CBRRA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
HELD AT The Rotunda, The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay, 9 September 2018 @ 18:30
1. WELCOME
The Chair welcomed everyone. He thanked Maree Brink, Johannes Lategan and the Bay Hotel who are always most generous with their hospitality – and special thanks here to Rotunda’s Events co-ordinator, Lloyd Brown and his team, for all of the arrangements.
Thanks to Mary and Brian Lloyd and Ann Caras who always volunteer to look after the membership 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:
Amy Boshell and Mike Barron, who will address us on the massive problem of plastics in the environment. Amy is an artist and Mike is the course director of Cape RADD, which is the Research & Diver Development.
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.
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.
2. APOLOGIES, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
2.1. Apologies: None from the meeting. Apologies which have already been received will be posted with the minutes of this meeting:
Jacqueline Ellis
David Nevill
Rensche Gilbertson
Prue & Tony Hare
Peter W
Carlos & Gia Gomes
Hugh Herman
Helet Merkling
2.2. Minutes for AGM held 19 November 2018 were posted on the blog. These were proposed by Byron Herbert and seconded by Ed Bysshe. No one objected. Minutes were approved.
3. COUNCILLOR REPORT BACK (NICOLA JOWELL (NJ))
3.1 NJ thanked CW and the Executive of the ratepayers for the passion and commitment to the area and the community. The good turnout tonight is testament to their value and connection to the community.
3.2 Also thanked the Manco for their warm welcome and for thoroughly briefing me on the outstanding issues in the area, many of which have been outstanding for far too long and I am ready to tackle these.
3.3 The proposal with regards to the paid parking along Victoria Road is one of those long overdue items. I realise that it stems from the AGM in 2018 and it is far from acceptable that the public participation process is only now getting underway. But we do now have a timeline from the Department and I will be following up on this. The main purpose of this is to ensure turnover of available parking and also that there are rather formalised car guards as opposed to the current situation. The proposal is that the paid parking will start later than in other areas to enable residents who go for morning walks, runs, swims or surfs to still do so freely and we anticipate that the paid parking will start at 10am. It will also be on a recreational rate which will mean it is charged for the first 3 hours at R9. Then at R9 for every hour after that.
3.4 Homeless is one of the key concerns of the residents in the community and we are committed to dealing positively with the issue. There is no miracle cure for this but rather a continued drive for successes. A workshop was held in June with the car guards and homeless in the area. This was extremely successful with about 25 - 30 attendees over the 2 days. From that process 8 went to the City Safe Space and are still there and progressing very positively. It is through these social development interventions that we will be able to see results that will have a positive long term effect.
3.5 My commitment has been hands-on, on the ground management of service delivery issues in the ward. I have instituted across the ward "service delivery walks". We have done this on the Camps Bay Promenade with numerous city officials such as parks, recreation, roads and stormwater, etc. We have noted issues that need to be fixed and/or addressed and are tackling these.
3.6 My thanks to the Parks Department who have been working flat out. The knock on effect of the drought is that we are in the position that all parks throughout the wards and the parks district are in dire need of attention. Coupled with this there was considerable storm damage in areas over the winter. The Parks department is working immensely hard to address all these issues as quickly as possible.
3.7 Thankfully we have had fantastic rains throughout winter and the end of the hydrological year is at the end of October and the water restrictions are due to be reviewed then. But a massive thank you to all residents who have partnered with us to get through this drought together. The dams have peaked last week at 81.9% and we saw the first decline this week as it went down to 81.3%.
3.8 Again my thanks to the members of the CBRRA Manco for their dedication and service to the community. I look forward to positively working together to tackle the needs of the community.
3.9 Questions from the floor:
3.9.1.1 Chris Von Ulmenstein: Stream is looking terrible; Wants to ensure plastics are kept out of the sea; Law Enforcement re parking needs to be improved; Wants to go on service delivery walks with NJ. NJ welcomed this.
3.9.1.2 Gavin Reynolds: He congratulated NJ on her communication. Suggested she use FB; With regards paid parking, he asked whether any of the proceeds can go back to the homeless. NJ not sure. Will enquire
3.9.1.3 Question raised regarding paid parking that the concern was that car guards would shift to side streets. We are hoping that it becomes less lucrative and thus this won’t happen to a large degree. NJ again re-iterated that the tariff was a recreational tariff.
3.9.1.4 Anthony Pamm: What is happening with regards Municipal Planning Bylaw changes (NJ response: The process is closed and the City is busy classifying the objections); Raised concern that homeless people were being fined because not complying with Bylaws, but the same wasn’t happening to people not complying with Transient letting bylaw (NJ response: The Draft Municipal Planning Bylaws will allow for transient letting if approved); Rates changes especially with regards pensioners and social grant rebates (NJ response: there is a pensioners rebate and the definition of income for rates rebates is broadly classified).
