| Court hears PA marina land dispute - 2010/07/23 | |
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| A HOTLY disputed parcel of land in the exclusive Royal Alfred Marina – where East London developer Stuart Boucher is hoping to build another hotel – has ended up in court. The land, described in court papers as “particularly valuable”, is adjacent to the Halyards Hotel, once owned by one of Boucher’s companies. The Port Alfred Municipality sold it for a nominal fee of R210000 to Boucher for the express purpose of expanding accommodation at the Halyards Hotel. Boucher subsequently sold the hotel, but one of his companies, Halyards Properties, hung onto the disputed parcel of land, which had never been developed. Ownership of one of the erven has subsequently been transferred to another company, Royal Alfred Marina Club Hotel (RAMCH), in which Boucher also has a substantial interest. But two business entities of which another prominent property developer, Justin De Wet Steyn, is a director – the PA Marina and Small Craft Harbour Development (Pamcor) and the PA Small Boat Harbour Company – are asking the Grahamstown High Court to order the property be transferred back to the Ndlambe Municipality as it had never been used for its original, intended purpose. Pamcor developed the Royal Alfred Marina and, apart from purchasing freehold land from the then-Port Alfred Municipality, it also effectively held a 40- year long lease on land which now comprises the small boat harbour and other vacant land around the marina, including the disputed land. Steyn said in an affidavit that in 1996 Halyards Properties had wanted to acquire further land to expand the battling Halyards Hotel to make it more viable. The Port Alfred Transitional Local Council had agreed to sell it certain land which formed part of the land leased by Steyn. Steyn had agreed, conditionally, to excise this portion of land from his long lease as, he says, it was in the interest of the marina that the hotel succeed. A condition to the sale included that the land would “be used solely for the purpose of developing and erecting thereon further accommodation to supplement the existing accommodation capacity” of the Halyards Hotel. Boucher acquired the land, including Erf 5302 which is now earmarked for further hotel development, for a token amount of R210000. Steyn later learnt that in 2002 Ndlambe Municipality had signed an addendum to the original sale agreement with Boucher in terms of which the RAMCH and a third company, the Halyards Hotel (Pty) Ltd, were “joined” as a party to the sale agreement. The two companies effectively became owners of two of the erven. In 2003 Boucher approached Steyn to formally sign the documents releasing the properties from his lease agreement. While he did so, Steyn said he was never asked to sign the addendum to the deed of sale. He said that the RAMCH now wished to develop the property “contrary to the use contemplated in the original sale agreement”. He said the separation of purchasers had the effect of negating the sale conditions and Pamcor would never have consented to this had it known. He is asking the court to set aside the addendum to the 1996 agreement of sale and wants the court to order the property be transferred back to the Ndlambe Municipality and reincorporated into the original lease agreement with himself. Boucher says that Steyn ceased to have any interest in the property once it was sold to his company. This was especially so because Steyn had released the property from the lease he held with the municipality “and had, and still has, no interest therein whatsoever”. Approached for comment yesterday, Boucher’s attorney, Mark Nettelton, said the parties had all sought extensions to file further papers. Until the dispute is resolved, Boucher has agreed not to develop the land in any way. By ADRIENNE CARLISLE |
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| Source: Daily Dispatch | Date: 2010/07/23 |
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