CAMPS BAY IN THE CROSSHAIRS AND AT THE CROSSROADS…

CAMPS BAY IN THE CROSSHAIRS AND AT THE CROSSROADS…

We, the residents and property owners of Camps Bay, find ourselves at a critical juncture in our lives and the future of our suburb - and we need the community's help now!

This is no overstatement!

The unfortunate judgement out of the High Court, now currently under appeal, which seemingly found that neither the community, nor directly affected property owners, have any right to challenge planning decisions, which are way beyond those allowed by regulation, has emboldened an already predatory City.

Your property values are now no longer determined by market forces and well-regulated town planning rules: The City will decide if a developer can erect a 5-storey block of flats next to your single dwelling house, or allow 4 separate units. Guess what that will do to the value of your house…

And don’t bother in individually defending your legal and constitutional rights – the City will use ratepayers tax money to fight you all the way. And so what if it loses, it used someone else’s’ money. It will fight every challenge because it has an army of litigators and will simply litigate individual owners out of Court. We require a well-funded CBCRA which can best represent our community.

And, if the new planning bylaw amendments are implemented, the City will challenge your right to even begin legal action, as it forces you to exhaust your administrative options within its bureaucratic control, whilst allowing developers to complete buildings in the meantime.

More on the Planning Bylaw amendments in the coming week – but they are scary! 

We are well aware of pending planning applications on the beachfront and have prepared the likely scenario for what that will look like, given what the City has allowed for the hotel.

To those who believe that the beachfront hotel is not representative of their experience as a Camps Bay property owner or resident, large developers now own property in the middle to upper reaches of our suburb and will be very keen to apply to the City  to show the same largesse as was extended to the hotel developer.

The rights and property values of every homeowner in Camps Bay are now in the balance.

So, what to do?

The CBCRA must be properly funded to complete the hotel appeal and use any positive findings to prevent the City from ever trying to trample our rights and destroy our suburb again.

The CBCRA must be able to continue the fight against the City’s planning department who regularly ignore (or change planning decisions) when approving building plans.

This community must support the CBCRA and the almost 30 other ratepayer groupings from around the City in ensuring that the draconian amendments to the Planning Bylaw never see the light of day. 

Please support those who voluntarily fight for your rights and the millions of rand of your property value that are currently under threat from this City administration.

Banking details are:   

CBCRA

First National Bank (201809)

63066186206

Together we can – and will – make a difference.

Chris Willemse