The Value of the Vote

The ratepayers of Cape Town are once again being asked to vote a City Government into power on 18th May 2011. The Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance, comprising over 100 civil society organisations active within the City of Cape Town, wishes to impress upon our citizens the value of their vote. It is probably one of the most precious possessions held by any citizen. We say, it is not to be taken lightly; it is not to be squandered easily and it should not be lent to those seeking office without serious thought about the value and impact of your vote.

The GCTCA believes that the local government elections should be about putting people in power who can ensure a safe, well developed, liveable environments for us to live in. We believe that the elections should be about putting in place a city government that will ensure that all citizens will be able to look proudly upon a city that is a home for all, where rich and poor can live in harmony, where resources are shared equitably and the where sustainable communities are built. We believe that this election should also be about clean air and respect for our cultural and environmental heritage.

It is not about power, but about people. It is about clean streets, proper street lighting, adequate storm water and sewerage systems and affordable property rates.

We call on Capetonians in the City of Cape Town to use their vote sensibly. We urge people to consider the issues that affect our daily lives and vote accordingly. We urge people to look past the badge and the election rigmarole and consider carefully the person whom you wish to represent you. Your vote is precious, use it wisely.

PHILIP M BAM, VICE CHAIRPERSON: GCTCA

(Extract from the insert "The Value of the Vote" by Philip Bam on the GCTCA Website http://gctca.org.za/the-value-of-the-vote)

CBRRA Financials 2010

These 2010 financials have been signed off by Manco and submitted to the auditors for final approval.

Click on each image to enlarge or click ‹‹here›› to download a PDF of the financials.

Minutes of Public Meeting 7 March 2011

CBRRA MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC MEETING

held on 7 March 2011 19h00 at The Rotunda, The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay

1. ATTENDANCE

PRESENT: Chris Willemse, Johan van Papendorp, Gus Millner, Sandy van Hoogstraten, Alma Horn, Brenda Herbert, Trudi Groenewald, John Powell, Michele Harvey, Chrissie Phillips

2. APOLOGIES

Colin Harvey

3. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS

3.1

The Chair welcomed everyone and extended a special welcome to Ward councillor Marga Haywood, Taylor Jackson, the head prefect of Camps Bay High School and his delegation of prefects, Arthur Shepherd, Bernard Shafer and Simon Kneel of the civic security cluster. Thanks were also extended to Maree Brink, Johannes Lategan and Hester of the Bay Hotel for their hospitality.

3.2

The Chair extended best wishes to Val Cleland for a speedy recovery from illness. Val has been a tower of strength to MANCO over the years that she served on the committee.

3.3

The Chair's report would deal with the new members on MANCO. CBRRA will strive to provide a new vision and proposed synergy with school and sporting bodies.

3.4

The Chair's report would also deal with the fall-out from the Harrison case, in which the CBRRA was unsuccessful.

4. SPEAKER Sandy van Hoogstraten: Camps Bay Goes Clean

4.1

Sandy’s presentation to be attached

5. SPEAKER Taylor Jackson: Head Prefect Camps Bay High School re involvement in CB Goes Clean

5.1

Taylor introduced himself and prefects

5.2

Taylor said the school would run an environmental awareness campaign with Sandy van Hoogstraten of CBRRA.

5.3

They would educate the community on recycling , have guest speakers for talks, launch a green committee and sell 'green genies' at a reduced price

5.4

Two green genies were raffled. Winners: John Powell and Matthew Bater

6. SPEAKER Bernard Schafer: Proposed fencing of Little Glen

6.1

Bernard introduced himself on behalf of the 'fix-up project' initiated by the community surrounding the Little Glen.

6.2

Bernard spoke about the cluster of security bodies, these being: Camps Bay Watch, CBCPF and the CBCSI and the fix up projects started by the community surrounding the Glen. He said that fencing the Glen conjures thoughts of elitism but the ecological problems, litter, illegal dumping, security and 'out of sight, out of mind' necessitated monitoring. Builders are dumping and conning the community into taking rubbish for them and putting it into the Glen. Criminals are also using the Glen as an escape route, it is all too easy to get into and out of properties in this area. Managing and monitoring will not restrict access to residents but make it safer, particularly at night. Fences will initially have a 1.2 m opening and later be gated. Keys will be available to residents and gates will only be locked at night. Botanical experts have been involved to prevent damage to green areas and making the fences aesthetically pleasing.

6.3

Questions from the floor:

Colin Carter noted his concern that he didn't want to find gates locked and private people managing them. Dawn and dusk monitoring - who's responsible? Residents don't want to feel they are living in an enclosed area and

wanted to be assured that it would be environmentally friendly. Resident also don't want to see a slow erosion of access points being closed off.

