AGM 2019 Chair's report

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Good evening and welcome to the 2019 AGM of the CBCRA on this balmy Camps Bay evening.

As always, thanks to Maree Brink, Johannes Lategan and the Bay Hotel for the generous use of the facilities and especially to Lloyd Brown and his staff for putting the show together tonight. My thanks to Mary & Brian Lloyd and Ann Caras, who always volunteer to manage the members’ table. A special thanks to alma horn for arranging and managing the audio-visual side of the evening.

A warm welcome to our guest speakers tonight:

Mike Barron - Mike is the course director of Cape RADD, which is the Research & Diver Development, who will address us on the massive problem of plastics in the environment. 

Amy Boshell - Amy is an artist who assist with an anti-plastic campaign started by Biana Krafft in Camps Bay. 

We are very privileged to have Senior Professor Leslie Petrik address the meeting tonight. Leslie is a pre-eminent and well-published scientist in her field and will explain what is happening in our coastal waters.

Also welcome to our new local ward councillor, Nicola Jowell. She will give a report- back tonight after which you, the ratepayers of Camps Bay, will have an opportunity to address her on issues that are of concern to you.

Welcome also to the security cluster represented by Bernard Schäfer and Alan Marsh, and to Michael Ender of the SFB Ratepayers.

Firstly, may I please have any apologies for tonight’s meeting.

Apologies which have already been received will be posted with the minutes of this meeting

Also, we need to confirm the minutes of the previous AGM, held on the 19th November 2018. Proposer and seconder?

Tonight we will restrict the Manco report back to point form to allow our guest speakers the necessary time to inform us of their important messages.

Nicola Jowell – Councillor’s report

Chair’s report

As mentioned, I will only give the bullet points and encourage you to follow developments on the website. Also, Manco members will gladly discuss any matter more fully after the meeting.

·       The CBCRA Manco has welcomed new members to its ranks:

Jess Curnock-Cook, who will be spearheading our journey into an effective social media presence, which will give the ratepayers of Camps Bay a constant update of happenings in the area and allow for proper interaction.

Theresa Massaglia, who will be dealing with the various City and civic groupings who are tasked with addressing the many issues regarding homeless people in Camps Bay. Theresa addressed our meeting of last year on this topic.

Kim Mobey, a local artist, who will also be dealing with the homeless and street kids. A warm welcome to them all.

·       Parking on the beachfront: This initiative, which was supported at our last meeting is still being held up by City bureaucracy. However, it would appear as if the public participation phase should be starting soon. It will only include for beachfront parking.

·       Planning: The CBCRA has, with the immediate adjoining neighbours, launched an application out of the WC High Court to interdict and set aside the City’s planning permission for #5 The Meadway. Essentially, the City refused to intervene to stop major illegal building work on the site. You can read the founding affidavit of the CBCRA on the website – and you will be shocked at how City officials behave. This could be a landmark case in our years of dealing with this department! On a more positive note, many developers are opting to negotiate their developments with affected neighbours and the CBCRA and reach agreements that are servitutal in nature. This is resulting in more suitable proposals, with guarantees into the future for the community.

·       Hotel on the beachfront: The application for a 101-room hotel on the Place on the Bay site received 76 individual objections! Currently, we are instructing traffic engineers to provide a professional opinion regarding what we consider to be enormous traffic and parking problems.

·       Plastics: Our guest speakers will deal with this topic but Bianca Krafft is the Manco member dealing with this dangerous and contaminating pollutant.

·       Homeless people and street children: Theresa and Kim are networking very closely with many groupings – and the City – to address the myriad issues surrounding this situation. I must add that Peter Cooksen and his staff, at the City’s Social Development Branch, are completely committed and pro-active in this regard. Alan Marsh of the security cluster is also putting in the long yards. Thank you, all.

·       Marine Outfall Plant: The CBCRA continues to interact with the City regarding the millions of litres of raw sewerage that it pumps into the bay at Camps Bay on a daily basis. Byron Herbert is the Manco point man here. Unfortunately, the City continues to deny any damage to the environment and is satisfied that the system of dumping pollutants into the sea is sustainable. I would imagine that Prof Petrik will have something to say on this matter!

·       Cell masts: The City planners have allowed almost unrestricted installation of microwave equipment in Camps Bay. Probably the worst case is the Marine Heights block in Upper Tree Rd. The CBCRA has been making representations to the planning authorities for years now, without success. The CBCRA has advised affected neighbours to take this matter to the High Court, which is the only institution that can force the City to properly govern, and it would appear that certain members of the community are now heeding that call. It is sad that only legal action can get the planning department to observe the law!

·       Theatre on the Bay: Manco’s Johan van Papendorp has been relentlessly dealing with the City to demolish the old electrical substation in Link St in order that a piazza can be built on that site which incorporates the war memorial and adds a special space to the area. A few weeks ago the substation was finally demolished, which is already an improvement, and now the upgrade of the area can begin. The new substation has been built in the open space next to the Saps station and is sensitively designed and unobtrusive.

·       Maidens Cove development: Although the City claimed that it had “listened to the people of Cape Town” and abandoned its proposed development of Maidens Cove, Mayor Dan Plato recently confirmed to the CBCRA that it was on the cards again. Basically, too much money around the development for the DA-led City to ignore!

Along with the CBOA and the Maidens Cove for All group, the CBCRA will keep a close eye on this proposal and I repeat what I said at the last meeting: The suburbs of Camps Bay and Clifton remain under threat from the City of Cape Town.
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Plastics

Thankfully, there is a growing awareness internationally of the dangers of plastic, and hopefully, not too late.

It must be noted that a beach clean-up was held on Saturday, 01 September and another is planned for 12 October 2019. Please be there!

It is my pleasure to introduce Amy and Mike to address our meeting.

Marine Outfalls and toxicity

Please welcome Senior Professor Leslie Petrik to address this complex and important subject.

Election of Office Bearers

All those members currently serving on your Manco have agreed to remain for the following year.

I wish to express my personal gratitude to all these hard-working and selfless individuals who freely give of their time to protect the uniqueness of our beautiful village and suburb. I’m sure that all present here tonight will join me in thanking the Manco.

As always, new members are welcome and there is a great variety of tasks to tackle. Any nominations from the floor?

Financial Report

Richard Bendel

Matters Arising

Meeting Closed at