Environmental and Heritage Report to Public Meeting:

1. The littering and cleansing of Camps Bay beach

CBRRA is trying desperately to get Town Council to allow private companies like TUFFY BLACK BAGS and WASTEPLAN in conjunction with Town Council's Solid Waste Department to collect beach litter and recycle it, instead of having it end up on landfill site. It's a very slow process! Added to this incentive is an endeavour with the company called DETTOL, to help assist and improve the condition and hygiene of our ablution blocks at the beach.

Camps Bay residents might also like to know, that the little hut opposite "The Bay Hotel" with the damaged roof tiles, will be repaired soon.


2. The Little Glen project.

Here again litter is the problem and a total lack of upkeep of the surrounds via City Parks, whom we are in discussion with to sort this out. But unfortunately the Director of City Parks, "Chantal Hanslo' who we met with, informed us that the reason for its state is due to a lack of manpower and money. In the meeting we requested that urgent attention be paid to;

a) the pollution of the stream, as it flows straight into the ocean full of sewage and litter and
b) the repair of the streams banks.

Also included in our requests were,

• the replanting of indigenous trees and plants,
• the repair and or replacement of the litter bins,
• plus the increase of the amount of bins.
• the placing of bins in the correct locations, like the entrances and exits to the park,
• the replacement of the sitting park benches,
• the removal of dead plants and shrubs and
• the removal of the illegal squatters right in the middle of the Little Glen.

Miss Hanslo offered the Camps Bay Residents the opportunity to plants trees and shrubs, which her dept would gladly donate to Camps Bay residents free of charge.


3. The Glen.

At the moment it is an on going project with key individuals and organisations being involved in coming up with the best resolutions for this very important and sensitive area. The intentions are to upgrade it, but in the same breath to retain its natural beauty. So in essence, it's still a "project in progress". Everyone will be very pleased to know, that The Roundhouse Restaurant is fully behind retaining The Glen to it's original natural beauty. A committee has been formed called "GAB" - "Glen Advisory Body" of which two of CBRRA ManCo, namely Johan van Papendorp and Richard Dames, are members, is due to meet at the end of March 2010 to get things moving in this area.


4. Important and interesting services being offered by WOOLWORTHS and INCREDIBLE CONNECTION are,
that anyone who wants to recycle their printer ink cartridges can pop into INCREDIBLE CONNECTION where they have a box just for this. So please be environmentally conscious and dispose of them there. Failing which, people are more than welcome to drop them off at 5 Geneva Drive from where it will be disposed. The same applies for ENERGY SAVING LIGHT BULBS. Woolworths also has a bin purely dedicated for the recycling of these light bulbs. Again Camps Bay residents can drop these off at 5 Geneva Drive to be disposed.

5. Lastly, a VERY enlightening and informative Global Warming and Environmental program was screened on SABC 2 called "A vision of Paradise". This is the website where a person can play a small preview of the total episode, www.hooper.co.za/videoavisionofparadise1.htm. CBRRA strongly recommend everyone have a look at this. The website is very well laid out and very informative. A person and student can learn alot form this website in an Environmental - Earth orientated manner.

Richard Dames
Johan van Papendorp (Chair Environment and Heritage)

CBBRA March 2010

PR 22 Mar '10: Supreme Court of Appeal Ruling in the Harrison Matter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

22 March 2010

Supreme Court of Appeal Ruling in the Harrison Matter


Regrettably, the CBRRA lost its appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in the Harrison matter. After the Cape High Court dismissed the application to review and set aside the City’s planning approval for Yvonne Harrison’s building on the corner of Geneva Drive and Blinkwater Rd, the CBRRA appealed the matter to the Appellate division. This was heard in August 2009 and the judgement was only handed down last month – February 2010.

Clearly, the committee is extremely disappointed at this outcome and after much soul-searching and deliberation, it has been decided to petition the Constitutional Court to reconsider the matter on appeal. One can quite logically ask why, after two reversals, the CBRRA is continuing. To put this into perspective, the CBRRA notes the following:

Firstly, the SCA appeared to accept that this case is simply a dispute between neighbours. The fact that the community through its Association has been involved from the outset was ignored. Also ignored was that the City had joined on the side of the developer – with our rates money. The City claimed that important planning principles were involved. No matter what – this was clearly not a mere dispute across the boundary fence.