4 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.
4.1 New members
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.
4.2 Parking on 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.
4.3 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.
4.4 Hotel on 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.
4.5 Plastics
Our guest speakers will deal with this topic but Bianca Krafft is the Manco member dealing with this dangerous and contaminating pollutant.
4.6 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.
4.7 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!
4.8 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!
4.9 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.
4.10 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.
5. Plastics (Mike Barron and Amy Boshell)
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 first Mike Barron and then Amy Boshell to address our meeting.
Refer PP presentation from Mike Barron entitled “Plastic on the Move”
Amy Boshell
I am an artist and the eco-manager at Café Caprice. Restaurants produce an enormous amount of waste, especially that of single-use plastics. This is having a severe impact to our environment. I aim to work with all the restaurants in Camps Bay in a similar way that I have done at Café Caprice to implement effective change that will contribute to protecting and cleaning the ocean opposed to polluting it.
Let’s make Camps Bay a Green Zone
Launch Start with Straws campaign across the strip of Camps Bay. Zero plastic straw policy. Next step is to ban other major single-use plastics pollutants which are plastic water bottles, bags, coffee cups and lids and take away packaging.
Implement recycling across the entire strip
Monthly beach clean-ups
At the centre of this campaign is the bamboo straw. Restaurants can offer these straws to their customers for R20. This encourages ideas of reuse opposed to this dangerous throw-away culture that is the norm. Businesses will be able to generate a profit. For every straw sold, R2 will be donated to towards organising beach clean-ups and green initiatives in the area of Camps Bay. This can be a selling point for the straws and a way for customers to contribute to this good cause. Restaurants who endorse this idea and the campaign will be affiliated with the green and sustainable movement, which will impress their clients.
I will consult and help restaurants make this change by way of:
Moving over to bamboo and wheat straws
Glass water bottles opposed to plastic
Brown paper bags opposed to plastic
Move over to bamboo PLA- lined (biodegradable plastic) coffee cups with a no lid policy
Sugar-cane food packaging
Drop boxes will be placed along the strip for used coffee cups and food packaging. These will then be collected and sent off to composters opposed to landfills.
Coffee cups and food packaging will act as a tool for awareness and education. They will have a stamp on them that encouraged customers to bring reusables, educated them about PLA plastics, and state that they need to be placed in the drop boxes for composting.
My goal is for this campaign to grow and grow. Sustainability, positivity, awareness, education, art, community and effective implementation is the focus.
6. Marine Outfalls and toxicity – Prof Leslie Petrik
Refer PP presentation from Prof Leslie Petrik entitled “The Impacts of bio accumulation of chemicals and medical “waste” on Camps Bay marine environment”
7. Election of Office Bearers
All those members currently serving on your Manco have agreed to remain for the following year.
The Chair expressed his 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. The Chair asked for any nominations from the floor? None were forthcoming.
Manco is made up of the following members:
Chris Willemse (Chair) - Ward Committee and Planning
Richard Bendel (Vice Chair) - Membership and Finance
Brenda Herbert - Planning and CPF
Johan van Papendorp – Planning & Environmental
Alma Horn - Membership and PR
Helet Merkling - Clifton
Byron Herbert - Beach, Coastline & Events
Michael Smorenberg – PR
Jess Curnock-Cook – Social media
Bianca Krafft – Plastics
Theresa Massaglia – Homeless
Kim Mobey - Homeless
8. FINANCE (PRESENTED BY RICHARD BENDEL)
Richard Bendel presented the signed audited Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2018. The following main points were discussed:
8.1 The association had cash of R28 091.
8.2 There was also a provision for legal fees which this year was an asset of R120 000. This relates to the amount we expect to recover for 96 Camps Bay Drive when the matter is taxed. The previous year’s provision of a liability of R90 000 was reversed since this we no longer believe we will have to pay.
8.2 The liabilities were R48 800 which comprised of short term loans of R28 000 (all these were repaid after year end) and the balance of R20 800 was for prepaid subscriptions.
8.3 The accumulated reserves were R99 291.
8.4 On the trading side, the subscriptions received was R53 400 which is slightly down from the previous years amount of R57 865. Some of the members pay for 2 years.
8.6 On the expense side, the only major expense related to legal fees for the 96 Camps Bay Drive matter which we believe we will recover most of what we paid.
8.7 The profit for the current year was R99 291. This is mainly due to the reversal of prior periods provisional for legal fees of R90 000.
9. MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising.
MEETING CLOSED AT 20:30
Marine Outfall - Prof Petrik:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P-UGgYhHgexyX-laWlLqol3bOFA5bmyY/view?usp=sharing
Plastic On the Move - Craft+Graft 2019:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UBvx602sCxiM6ADFhVYG3_hnvz57u0Z4/view?usp=sharing
