Hoërskool Menlopark in Pretoria is extremely worried about the safety of its pupils with the traffic congestion in the area. In fighting a high density development across from the school, its governing body said this will increase the traffic in the area. Hoërskool Menlopark’s governing body turn to the SCA to fight development
ZELDA VENTER
The School Governing Body (SGB) of Die Hoërskool Menlopark (SGB) will now turn to the Supreme Court of Appeal after it failed in its bid to halt the proposed high-density residential development, earmarked to be erected across the school in Menlopark, Pretoria.
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria last year turned the governing body’s application down for an order overturning the decision by the City of Tshwane to give the green light to the developer to have the area zoned for residential purposes.
But the governing body is not giving up the fight and it has obtained leave from the court to now take the fight to the SCA.
According to the governing body, it argued that Judge Elmarie van der Schyff erred both in law and on the facts when she ruled against the school.
The school is extremely concerned about the safety of its learners if the already traffic-congested Rosemary Street and surrounding streets become even more congested if a high-density residential development sees the light there.
The governing body told Judge Van der Schyff that it has a duty to ensure the safety of the learners. This is especially important when they are dropped off at school in the mornings and fetched later in the day.
It said not only will the morning peak traffic emanating from the high-density development coincide with the pupils arriving for school, but the increased flow of traffic along Rosemary Street will further endanger school pupils at all times of the day.
The body raised arguments that the City did not properly consider the impact the increased traffic will have when it gave the green light for the rezoning in light of the development.
Optimprops, the developer, meanwhile, argued that the school has parking bays next to the road where parents drop off and fetch their children.
The area under consideration is considered to form part of a “concentration zone” within which high-density development is promoted. Densities of more than 200 units per hectare are promoted for properties less than 500 meters from proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) stations. The proposed development falls within this category.
In the main application, Judge Van der Schyff found that the City did not, as alleged by the SGB, pay lip service to the public participation process.
“The public participation process rendered 29 objections. These were considered… It is evident that the municipality is aware of the extent of the current traffic issues that present themselves in Rosemary Street,” the judge said when she turned down the review application.
In the appeal application, Advocate Adrian Vorster said Judge Van der Schyff was wrong in finding that the City undertook a proper public participation process.
He argued that the City outsourced the public participation process to the developer who decided on the scope of what was to be covered and did not undertake an independent and impartial investigation of the feasibility of the proposed development.
He said the City circulated the application to its internal departments for comments and in commenting on the proposed development, the internal departments seemed to accept the cogency and veracity of the statements in the report at face value.
According to Vorster, the existing problems, such as the eastern approach to the intersection between Atterbury and Rosemary Road, the traffic congestion along the link road, and the potential risk of increased traffic to pedestrians were further deemed to be irrelevant by the developer’s traffic engineer.
He said the fact that the City planned a BRT route along Atterbury Road, which, upon implementation, was anticipated to require the closure of the school’s access along Atterbury Road, would result in traffic to and from the school being rerouted to Rosemary Road, which were equally deemed to be irrelevant by the developer’s traffic engineer.
He will ask the SCA to set aside the approval given by the City for the development and ask for an order that the matter be remitted to the Municipal Planning Tribunal for reconsideration.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za
Related Topics: