New Horizons wants in on Plett housing project

Update

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Protest action about the New Horizons housing project once again flared up last week. Issues involve, among others, the exclusion of stakeholders in the project process known as Portion 20.

Housing for this community on the outskirts of Plettenberg Bay has been a contentious issue for several years. After having lobbied for housing in the area for some two decades, protest action began in 2018.

Since then, protests about delays in getting a housing development off the ground have sporadically broken out.

The municipality finally acquired a portion of land in Ebenezer in October 2019 earmarked for about 1 500 sites for the construction of housing and infrastructure development.

Portion 20 in Ebenezer had been purchased in 2016 and it is on this land that the housing development started in February this year. It is also this development that sparked the recent action which saw residents blocking the road leading to the property with debris.

Protest action over housing in New Horizons in Plettenberg Bay has flared up again.

Claude Terblanche of the New Horizons Concerned Citizens Forum said the latest woes include the exclusion of stakeholders, including small businesses in the area, in the process.

He explained that the New Horizons Business Hub - which includes SMMEs in the area - was registered as a stakeholder in the project.

"Since the project got under way, there has been continuous non-communication with these businesses," Terblanche said. Meetings have been scheduled with all parties, but did not materialise. "At this time only about 10 community members from Ward 4 are currently employed in the project with many other employees brought in from other communities."

Terblanche said the New Horizons community should "fully benefit" from the project. Protesters have also demanded that all labourers and sub-contractors who are not from New Horizons be removed. "We have enough skilled people that are unemployed in this community."

The recent protest action saw the road to the property being blocked.

The community also demanded a financial breakdown on the scope of work, as well as a progress report.

Bitou Municipality said the cause of the latest protest action is not yet known. "As the Bitou Municipality, we are fully committed to see these housing projects implemented and delivered on time. We do not want to see constant delays. There are beneficiaries that have been waiting for their houses for many years and delaying the delivery of houses is not ideal for them. We appeal to community members and all interest groups to find a way of resolving the misunderstandings without the need to delay the project."

The recent protest action saw the road to the property being blocked.