Eventide planning issues

From: Mark Shapiro 

Subject: Eventide planning issues

Date: 28 December 2015

To: campsbayratepayers@gmail.com

Dear Chris

We write to you as chairman of the Camps Bay Ratepayers CBRRA. 

We noticed a number of changes to “Eventide" on Victoria road (see photos attached) in December that concerned us. We wrote (see below) to Eventide representative Andrea Bezuidenhout on December 14th 2015, to request that the building and its owners comply with the current City planning and By-laws. The response from Eventide has been polite but with no action. 

Is the CBRRA aware of the issues raised below and has the CBRRA lodged an objection to the structure on Eventide's roof? 

Best regards, 

Mark Shapiro & Family.

Mark Shapiro

Sale/Lease of potion remainder Erf 1056 Green Point

From: Vivienne Sasman

Subject: URGENT FW: SALE/LEASE OF PORTION REMAINDER ERF 1056, GREEN POINT

Date: 14 January 2016 

To: CAMPS BAY RATEPAYERS' AND RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION 

Good day all

Please find attached, a memorandum regarding the lease/sale of portion of remainder erf 1056, Green Point (Granger Bay Boulevard).If you wish to comment,please do so on or before Wednesday 3 February 2016 and submit it to Mr Jason Toay

Kind regards / Vriendelike groete/ Ngombulelo omkhulu

Vivienne Sasman

Admin Assistant: Good Hope Subcouncil 16

10th Floor,44 Wale Street

Cape Town

Tel: 021 487 2759

View the link here: Granger Bay Erf 1056

Letter in response to the article on the Strong bungalow debacle in Bakoven

Letter to the editor of the Mail and Guardian, Friday 11 December 2015.

Sir

The letter from Patricia de Lille, the Mayor of Cape Town (M&G 20 Nov through her spokesperson) - in response to the article on the Strong bungalow debacle in Bakoven - clearly articulates the Mayor's disregard for due process and her (and her senior cabal’s) disconnect with the communities of Cape Town.

What Mayor de Lille does not share with your readers is the fact that, on her  instruction, the City entered into litigation with various affected neighbours and the CBRRA, against the clear advice of her legal department in order to defend a flawed and incorrect decision made by the Good Hope Subcouncil.

All of this is contained in the court papers and the City-commissioned KPMG forensic report.

If this was not bad enough, when it became apparent that the City of Cape Town could not prevent the local DA ward councillor, Marga Haywood, from ,  giving damning oral evidence before the Western Cape  High Court,  the City hastily abandoned the case and tendered legal costs to the Applicants. The inescapable conclusion of this bizarre action on the part of the Mayor, can only be her need to protect the DA councillors in the local Good Hope Subcouncil from being exposed for corruption and bias.

The KPMG report and court papers clearly shows that this is not a "he said, she said" matter as alleged by the Mayor. The facts are very clear and the KPMG report reveals that  Cllr Errol Anstey conceded that he made biased statements in favour of the Strong’s, who, by their own admission, contribute to the DA party coffers

The unnecessary stress and trauma caused to law-abiding ratepayers by the developer-friendly  DA administration, not to mention the financial commitment required of private individuals to fight a City that blithely uses ratepayers money to  fight its own citizens, is shocking in the extreme and should result in the Mayor falling on her own sword. 

The estimated cost of this exercise in futility, including the cost of the KPMG report, runs into the millions of rand and constitutes fruitless and wasteful expenditure on the part of the Mayor. This is surely a case for investigation by the office of the Public Protector.

In addition  taking into account  two recent cases before the Western Cape High Court, namely the attempted cancellation of the Camps Bay Bowling Club lease and the Wynberg MyCiti debacle, where the Mayoral Committee's decisions, bulldozed through the DA caucus, were reviewed and set aside by that Court (with sharp condemnation of the City's disregard for its Constitutional obligations in terms of public participation), then a clear picture of abuse of executive power on the part of Mayor  comes sharply into focus. 

The arrogant statement by the Mayor, that "we will consider our governance model a success" belies the reality that the DA-led City, under Mayor de Lille, can only offer trite and disingenuous comparisons to ANC rule, rather than set their own decent standards for inclusive, transparent and accountable governance in the City of Cape Town, which is rapidly being asset-stripped by the Mayor and her friends and sponsors in the development industry. 

The proposed sale of public land in Clifton for private development, despite being protected under heritage laws and against the wishes of the majority of stakeholders across the entire city - and the accompanying public participation sham - is a good example of this leadership style of Mayor de Lille.

Regards

Chris Willemse

Chair Camps Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association (CBRRA)

cnwillemse@gmail.com

0836536363

 ‹‹ read the article here ››‹‹ read the mayor's response here ››

Quote by Tony Benn

“The way a government treats refugees 

is very instructive because it shows you 

how they would treat the rest of us 

if they thought they could get away with it.” 

Tony Benn

Neelix Event at Clifton

Dear Mayor de Lille

It is with grave disappointment that the CBRRA has learnt that it’s - and other stakeholders’ in Camps Bay/Clifton - genuine and motivated concerns regarding the negative aspects of the abovementioned event have been ignored by the City officials and that it has been approved by the City.

The Camps Bay Events Panel was formed by all I&AP’s in the area to assist the City with such applications and to do it in a streamlined manner to expedite the assessments of applications.

This panel is extremely pro-active and offers the City positive feedback at all times, particularly where it believes that amendments would benefit all parties. In other words, it is not just a grouping that attempts to protect the narrow interests of the local residents but one that attempts to make the natural attraction of events to the area as pleasant an experience as possible for event-goers, tourists and residents alike, whilst ensuring that Event Organisers do not suffer bottlenecks or double-bookings, for instance.

The proposed Neelix Event is clearly not suitable for any dense residential area - especially one that will be bursting at the seams with holiday-makers and tourists. The security problems surrounding this event are enormous and, in the opinion of local security experts, unmanageable. This event was not supported by ANY of the local stakeholders and the Ward Councillor for very good reasons. That the City saw it’s way to approving this application is unfathomable.

Given the current status, and unless you are willing to personally intervene and stop this event, the onus of responsibility for any problems arising from this event will lie with you and the City. The local stakeholders have established a good working relationship with Disaster Management but will not be able to offer any local resources for this event as they are already stretched in covering the other approved events and the seasonal flocking to this part of the Atlantic Seaboard. This includes the CPF and other security volunteer groups.

In other words, the City must ensure that it alone supplies all necessary manpower and resources to deal with any eventuality arriving from this event. Again, it is stressed that this event will not be easy to manage and the potential for major problems is very high.

The CBRRA, on behalf of the community of this area, trusts that you will intervene in this matter.

Regards

Chris Willemse

Chair CBRRA