But on the legal side, both our Senior and Junior Counsel are of the opinion that there are a number of issues that the Concourt needs to consider. Without going into the complicated legal arguments, our case rests on the following points:

• We submit that the City failed to properly consider all the objections prior to plan approval. CBRRA is of the opinion that these objections were well reasoned and valid.
• The building exceeds the 10m height restriction and is indicated as such on the plans.
• There is a retaining wall along the Blinkwater Rd boundary that contravenes the Title Deed restrictions.
• The building is not set back from the boundary as per the Zoning Scheme regulations. Although the Cape High Court rejected this point on a discretionary basis, the SCA did agree with us. However, they decided to condone the contravention, based on what our legal team believes is a misconstruction of the PAJA Act. Interestingly enough, this was the only bit of “planning principle” ruled upon by the Court and it confirmed that the City had incorrectly passed the plans in the first place. So much for the City’s purported reasons for supporting the developer!!

The Court also needs to clearly define how the Zoning Scheme Regulation 98 rule regarding the measurement of the height of a building is made. The City seem to think that there are three possible ways of doing this but have chosen one that CBRRA considers illogical and not in terms of the Zoning Scheme. The recent appeal judgement did not address this issue and therefore the City’s announcement that CBRRA has “lost” the appeal must be tempered with the fact that this matter was not finalised and will continue to be an issue in its new appeal.



This is the basis of CBRRA’s case and we await the Concourt’s decision as to whether they will hear the matter.

To find out more, please contact the following:

Chris Willemse, Chairman of the CBRRA Planning Committee
Mobile 083 653 6363 or email cwpm@pcnetwork.co.za

OR

Camps Bay Ratepayers and Residents Association
Tel 021 438 8782 or email campsbayratepayers@gmail.com
Blog campsbayratepayers.blogspot.com

Chairpersons' address: Public Meeting 16Mar'10

Message from new chairman, Charles Wells:

Open with welcome address.

Our family has been in CB since the early 1940’s; myself – we moved back to Cape Town 15 years ago from JHB when our daughter was born. Why are we here? Although Camps Bay is one of the best-known tourist spots around Cape Town, for those of us who live here, we enjoy a unique village type atmosphere which once destroyed will not be easily replaced.

Camps Bay Ratepayers & Residents Association has for over forty years sought to preserve this very special ambience. We have built up an impressive record of service to the whole of our community. Although we are in 21st century and we need to move with the times, we also need to ensure that CB doesn't lose its charm to greedy developers or that the infrastructure is compromised. There is space for all residents of CB to feel they belong to the village.

CBRRA need to be representative of the community and not a select few of residents - eg our committee needs to 'catch' new residents when they move into CB. Maybe estate agents can help us be more pro-active. We need to be more unified with CB Watch & CB Police Forum; better co-ordination amongst ourselves.

But, what about today? Are you happy with the state of the roads and pavements, the parks and shrubbery, the grass behind the beach, your rates, and the overall level of service delivery?

Today there are huge pressures on Camps Bay –

• From property developers who see mega bucks from building multi storey flats quite out of character with the rest of the neighbourhood
• Our beach front is a magnet for anyone wishing to run an event – from simple charity fundraisers to commercial organizations wishing to high jack one of Cape Town’s top spots, totally disregarding the effect on ordinary residents and tourists.
• Some of our precious heritage buildings are under attack – do we want the Round House to become a hotel, or the old stone tram drivers cottages at the bottom of Geneva Drive to be redeveloped?
• The Council is under constant pressure for services such as cleansing, road maintenance, etc. Camps Bay must ensure it gets its fair share.

The Ratepayers is actively involved in all these matters and many more. If you are not yet a member, this is a personal invitation from me as chairman to join us.

As members you enjoy

• Access to our committee, which includes seasoned professionals dedicated to good town planning and protection from unscrupulous developers. Residents MUST be involved so we can be part of shaping our community.
• Help with rate appeals – one of our members recently got a rebate of thousands of Rands thanks to the help he received from us in appealing his rate demands
• Coordinated community projects and events
• Knowledge of what is happening and being planned in the area
• Support from us, a respected civic body with the ability to get things one

Your membership means

• A stronger organization with increased validity and vitality – unity is strength
• Increased bargaining position with the council
• Better community spirit

We not only invite you to become a member of the Association, we also invite new and existing members to become more actively involved by joining our Manco.

