The Bromwell Street families do not want emergency temporary housing in Wolwerivier.

Seven families who live, or lived, in Bromwell Street, Woodstock, are unhappy about the prospect of moving to Wolwerivier. The move for the 16 adults and 11 children would be temporary.

The Woodstock Hub bought the houses that they stayed in in 2013, and an eviction order was granted in August 2016.

Want to stay near Bromwell Street
The Bromwell Street families have applied for a court order declaring that the City is under a constitutional duty to provide them and their dependents with temporary emergency accommodation as near as possible to Bromwell Street; and to do so within three months. The City is opposing the application. It says it does “not have any emergency housing developments available within the city centre.”

This is as result of:
* The scarcity and cost of land
*  Developing an emergency housing settlement in the city will cost at least three times more than it would cost further afield

Not entitled
The City has argued that the Bromwell Street residents “are not entitled to temporary emergency housing at a location of their choice – that being in Salt River or Woodstock.” It also said that the City was not involved in the private sale of the houses along Bromwell Street to the Woodstock Hub in October 2013 or in the eviction of the people residing in these houses.

The emergency housing at Wolwerivier offers:
Beneficiaries are provided with a 26,5 m² emergency housing structure, fitted with an internal toilet and wash basin
Plumbing, water and electricity infrastructure have been completed
Gravel roads are provided within the site
The development will be fenced with a concrete palisade fence

Space is reserved within the development for a crèche or pre-primary education facilities and a community facility.