IN the Paarl Post of 11 March there are three items of note (a letter regarding conservation by Lew Roberts, a complaint regarding the noisy night races and a report about the Drakenstein Survey Group).
Lew Roberts takes the local Heritage Committee to task on the house in Loop Street in particular. However, none of the decisions relating to this house has been taken by the local conservation body, which (despite the legal requirement to notify and consult when an old building is involved), has been sidelined by the owner in the attempt to obtain a permit to demolish.
We are seeing the same deterioration opposite the Mall where total destruction of a beautiful old house next to the N1 has been allowed to take place unhindered by any law enforcement.
This is where the survey group comes into the picture. This survey includes an independent evaluation of the heritage significance of all the buildings over 60 years of age in Paarl.
The house in Loop Street was given a 3B rating which means that Heritage Western Cape would allow internal alterations and some minor additions or alterations only, but not demolition.
Allowing such a building to be vandalised to assist in obtaining a demolition permit, is illegal.
The Heritage and local Building and Town Planning laws provide powers and regulations for the Municipality to ensure that these buildings are maintained in good order and protected.
Action to enforce these laws was included in the decision by Heritage Western Cape, and sent to the local Council when demolition was refused.
The laws, the personnel and the means to enforce the law exist, but the Municipality does not have the interest of the community at heart, nor the political will, to enforce the laws that the norms of society demand.
The drag racers (like perlemoen poachers) disregard the rules and norms of society for their selfish enjoyment and benefit.
Developers disregard the laws and rely upon public outrage at the state they allow their buildings to deteriorate into, to allow them to demolish and profit.
This is not a conservation or heritage issue, it is an attitude of disrespect for the rights of other citizens, the laws of the country and the lack of will by municipalities to enforce these laws.
This of course will be the major issue if, as reported, the power in heritage matters were to be delegated to the Municipality, following the acceptance of the survey.
If the Municipality continues to ignore its legal responsibilities to enforce the laws, the current situation will never alter and the control of our local heritage will always be in the hands of Western Cape government.
Our Municipality, on the contrary, attempts to extend the urban edge without the required heritage studies, they allow development on mountain farms in Paarl (despite their own studies which demand the conservation of these farms), they turn a blind eye to illegal work on old buildings (e.g. the un- suitable development in historic Mill Street) and they have even attempted to turn Victoria Park into a parking area for the expanded municipal offices in Market Street.
If these are anything to go by, the survey (and the money spent on it), is a waste of taxpayers’ money.
What is required is a municipality committed to enforce the recommendations of the studies they commission and accept, one which is prepared to delegate power to its heritage officials, and which is committed to enforce the laws. Only then can delegation be achieved.
If this were so, the Loop Street issue would have been resolved years ago.
Len Raymond
