Business plans thwarted by neighbour
2011-01-20
Lise Beyers
A LEGAL battle has erupted over a retail development in Paarl South. A local guest-house owner, Diana Liebenberg of Skinkikofi, last year took legal action against the developers of the Frater Square retail centre opposite the KWV in Main Street. Over the past year, the old La Concordia barn has been refurbished by the Frater Family Trust. The stylish development comprises of a family restaurant looking out on Paarl Mountain as well as space for 13 boutique shops. Previously a wine shop, restaurant and various boutiques were located in the building. The project consisted mainly of revamping the building, and adding an outdoor section to the restaurant at the rear of the premises. Now the Primi Piatti franchise, which has already opened a restaurant here, has been ordered by the High Court to close its doors. The boutique shops may also not be occupied. The trust was also ordered to suspend all remaining construction work on the site, pending approval from the authorities. This comes after Liebenberg filed a complaint to have the development stopped, because of alleged excessive noise coming from the restaurant, as well as from patrons leaving the premises. She claims that this disturbs her guests, some of whom have threatened not to return. According to her, she is losing business as a result of this, which could eventually lead to the closure of her establishment. It was also revealed in court proceedings that the Frater Trust had blatantly broken the law by continuing with the construction of the new development, when they had not yet received the relevant authority from the Drakenstein Municipality to do so. But Gerard Frater, member of the trust, said that he has already submitted an application for leave to appeal the decision. “Frater Square has been a dream of ours. We feel that it could be beneficial for the local tourist trade, as well as giving Paarl a general face-lift. “Already 52 people have found sustainable employment here. When the shops open, there will be many more job opportunities. “But this has been an on-going battle of almost two years, between first ourselves and the Drakenstein Municipality, and then Liebenberg, to establish Frater Square. “From the word go the municipality dragged their feet with our building permits. “We would submit plans, only to be told months later that we needed an additional certificate for this or that. And so it went on, delaying the development more and more. “The municipality has not been following the time constraints of the building laws and I am not the only person which has learnt this the hard way. “Development has almost come to a halt in Paarl because of the municipality’s incompetence in the planning/building department. It seems as if they do not want this town to go forward like Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. “Paarl has always been the step-child of the Cape Winelands and because of lack of development, especially in the tourism trade, it will remain that way.” Frater went on to say that out of 22 direct neighbours surrounding Frater Square, Liebenberg had been the only one who has been a spanner in the works. “In the beginning we did have some objections from other neighbours, but we came to an amicable compromise.” While the application for leave to appeal is being considered, Primi Piatti remains operational, but the tenants who have signed with the Fraters to open businesses at Frater Square, are still left in the dark. “We will take this matter to the highest courts to have our right to trade legalised.” Liebenberg refused to comment.
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