In the second week of November 2009, there appeared on the lawns of the Camps Bay main beach, three structures which were purported to be public change rooms.
Made out of flimsy materials with no door locks and bolted to huge concrete blocks placed on the lawns for stability against the wind, the changing-rooms were festooned with what the Council termed “ambush marketing” promoting breakfast foods.
The structures rapidly became tatty as a result of their flimsiness and the action of the wind. There were signs of drug usage and faeces in the cubicles and it was obvious that they had to be removed without any delay.
The owners of the restaurants immediately behind them justifiably complained to the Council and were strongly supported by CBRRA, the Camps Bay Community Police Forum, Camps Bay Watch and the Camps Bay Community Security Initiative.
The “permit” which the advertisers had received from the Council for this project had erroneously been given to them by a junior clerk in the Council Sport and Recreation Department without any prior public participation or referral to CBRRA and the like.
In the face of extreme threats from the advertisers in respect of the legal consequences should they be forced to remove the structures, the Council gave them due notice of a deadline for the removal thereof in terms of the relevant advertising by-law. The deadline for the removal by the advertisers was not met and the Council duly removed the offending structures in the fourth week of November 2009.
CBRRA commends all the parties who took part in the wide public protest against these structures and thanks the Council for its prompt reaction. It wonders just how the advertisers ever thought that this campaign of theirs would ever further the cause of the products which they attempted to promote.
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