Part of the mandate of the GRA is to protect the rights and amenity of residents of Greenside. We aim to promote Greenside, as per our precinct plan and the Regional Spatial Development Framework, as a residential suburb with a green, “leafy” character, and to protect the core residential area by ensuring that the existing neighbourhood business node (along parts of Gleneagles and Greenway roads) is contained. In order to do this we ask that all business and landowners in the suburb take time to acquaint themselves with the RSDF and the precinct plan, and abide by the restrictions on business and building activity in the node and the suburb. Greenside has an approved Precinct Plan that guides land uses in our suburb. The Precinct Plan is prepared and amended in consultation with all residents, and is approved by the City of Johannesburg. According to the Regional Spatial Development Framework for our suburb “This Sub Area contains leafy suburbs developed around the Braamfontein Spruit and surrounding open spaces. These suburbs have a distinct residential character and high amenity. Land use changes in these areas in the past were met with strong resistance from residents. The objectives for this Sub Area recognise the Community Submissions, while allowing for selective land use changes and densification, as well as the containment of existing nodes to protect the core residential areas.
LIQUOR LICENCE POLICY :
The GRA has initiated a policy with regards to all liquor licence applications made in Greenside. The RA will routinely submit an objection to any application and inform residents about this, so if they have concerns they can also object to the particular application as well. The reason for the objection is to give the RA standing and leverage to meet with the business owners concerned, and try engage with them regarding the by-laws and restrictions on trading in Greenside, and our concerns about ensuring informed, legal and responsible business activities. These include reaching agreements to: not use the restaurant licence to allow for operation as a club or pub; not allow patrons to disturb the peace; play no amplified music or entertainment; provide reasonable parking; comply with health and safety laws, etc. The GRA will also engage with the applicant/licence holder to ensure that the licence is not be transferred to a new vendor without notification to the GRA, in order to prevent a new premises auto-transferring the old licence to the new operator with alternative arrangements or licence types. The GRA will assess each application in terms of the possible impact the proposed licence and venue might have on the suburb, in terms of land use legislation, encroachment on residential areas, erosion of the buffer zone between the business node and the residential area; we also want to protect the rights and amenities of residents and other business owners in terms of noise disturbance, problem patron behaviour, infrastructure and capacity, parking availability, health and safety issues and environmental degradation. If we are satisfied that the owner is genuinely going to run a restaurant (and not a club or pub) then we have the right to withdraw our objection. Only legitimate restaurant liquor licence applications will be supported in the suburb.
ILLEGAL LAND USE : This department deals with businesses or properties operating illegally. If you suspect that this is happening please report it to ComplaintsPLE@joburg.org.za Jack Sekgobela is the person appointed to investigate complaints in region B jackse@joburg.org.za
Please give address and as much detail as possible. Examples of illegal land use are communes, churches, and businesses operating from residential stands. You can check the zoning using this tool on your mobile phone – just zoom into the property in question – ags.joburg.org.za, or use the COJ website GIS system to check https://eservices.joburg.org.za/new-maps
BUILDING PLANS / PERMISSION : Any new building and any alteration that adds on to or changes the structure of an existing building must go to the City’s (Planning) Development Management Department for approval. You can check if plans have been submitted by using this portal – https://eservices.joburg.org.za/Pages/BuildingPlans.aspx
Alternatively, please contact the Building Inspector for Greenside, Melville, Auckland Park, Brixton, Richmond, Parktown, Parkview and Westcliff – Faried Watson fariedw@joburg.org.za
Historical/archived building plans will be available to the public, but only through appointment by email or telephone (Email address: KgolokoPatrickK@joburg.org.za and Tel: 011 407-6034/ 083 702 7689) and request a copy of a plan, then set an appointment for collection. The plan will then be collected at the Metro Link.
At the 2023 AGM, Colin Berger of the GRA Heritage committee presented a very useful overview of the Heritage aspects of the suburb and the value of protecting and preserving heritage aspects of our suburb. The slide show covered examples of sensitive renovations that both respect the heritage of the suburb and add value to…
Please find attached a copy of the summary of the results and comments generated by an online petition, signed by 470 residents of Greenside in August 2022, regarding the negative impacts on the suburb of illegal business activities and violations of liquor licences and land-use/ building control laws by some venues operating on Gleneagles Rd…
This is a plea to those property owners in Greenside who are doing renovations or building work on their properties to be considerate of your neighbours. Let them know that you are doing building work, let CAP know that you are having builders on site (this is an excellent proactive security measure) and PLEASE be…
The Municipal Planning Tribunal (MPT) of the City of Johannesburg has released its decision on the application on Erven 1098-1104 Emmarentia Ext 1.The Emmarentia Residents’ Association (ERA) and the Greenside Residents’ Association (GRA), along with many other interested parties and an unprecedented 2 479 residents objected to this development application back in November 2015. The…
PLEASE SUBMIT ANY OBJECTIONS BY TUESDAY evening 19th October – details below The GRA remains very concerned about the proliferation of venues that clearly, illegally and problematically operate as clubs/ bars and party venues while using restaurant liquor licences.The GRA will be objecting (as per our policy) to the application for a restaurant liquor licence…
Working together to protect our suburbs Dear Greenside and Emmarentia residents and business owners We are once more under siege! In 2014/2015, you, in your numbers (2479 of you in total), vehemently objected to the proposed multi-story development on Gleneagles/ Barry Hertzog. This development, in its current form, will extremely negatively affect the residential and…
The Greenside Residents Association would like to thank SAPS Parkview, JMPD and the City of Johannesburg land use management department for meeting with us on Monday 26 October. We had a very useful discussion regarding the many law enforcement issues that have long plagued the Greenside business node. These included security issues, dangerous driving, problems…
The closure of Mowbray Road was approved by the City of Johannesburg in 2016. This was a decision supported by the then Greenside Business Association and the Residents Association as a way to manage illegal parking, traffic congestion, problems with car guards and noise disturbances consequent to the ongoing poorly managed illegal land-uses in the…
PLEASE SUBMIT ANY OBJECTIONS BY 6pm on TUESDAY 20th October 2020 (details below) An application has been made for the Residential 1 zoning of erf 225 Greenside (49 Greenfield Rd) to be amended and title deed restrictions to be removed to allow for the development of a ground floor restaurant with 3 dwelling units above…
Some of you may have seen social media reports of a disturbance on Greenway on Friday night 24th January 2020, caused by a large group of people fighting in middle of the street. SAPS and JMPD were called and we have been told arrests were made. This is part of a larger, ongoing pattern of…