Erf 15098 application process for ill-fated Neo Victoria flats explained

Update

GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality says the structural engineer and architect appointed by Neotrend, the developer of the Neo Victoria apartment block that collapsed on Monday 6 May, were deemed adequately qualified for the execution of the project.

At the time of the approval of the building plans the development was valued at an estimated R39,544 million.

The development consisted of a basement parking area, ground floor parking and four floors of residential apartments above the parking. 

There are 42 apartments proposed and approved on the building plans. The area of the site is 1228m², and the total area of the development is 4 943m² with a coverage of 877,4m² (71,45%).

The municipality issued a statement on Friday 10 May, setting out the application process that had been followed before the plans were approved on 6 July 2023.

It says the required SANS Form 2 for appointment of the structural engineer accompanied the application and indicated the category of registration of the engineer as ‘professional engineer’ and included the registration number.  

“This registration number does not refer to the competencies the professional must hold, or the work reserved for this level of registration. The engineer was therefore deemed competent.  In the submitted form the competent person confirms that he does have professional indemnity.”

According to the municipality, on the said form, the engineer, Atholl Mitchell, declared that he has the necessary qualifications, experience, and contextual knowledge to undertake the work proposed.  The form stipulates the description of all applicable work responsibilities and the owner signed acceptance of the appointment.

Architect

With regard to the evaluation of the architect, the municipality says it uses the Identification of Work Matrix (Idow) from the Architectural Professional Council as a guide to determine the work that can be performed by a professional in terms of his/her category of registration. 

This matrix determines the exact type of work that can be performed by a registered architectural professional in the category of registration. “Based on the information provided by the applicant, the architect was also confirmed to be competent to undertake this design,” says the municipality. 

The architects on the project are Deon van der Westhuizen Architects.

Compliance during construction

The municipality says that it has no record of previous safety violations by the developer within the George municipal area. At the time of the incident, construction had progressed up to and included the concrete roof with various other disciplines busy with service installations.

“The developer with his professional team is not obliged to submit any compliance report to the municipality.  The normal practice is that the owner and developer, together with their professional team will have weekly/bi-weekly or monthly meetings and inspections where progress reports are submitted to the owner/client.  This practice is done with no input from the municipality and currently the applicable legislation does not demand that this information be submitted to the municipality.”

The municipality’s statement further reads as follows:

Rezoning application

On 3 September 2020, a pre-application form for the proposed development of Erf 15098, George was submitted to the George Municipality’s Town Planning Department by Jan Vrolijk Town Planner, acting on behalf of the owners of said property.

 Based on the outcome of the pre-application assessment, the development proposal was revised, and a new pre-application form was submitted on 23 November 2020.

In the pre-application document, the applicant expressed their intention to develop a 5-storey block of flats with a rooftop deck. The addition of the deck would result in the permitted 15m building height being exceeded by 2.17m.

The parking ratio, building lines, coverage and floor factor had to be relaxed to accommodate the proposed development.  

At this stage as well as throughout the land use application process, the municipality only looks at the development concept (the preliminary architect’s drawings) to get an overall idea of what the development may look like and the impact it may have the neighbourhood, the surrounding property owners, traffic movement, pedestrian safety, engineering services, and so on. 

The final detailed design is only addressed on the submission of building plans.

Rezoning

Jan Vrolijk Town Planner submitted the application in terms of Section 15(2) of the George Municipality’s Land Use Planning By-law (2015) for the Rezoning of Erf 15098, George from Business Zone IV (offices) to General Residential Zone IV (flats) as well as for certain Departures on 15 March 2021.

The public participation process was as followed in terms of the requirements of the bylaw and the closing date for comment was 21 May 2021. No comments or objections were received.

After assessment of the application, the senior town planner recommended the application for approval on the following grounds:

1.            The subject properties are located within walking distance from public transport facilities (“bus stops”) and supports the efficiency of public transport systems and transport orientated developments;

2.            The development will provide for much-needed housing opportunities within close proximity of work opportunities and social and economic amenities.

3.            The proposed development supports densification in strategic areas, and optimizes the utilization of the existing resources and underutilized land within the CBD area;

4.            The proposed development, in consideration of the need for densification in the CBD area, will not have an adverse impact on the adjacent neighbours’ amenity and right to privacy, views and sunlight.

5.            The development can thus be deemed to be compatible with the spatial planning policies and guidelines for the area.

The recommendation was accepted, and that application was approved by the acting deputy director: Planning, Mr Clinton Petersen, on 27 September 2021 in terms of the approved delegations and categorisation of applications, applicable at the time of approval.

The approval letter was issued on 1 October 2021. The municipality notified the public of the decision on its website, advising parties of their right to appeal. 

The notice is placed on the website for the duration of the appeal period, which in this instance ended on 22 October 2021. No appeals were received and a letter informing the applicant of this was issued on 25 October 2021.

Site development plan

One of the conditions of approval for the implementation of the above approval, required the owner to apply for the approval of a site development plan. The SDP is not the detailed building plan, but rather intends to confirm that the building to be erected complies with the zoning scheme and conditions imposed with the above-mentioned approval.

The application for Permission in terms of Section 15(2) of the Land Use Planning By-law (2015) to approve the site development plan was submitted by Deon van der Westhuizen Architects on behalf of the owners on 21 April 2022. 

The senior town planner found the proposal to comply with all legal requirements as stated in Section 65(2) of said By-law and the site development plan was accordingly approved by the acting deputy director: Planning, Mr Clinton Petersen on 25 May 2022.

The approval letter was issued on 27 May 2022 with the 21-day appeal period also being applied. No appeal was received and a letter informing the applicant in this regard was issued on 20 June 2022.

Building plan application

The building plan application for Erf 15098, George, was approved on 6 July 2023 and issued to the applicant, Deon van der Westhuizen Architects.  

The outcome for approval follows two prior outcomes not to approve the building plan based on details required regarding services and outstanding contributions.  The plans were only approved once the building control officer (BCO) was satisfied that the requirements were met.

The floor layout of a two-bedroom apartment in Neo Victoria.

‘Ons bring jou die nuutste Tuinroete, Hessequa, Karoo nuus’