HermanusTimes

I was very surprised to read in the HT (18 July) that the extensive building construction on the old library site doesn't have approved plans. On what basis was this construction started?

Or are the developers playing a game to ostensibly start with a hotel and then change their minds later to a block of flats?

In the meantime the construction appears to have stopped, turning the whole area into an unmanned construction site. This encroaches heavily onto the open space of part of Lemm?s Corner, which is used as a weekend market venue. This site has been an open sewer and is at present rat-infested with rubbish bins and temporary barricades all round, with at times an odour to match.

This is also in the middle of our much-vaunted tourist zone, and what of the market?

What a mess!

What are the municipal regulations? Can people start construction without approval and stop when they like to change their minds mid-construction? Considering the fuss there was when the demolition of the old building was muted, I thought the whole thing would have been better controlled.