Bernard’s response:

Bernard agreed with the sentiments expressed by Colin. Fencing (Beta type) to blend in with vegetation (same colours and lasting for 30 years with low maintenance). Fencing will be below road level where possible. There are no immediate plans for gates to go on openings to little Glen and in time will only be at night. Residents wishing to walk in 'dead of night' would have a key. It would be preferable to have monitoring.

Colin Carter’s response:

Part of the problem is that papers print conflicting reports which doesn't help in clarification.

Sandy van Hoogstraten’s response:

Sandy suggested planting thorny roses and also to fix and clear steps making walking more easy.

7. CHAIRPERSON’s REPORT: Chris Willemse

7.1

The Chair introduced the new members, Michele Harvey, Colin Harvey, Sandy van Hoogstraten and Gus Millner. Their qualities and their roles were commented upon and they were wished every success for their time on Manco. He also noted that Jane Bodin had left the committee and thanked her for her contribution in taking the minutes.

8. SPEAKER: COUNCILLOR Marga Haywood

8.1

Margo welcomed everybody and said she would go through the main problem issues as follows:-

8.2

The first issue was the rates and taxes, particularly how the city has done the valuations. This is still not resolved. The poor areas will be subsided by the ratepayers as decided by parliament and the constitution. The intention that 60% of the rates should be spent where the rates are paid is being investigated. The point was made that the "local area" means the ward and not the City.

It is accepted by the City of Cape Town that allocations such as fire fighting, etc are part of the budget for Camps Bay but there's lots of space to manoeuver a substantial spend on the area.

8.3

Electricity has almost doubled. The main reason for this is that National Government did not invest when they should have done.

8.4

Negatives:

• Vagrants and anti social behaviour and littering
• Neighbours: Views and privacy
• Events and noise pollution
• Dog walking, horse riding (Hout Bay)

Positives:

• More local input into the prioritising of budget expenditure.
• The redevelopment of Camps Bay beach had been approved years ago but had fallen by the wayside. It had now been recommended to the full council.

• The budget was the biggest capital item prioritised.
• Repairs to steps at Maidons Cove.
• Received request for R900,000 for the national park including irrigation systems and plants.
• Road and storm water infrastructure along Victoria Road had seen some repairs
• Waste removal
• There were two big fires on Victoria Drive and the success in the fire fighting had very positive feedback

8.5

She will go as a committed representative with John Powell and Chris Willemse to see the deputy mayor regarding the court action costs

8.6

In the new demarcation process, the Hout Bay ward has lost 1500 voters to Sea Point. She stressed the point that if you want control on how your money is spent then you must vote.

9. FINANCE – John Powell

9.1 John to attach report

10. PLANNING – Chris Willemse

10.1 Chris to attach report

11. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

1.1

Question 1 (Michael Williams): What is the final financial implication of the legal fees owed?

Response (Chris Willemse): R75,000. If the city prosecute their cost order, then it will be substantial.

Question 2 (Bernard Schafer, to Marga Haywood):

• Residents are complaining of electricity readings being 5-6 times above normal and sometimes 100's and thousands of rands more. Surely pre-paid customers should have a discount as there is less administration, etc.
• Cleaning and removal of rubbish is a massive problem on the verges, sides of the roads in Camps Bay and Clifton. Residents' sponsored clean-ups result in the removal of at least 10 truckloads a month. What can we do?
• The beach verge needs to be clear for emergency and life guard services. Vehicles constantly damage the grass and pole barriers. They need 3 registered areas left, right and centre of Camps Bay for these vehicles.
• Need feedback for special liquor licenses for guest houses. Specific categories should have licenses
• Bakoven has a severe sewerage crisis. Needs meeting with departments regarding raw sewerage getting onto Bakoven beaches.

Response (Chris Willemse): Will report back as most matters are currently being addressed.

Question 3 (Jane Bodin): Jane Bodin read a prepared statement admonishing the commitee for not always following the exact letter of the CBRRA constitution. She also wished the new members well.

Question 4 (from the floor): What are Manco's thoughts on Jane's statement?

Response (Chris Willemse): Jane had submitted a lengthy document to Manco regarding governance, most of which was based on incorrect perceptions on her part. Clearly, there is no suggestion of impropriety and minor procedural issues are bound to occur in an overworked voluntary organisation. In reality, Jane's problems were related to personality differences with the committee.

The chair thanked everyone for attending.

Meeting closed at 21h00.

