also received an application from Robben Island.
Camps Bay Primary School principal Stuart Collier said he was pleased with the tribunal’s decision. “We haven’t gained access to the property just yet, but it’s a significant step,” he said.
He pointed out that it could still be some time before the school was able to use the space.
“We are just sitting and waiting to see whether the lease will be terminated. Those discussions are between the provincial department and the city.” Collier said the school was still open to discussions with the bowling club on sharing the property, but past attempts had been “fruitless and to no avail”.
Camps Bay Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association chairman Chris Willemse, said the tribunal’s decision was a “cop out” but expected. He said there was still room to negotiate shared use of the space.
lindsay.dentlinger@inl.co.za
WESTERN CAPE / 8 SEPTEMBER 2016, 10:19AM / LINDSAY DENTLINGER
No comments:
Post a Comment