Lakeside school in by-law naughty corner

The City has served a Lakeside school with a notice to cease activity as it is operating in violation of by-laws.

The notice, served on Neuro Kids SA, a franchise of the Shekinah Christian Academy trading as Hippo Campus, on Wednesday February 14, states that the school for children with special needs has 30 days to stop all activities at the Hants Road premises.

Mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews said the property was zoned for single residential use, which is suitable for a single dwelling with additional use rights that include a place of instruction.

He said no land-use application had been submitted by the school and in addition to the notice to stop activity, a notice in terms of the National Building Regulations for the unlawful erection of a boundary wall was issued on Thursday January 18.

This notice, he said, was still in its 60-day grace period.

The school, which has been operating since the beginning of February, has had neighbours hot under the collar.

A petition signed by 28 residents living in and around Hants Road lists the main concerns as increased traffic and noise, an unsuitable environment for children with special needs, and a drop in property value.

The tenant of the property and owner of the school, Shivani le Roe, responded to neighbours’s concerns by email saying the school will only accommodate 10 pupils with special needs between the ages of 6 and 14 and there will be five teachers.

All necessary processes would be followed and the problem with the boundary wall would be attended to, she said, adding that she was open to addressing any concerns with the neighbours.

Resident Helen Lategan said there was already a pre-primary school in Hants Road and the road was blocked whenever the school had an event.

She said the five teachers would have to park in the road and the three-bedroom and one-bathroom property surrounded by concrete was not suitable for children with special needs.

“We live here because of the lifestyle and having a business in a quiet residential area like Lakeside will deter prospective buyers, thereby affecting property values and the rights of the existing neighbours,” she said.

Another Hants Road resident, Tony Rozenmeyer, said he was worried about increased traffic in Northumberland Avenue, a street that runs parallel with the mountainside and crosses Hants Road.

He said cars were parked on both sides of Northumberland Avenue daily and crossing the road was “extremely dangerous”.

Mr Andrews said the application for consent would need to be advertised to the affected neighbours, and the City’s health and urban mobility directorates would need to be consulted.

“It is unlawful to operate before consent is issued, and if operations aren’t ceased, it will result in the need for an administrative penalty,” Mr Andrews said.

The Echo visited the school last Thursday, and Ms Le Roe, who owns another school for children with special needs from Grade RRR to Grade R on the main road in Lakeside, said she had no intention of operating in violation of City by-laws.

She said she started renting the property in October last year after an elderly disabled man had been evicted.

“The house was in a terrible state of neglect and in need of repair and cleaning,” she said.

She said she had then appointed a town-planning company to complete the necessary application but had subsequently learnt that it had not yet been done and that she was operating illegally.

She said the school operated as a cottage school, but the Shekinah Christian Academy trading as Hippo Campus was registered with the Department of Education and she provided the Echo with the Education Management Information System (EMIS) number for the academy.

She said she could not register Neuro Kids SA as there was no independent body that registered cottage schools and its curriculum was too diverse to register as an independent school.

The school caters to Grades 1, 2, and 7 as it is based on the children’s individual needs.

She said the City’s health department had checked the premises were safe and she gave the Echo a copy of the report.

She said due to the nature of the school and the number of pupils, the noise levels would be minimal and all her staff used public transport.

The concrete exterior, she said, would be covered with padding and synthetic lawn, and grass would be planted in the back garden where the children would be gardening as part of the curriculum.

She said she had replaced the property’s low front boundary wall with a higher pre-cast wall and did not know she needed approval from the City to do so.

She said she could not cease operations as the children had nowhere to go.

“Children with autism thrive on routine, and it would be crippling their ability to learn if we cease operation.”

Western Cape Education Department spokesperson Millicent Merton confirmed that the school was not registered with the department but said it appeared that the Shekinah Christian Academy was registered in KwaZulu-Natal and she referred the Echo to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education.

KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi did not respond to the Echo’s enquiry by deadline.