Lientjie Mentz
The councillors for wards 23, 20 and 26 in Bloemfontein hosted an information session on 19 May, on recent land use applications in Universitas.
The three councillors – Tjaart van der Walt of ward 23, Hennie van Niekerk of ward 26 and Corize van Rensburg of ward 20 – also recently handed over to the Mangaung Metro Municipality a petition with 900 signatures from concerned residents.
They have asked the metro to urgently address issues posed by the uncontrolled and illegal construction of student houses.
Van der Walt explained at the meeting why it was important for residents of Universitas, Park West, Universitas Ridge, and Brandwag to take note of applications of land use and to become involved and send objections to prevent the further unlawfull building of student houses.
He said that, presently, there were around six applications for student houses, for 20 students each.
“Although these applications could be within the current bylaw of the Mangaung Municipality, it creates a huge strain on infrastructure, and each case must be duly investigated,” said Van der Walt.
He gave details of four applications that were in contravention of the bylaw on student houses.
“While economic growth and job creation is central to the DA’s mission, communities have a right to raise concerns. Orderly planning and compliance with legal regulations are important to ensure sustainable communities.”
During a council meeting in April, Van der Walt urged the metro to hold public hearings where applicants could present plans and enable residents to raise and possibly address concerns while improving planned developments. He said this would also allow officials to respond to questions raised regarding students accommodation.
He stressed the importance of having such meetings, further warning: “Without this, public opposition will persist, stalling development.”
Van der Walt highlighted challenges of uncontrolled development and solutions like high-density student accommodation on the provincial land next to the campus, calling for bylaw enforcement to halt illegal building that endangers the lives of students benefiting from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas).
Van der Walt further highlighted the impact on power supply, and extended power failures in Universitas often affecting many student houses through cable faults and other problems.
According to him, this causes infrastructure overloading due to numerous illegal and uncontrolled developments.
“This will only increase as the winter approaches.”
