I have 5 questions for our 2 Ward Councillors that I think warrant answering. I request from the Ward Councillors that I receive their answers in writing. I will hand them copies of my questions after I have read them out.
Here are my questions …. In no order of preference:
(1) About a month a ago a little girl was savaged by free running dogs on Clifton Beach. Why are there still tens and tens of “free running” “off leash” dogs on Camps Bay Beach every morning … and also on the Bakoven beaches and the footpaths of the Table Mountain National Park? I refer you City Of Cape Town Animal By-Law PG 6896 LA 23607 Promulgated 5 Aug 2011 and ask what will be done about this?
(A) I have put a motion into sub council concerning dog free running areas particular with regards to ‘nodal’ beaches. This has forced the Coastal Management department to look at the issue of signage with is sorely lacking, and the fact that people need public open spaces to walk dogs freely and more and more people will be living in smaller spaces.
I have to date been in meetings with officials and we have pinpointed all the beaches with poor signage. Only once the signage is in place can we ensure greater enforcement of dogs on beaches. We will however be looking at having a beach in each suburb open to dogs but it will be up for public comment later this year.
(2) I request that I be forwarded all relevant By-Laws w.r.t so called Car Guards. Why is the lower part of our suburb still, after all these years infested with this rag tag mob of self appointed and unauthorised parking attendants? Apart from the genuine nuisance factor and known connection to petty crime, in my opinion having all of these people (illegally) masquerading as “bona fide” security personnel creates a false impression to visitors that car breaking and crime is in fact much more of a problem than it really is. The weekends of this summer have seen a proliferation of drunk, noisome and even extortionist individuals. It is without a doubt that the Camps Bay car guards add no value to our suburb. When and what will be done about them?
(A) Informal car guards cannot be curtailed unless a formalised parking structure is implemented into the area. Please look to your residents and visitors who continue to provide an income for them. If they stopped doing so, you would not be having a problem at all. The public must take responsibility for what they create out there.
(3) I think that most of us have been down to the Glen end of the Meadows and seen the hugely out of scale home currently being built by the Solomon family. Does the three storey / 10 metre height restriction not apply to certain people? Last year I was threatened with (amongst other things): grievous bodily harm and having my house burned down for responding to a City Council invitation to object to yet another over-scale (and to my mind inappropriate) development in my sector. Sworn affidavits have been lodged with SAPS and others so if anything does happen to me they know where to start looking. I feel that structures should be put in place so that the community’s voice can be heard and that building developments such as the aforementioned can be checked in good time … and such that citizens need not fear intimidation from developers. I would like to know why and how the construction of the Solomon building has been permitted? I would like to know how we can improve the system so that we don’t have repeats of the Blinkwater/Geneva drama that cost the CBRRA so dearly?
(A) This is a planning issue and must be raised as such. We am not here to comment on any building unless it comes to Sub Council. I would suggest that the Ratepayers drive this to be investigated by the planning department either as a formal letter to myself, Cllr Haywood or the Sub Council Chair.
(4) Our suburb is split in two. We have two ward councillors Beverly Schafer and Marga Hayward. One is visibly present and active in Camps Bay, the other one more or less invisible. This being … I trust … due to the latter’s Hout Bay Informal Settlement and Hangberg commitments. Surely steps should be taken, whatever they may be, to rectify the situation so that Hout Bay may have one dedicated Ward Councillor and Camps Bay another. How can this be done?
(A) Ward boundaries are not done at local level but by the Municipal Demarcation Board which is an independent authority responsible for the determination of municipal boundaries. You can read more about it here: http://www.demarcation.org.
(5) Camps Bay used to have 2 off-sales, now we have none. Thank goodness the good sense of our citizenry put a stop to those problems. Unlike the majority of Cape Town’s “party zones” which are situated in commercial areas, the Camps Bay “Strip” directly abuts the residential area. Night clubs are open until 2am. A few late night license holders profit massively while the entire lower part of the suburb suffers the fallout: Noise, drunk drivers, beggars, child beggars, vagrants, drug dealers, petty crime and squalor. Last Saturday evening 2 mothers with babies + 13 child beggars between 5 and 12 years old had to be handled by SAPS and social workers. I often see toddlers awake and being used as begging tools to extract cash from well lubricated tourists long after midnight. I suggest that when liquor licenses come up for renewal they be on a “liquor with dinner basis only” … call last round for liquor sale at 11h00 pm across the board. All doors closed by 24h00. This will force the “trouble magnet” late night venues to convert their operations to bona fide restaurants or setup in the city downtown area where they belong. Can this be achieved and by which process?
(A) We are not a nanny state but allow free enterprise and opportunities for business to make money, in turn assisting with the growth of the economy. By laws are in place to protect the rights of both residents and affected parties and we need to ensure that we take up those rights. However, this does not mean that business should be easy targets and I would suggest that instead of trying to shut down business in your area you now consult with the Camps Bay Business Forum who represent the business owners in your area.
I thank you
Carlos Liltved
Regards,
Cllr Beverley Schafer
Ward 54 - Atlantic Seaboard
Cell: 083 598 3676
Fax: 086 588 6217
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