Wiese venue can rock, but only till 10pm

26 September 2016 - 09:03 By DAVE CHAMBERS

Even a fortune of $6.6-billion doesn't necessarily make you a good neighbour, as retail tycoon Christo Wiese has discovered. Twenty neighbours of Wiese's 4000-hectare Lourensford wine farm in Somerset West want a function venue shut down. Some of them point to the April wedding between Wiese's daughter, Clare, and former Sharks lock Marco Wentzel, which featured a fireworks display, as one of the events they found hard to bear.Wiese is the co-founder of Shoprite and is the third-richest person in Africa, according to Forbes magazine.A City of Cape Town planning committee will consider an application tomorrow to allow the 450-seat Laurent venue to operate beyond the 18 months originally granted. Officials are recommending approval, despite the objections. But in a rebuff to Wiese, they want to impose a new condition forcing the venue to end all functions before 10pm.More than 120 residents of neighbouring Erinvale Estate and Glen Abbey complex objected to the original plan, and a report to councillors says the stringent noise management plan that was imposed has gone a long way to reducing neighbourly friction."However, a few complaints have still been received recently. Some of these may have been related to the owner's daughter's wedding."Objectors also complained that functions often went on until 2am, and "bad behaviour by guests" was a problem. Council officials said the 10pm compulsory closing time would force Laurent to become "more of a day-time facility, which would be more appropriate in its particular location and given its contentious history"...

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