The rest of the meeting will give our portfolio chairmen and women the chance to report in more detail what is happening and what we have achieved in the past few months. I think you will be impressed.

Charles Wells (CBRRA Chairman)


Message from outgoing Chairperson, Trudi Groenewald:

CBRRA Management Committee (ManCo) had gained two new members, Richard Dames and Charles Wells. At the beginning of 2010 because of pressure of work I asked to be allowed to withdraw as chair of CBRRA but had remained on ManCo. Charles Wells had been elected chairman, with John Powell as vice chairman.

We had been a meeting with the security sector – Camps Bay Watch, Camps Bay Community Police Forum, Camps Bay Community Security Initiative, to ensure liaison.

Events had been scrutinized by Brenda Herbert to ensure that the general Camps Bay community was not inconvenienced and that commercial interests were not allowed to dominate the beach. A liaison meeting had been held with the City’s Events Dept.

Environmental issues were ably dealt with by Johan van Papendorp and Richard Dames.

The Supreme Court of Appeal Bloemfontein had dismissed the case brought by CBRRA and PS Booksellers regarding a house partially built on the corner of Geneva Drive and Blinkwater Road. There would be a fuller report later in the evening by Chris Willemse. However, I would like to express particular thanks to three benefactors: Doug Cleland, J Copeland and Chris Willemse, who had provided interest free loans to the association in order to fight the case.

Dogwalking on Camps Bay beach is a contentious subject. CBRRA plans to approach the City Council to bring in a new bylaw. This proposal would be posted on the CBRRA blog and CBRRA ask for feedback from the general public before we submit to the Sub-council Ward Forum. Proposed (not confirmed): In summer up to 09h00 dogs could be walked off leash. From 09h00 to 18h00 dogs would be banned. From 18h00 onwards dogs could be walked on leash. In winter, dogs could be exercised up to 11h00 off leash and then for the rest of the day they could be walked on leash.

I thank all the members of the ManCo for their hard work and support.

A thank you also to The Bay Hotel for providing the venue for the meeting.

Trudi Groenewald (Ex-chairperson)

A successful meeting

CBRRA held a very successful meeting at 19h30 on 16 March 2010 at the Rotunda, Bay Hotel, Camps Bay. Residents braced the strong South-Easter on Tuesday to make their way to the venue, joining the community for refreshments and a report back from CBRRA. After a report back from previous chairperson, Trudi Groenewald, the new chairman, Charles Wells, took the stand and promised residents and ratepayers of Camps Bay the full support and a renewed energy of the committee to further assist the community on civil issues.

An indepth presentation on the recycling initiative from Council run by the company Waste Plan, was given by Bertie Lourens, CEO of the company, urging residents to actively take part in the recycling initiative. Look out for Waste Plan's presentation on this blog or visit their site on www.wasteplan.co.za. Cllr Margo Hayward gave a report on the latest from the Ward and was addressed with questions from the attendees.

Chairman of the Planning Sub-committtee, Chris Willemse, gave a detailed report on the status CBRRA's involvement in the Harrison case, other court cases and planning matters in general with a particular emphasis on The Crystal development in Woodford Avenue.which it suspects has many illegalities..

John Powell, vice-chair and member of a number of sub-committtees, gave a detailed talk on assisting ratepayers with their rates appeal applications. Link on the City's website ‹‹here››.

A new member of CBRRA ManCo, and sub-committee member of Environment and Heritage, Richard Dames, talked to residents about the uplifting work he is involved in through the upgrading of the Glen, Little Glen and continued cleaning of the beach with council.

A full set of minutes and copies of the reports given will be posted on the blog soon.

The meeting ended at 21h35.

Public Meeting Announcement Mar '10

PUBLIC MEETING

Tues 16 March 2010 @ 19h30

The Rotunda, Camps Bay

ALL WELCOME

FEEDBACK ON
• Council Recycling Initiative
• New Municipal Rates Valuation

ALSO
• Meet our new Chairman
• Address by Cllr Marga Haywood
• Supreme Court Ruling

Blanket Height Restriction

CBRRA often receives enquiries about Regulation No. 98 of the City of Cape Town’s Zoning Scheme.

