The City says it will take legal action against a Lakeside special-needs school that continues to operate in violation of municipal by-laws.
Neighbours of Neuro Kids SA, a franchise of the Shekinah Christian Academy, trading as Hippo Campus, in Hants Road, say they are at their wits’ end with noise coming from the property.
On Wednesday February 14, the City served the school, with a notice, giving it 30 days to stop all activities on the premises.
A notice in terms of the National Building Regulations for the unlawful erection of a boundary wall had been issued in January.
The property is zoned for single residential use, which is suitable for a single dwelling with additional use rights that include a place of instruction (“Lakeside school in by-law naughty corner,” Echo, February 29).
At the time, the tenant of the property and owner of the school, Shivani le Roe, told the Echo she had no intention of operating illegally but that had happened because the town-planning company she had hired had not submitted her application on time.
She assured the Echo that the application would be submitted soon.
However, to date, only an application by Ms Le Roe to pay an administrative penalty for the erection of the boundary wall has been submitted, but the required consent and departure application is still outstanding, according to mayoral committee for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews
Mr Andrews said that after two failed attempts to inspect the property in March, an inspector had visited on Tuesday April 9 and found the notice to cease activity was being ignored.
The City was now preparing a case file after which Ms Le Roe would be summonsed to court.
A neighbour who asked not to be named said the “screaming and shouting” that reverberated from the concreted area in front of the house was unbearable.
She said the school had not only disrupted her life but also the lives of the 28 neighbours who had signed the petition against the school.
Another Hants Road resident, Helen Lategan, said that the noise of the children playing was so overwhelming last week that she had walked over to the school to ask the carers, who were standing outside, to keep it down.
She said one of the carers had informed her that there were 11 children and only three carers.
Following complaints from neighbours earlier this year, Ms Le Roe responded to their concerns by email assuring them that the school would only accommodate 10 pupils and there would be five teachers. And she said that due to the nature of the school and the number of pupils, the noise levels would be minimal.
Ms Lategan said she had also noticed a girl scaling a climbing wall on the chimney without a safety helmet, and mats on the concrete floor would have offered little protection if she had fallen.
Ms Lategan said morning traffic had also increased.
“There is a child whose parent drops him off early who stands on the opposite side of the road, picking up the stones on the neighbour’s verge, throwing the stones in all directions. The parent sits in their vehicle, parked in Hants Road, but does nothing to stop his behaviour,” she said.
She said another neighbour had expressed concern that the child could be hit by a car.
“We have enough traffic coming up Hants Road towards Northumberland and now, in the afternoon, usually around 5pm, there are cars parked in the street waiting to collect children.”
Ms Le Roe’s lawyer, Gerrie Smit, from Hayes Incorporated, responded to the Echo’s enquiry, saying all future queries should be addressed to him.
Mr Smit said Ms Le Roe had submitted an application for the administrative penalty in early March and was notified that the land-use application could be submitted pending the outcome of the previous application.
“As for the outcome of the applications, the applicant’s compliance, and any neighbour complaints, kindly refer all queries to the City,” he said.
