Namibia: Wlotzkasbaken Erven Lease Contested
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The High Court yesterday contended that the Erongo Regional Council would not continue to lease erven at the Wlotzkasbaken settlement for which members of the Wlotzkasbaken Homeowners Association have pre-emptive and renewal rights until a final ruling is determined on the matter. The council has expressed its intention to lease certain erven in the settlement, and has offered these erven for lease to the general public through an advertisement that appeared in the Republikein of 20 July. The homeowners association lodged an application with the High Court yesterday to enforce an agreement of settlement reached between the council and Wlotzkasbaken residents on 10 November 2006. The residents asserted that the council is “fundamentally and materially” acting in breach of the agreement, claiming that the residents’ right with regarded to erven they occupy, are under threat. The settlement - a small holiday and fishing resort about 35km north of Swakopmund along the coastline - currently consists of 110 sites leased to residents on an annual basis since the late 1960s. These agreements expire on 30 September and will then again be renewable. Over the years, the residents have built dwellings and structures on the properties they occupy. Later, many of the houses were upgraded and built according to standard building regulations. Today, many of the structures are of a permanent nature and the properties have substantially increased in value over time. The Erongo Regional Council intends to establish a township layout of 258 erven, that will replace the existing 110 sites or erven on which the members of the association have built their houses and other structures, and for which they have lease agreements. The 110 sites, said the home owners association, were established in accordance with the legislation in existence at the time, and the rights of the association’s members were created and extended over time until the present and in terms of the aforementioned lease agreement. Further, the 258 erven, when established, will do away with and completely take up and include the area, which previously consisted of the current 110 erven. The home owners association recorded that they accept the proposed township layout, subject to their pre-emptive rights to the sites they currently occupy. At the time the settlement agreement was reached, it was anticipated that the layout plan of the proposed 258 erven would require a number of amendments and rectifications, and that the current residents would be given an opportunity to object to the proposed boundaries. The association further asserts that the Erongo Regional Council violates the settlement agreement, which established that erven would be sold - and not leased, as advertised by the council. The residents further made objection to the “haphazard” manner in which the erven are to be allocated. The applicants said the manner in which the erven are to be let out on an ‘interim basis’ is not transparent and indicative of an absence of good faith, and that it appears to be “actuated for an improper and unauthorised purpose” given the fact that the township can and should be proclaimed very shortly and within months when sales of available erven would then occur in accordance with the law. No official municipal services are currently linked to the erven at Wlotzkasbaken. The Department of Water Affairs provides the bulk water supply, but the residents themselves provide other services such as water and electricity. More : allafrica.com |