This regulation only applies to Camps Bay and is specifically in existence as a result of the construction in the 1970’s of the seven-storey “Sonnekus” apartment block which made appalled residents realise for the first time that it was legal and that the whole of the Camps Bay shoreline was zoned to permit seven storey buildings !

This meant that Camps Bay could shortly have become another Sea Point with the tall buildings along the water’s edge in front of the lower buildings behind.

It took CBRRA and residents three years to get the beachfront area and the whole of Camps Bay rezoned to not exceeding ten metres above ground level to eaves and not exceeding three storeys high (excluding basements and mezzanine floors – see later).

Thus was the ambience of the beachfront preserved for the low key structures which exist there to this day and the view from the beach up to the mountain was maintained forever.

The following is a typical letter which demonstrates that the prospective buyers of a property in Camps Bay are sensibly investigating all the issues which could affect their future purchase BEFORE and not AFTERWARDS.

Always check what the immediate neighbours around you could potentially do in the future without having to ask for your permission.

This is a striking instance of “Caveat emptor” - “Buyer beware”

The enquiry

To whom it may concern,

My husband and I are currently interested in buying a property in XXXXXXX Road, but the house in front of it is only a double storey, and we are concerned they may go up another level. In which case our views would be ruined. Can you confirm whether there is a blanket height restriction in Camps Bay that all homes can only go to a max of 3 storey's?

Really appreciate any advice you can give us,

Kind regards

XXXXXXX XXXXX

CBRRA’S answer

Dear XXXXXXX

Your question is more complicated that you realise !!

In simple terms, anyone is allowed to build or add onto a building in Camps Bay up to and not exceeding 10 metres high “above ground level” to eaves level at any point around the perimeter of a new or existing building.

On a level site this permits three “storeys” to be built, anywhere in Camps Bay.

However above the aforementioned restricted height, a pitched roof of any height is allowed as long as it does not have any rooms in it, which would make it a four storey house. But in any event, the legal pitched roof will obscure your view even more.

Bakoven, being a “special area” has a height restriction of not exceeding 8 metres high above ground level to roof apex and not exceeding two storeys high.

So, if you are intending to purchase a property, be aware that any existing owner around you is allowed to add on or rebuild as above – AS LONG AS HE / SHE CONFORMS ENTIRELY TO ALL THE ZONING SCHEME AND TITLE DEED RESTRICTIONS. In such an instance you have no rights to your view being maintained.

You are doing the right thing by checking up on all this before you buy!

However, should the applicant, as is happening all around Camps Bay, wish to apply for departures from the zoning scheme and the title deeds, by wanting a double dwelling say, or wanting to build closer than permitted to the boundary etc.etc, you have every right to object and not give your approval when you are asked to do so (you could say, yes you can have your double dwelling but only if you build two stories high and so on).

The other problem in this whole matter is that there is a total difference of opinion between the City and CBRRA about where one measures the height of a building from, ie. from existing natural ground level or artificially raised finished ground level – which could be drastically higher on a sloping site. CBRRA has a High Court case in Bloemfontein challenging the City about this at present.

The other problem is that, in terms of the zoning scheme, a “basement” and a “mezzanine floor” is not a “storey” (!) so that you will see many houses all over Camps Bay on sloping sites which have five floor levels, ie a basement, three stories and a mezzanine floor. A recently completed new building in Woodhead Close has three storeys and two basements, having also therefore five floor levels ! CBRRA is contesting this one in court.

If you have any further questions, CBRRA members will be more than happy to have a cup of coffee with you some time and chat things over.

Are you a member of CBRRA ? If not, please join at R200 per annum per household – the best investment you will ever make !

Read the article “So you want to buy a house?” on our blog.

Good luck I hope your search for a property in this enchanting suburb will soon be successful !

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The response

I can't thank you enough for your most thorough e-mail, it really put things into perspective for us. And we're giving putting in an offer some serious thought, given the below.

Thanks again, your advice was invaluable. And when we do buy in Camps Bay we will certainly join CBRRA !

Kind regards and many thanks

XXXXXXX

Invitation to Attend Public Meeting with the Mayor

TAKING THE CITY TO THE PEOPLE

The Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Dan Plato, invites you to attend a public meeting to discuss mattters affecting YOU. Use this opportunity t raise your concerns!

DATE: 3 February 2010
TIME: 19:00 – 20:30
VENUE: Sea Point Civic Centre, Main Road, Sea Point