Minutes AGM 19 August 2010

CAMPS BAY RATEPAYERS AND RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF THE CBRRA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT THE ROTUNDA BALLROOM, CAMPS BAY AT 7-30 PM ON 19 AUGUST 2010

1. Welcome and apologies

Chairperson Charles Wells welcomed all to the meeting and thanked the Rotunda hotel for its kind hospitality.

Apologies : Jane Bodin

Present : 75 persons per the attendance record.

2. Chairperson’s report

Chairperson Charles Wells covered the following items :

Commended and thanked the Management committee for its continuous efforts and commitment which involved many hours of hard work. Sincere thanks are especially due to Dimitri Karakondis for all his hard work while on the CBRRA Manco

He asked that more residents become involved in CBRRA affairs on an active basis - the committee urgently needs new members and for R 200 pa, CBRRA distributes a wide range of advice

Activities during the last year included :

Removing illegal changerooms from the beachfront

Assisting ratepayers to reduce their accounts

Removing signage

Cleaning up The Glen, The Little Glen and public spaces – thanks also to residents who were active in this respect

Dogwalking hours on the beach survey and recommendation of revised hours

Co-ordinated beach events

Alerted the Council and buyers to the historic worth of the stone cottages on Geneva Drive

Prompted the Council to donate trees for planting in Camps Bay

Assisted schools in their efforts to renew their sportsfields leases

Supported Camps bay medics including donations

Representation on the Camps Bay Community Poilce Forum and Liquor Licensing committee.

Registered as a non-Profit Organisation

Cutting road verges aat the right time if the year

Upgraded CBRRA’s ITconbtacts, including the blog (± 7000hits in its first year), the website, Twitter and Facebook

Membership (at 25% of the amount of families) could be much better

and members are requested urgently to pay their subscriptions – only three quarters of the registered membership have paid their 2010 subscriptions and we are rebilling the non-payers shortly

Please encourage your friends and neighbours to join CBRRA

Bernard Schafer of the CBCSI reported on the establishment of the newly-founded Social Workers project with a donation of R 40 000 from Blues Restaurant - the aim of which is to look at and tackle the vagrancy problem in Camps Bay. He also referred to the newly reformed Camps Bay Business Forum.

3. Approval of 2009 AGM minutes

Proposed by John Powell, seconded by Alma Horn - carried unanimously. Matters arising were dealt with within the following items.

4. Election of Manco members for 2010 11

The existing Manco committee was re-elected en bloc plus new member Michele Harvey

5. Speaker on Cape Town Tourism

Mariette du Toit spoke on the manner in which Cape Town Tourism had dealt with and learned from the whole FIFA World Cup experience, which had been a very successful project for CTT.

6. Camps Bay Community Medics

Leigh Goldschmidt of CBCM outlined their current activities and capabilities and thanked CBRRA and residents for their ongoing support. CBCM is still looking for a permanent base in this area from which to operate.

7. Financial report

The audited financial report has not been finalized and will be presented at the next CBRRA public meeting

Cash in hand in December was R 4864,00 and at present is ±R 23 000,00 after further income and payments. The outstanding loan to

three lenders is R 77 500,00 after recent further repayments

±R 40 000,00 of subscriptions remain unpaid

8. Cllr. Marga Haywood

Cllr. Haywood emphasized that the first port of call for complaints and enquiries in respect of the Council was the Council officials, not her – she being our political representative to whom officials reported.

Matters of policy should currently be forwarded to her and Cllrs. Smith and Amira.

The new Ward boundary after next year’s municipal election between Camps Bay and Sea Point will be from Victoria Road up Geneva Drive / Camps Bay Drive to Kloof Nek.

This means that Camps Bay will be served by two Councillors in future

The public now has input on the manner in which the City spends its budget

Cllr. Haywood has inserted the upgrading of the main Camps Bay beachfront and the proposed Fulham Road bypass onto the City’s long

term budget

9. Rates

John Powell referred members to his article in the Atlantic Sun in respect of their current dealings with the City Valuations Department.

Transfer fees for properties sold after the valuation date but which had not had the valuation finally agreed after an objection would be based on the new valuation and not on the requested lower value if an objection had been lodged but not finalized..

If an objection has not been finalized, do not pay the rates amount newly billed but negotiate with the Valuation Department to pay the old rates bill plus say 10% until the objection has been finalised.

10. Energy

Roger Trythall and Wouter Roggen presented an illustrated talk on ensuring energy security, resource conservation and environmental resource managemnt.

11. Dogwalking Survey feedback

The following proposal was put on the CBRRA blog for residents and the public to respond to :

CBRRA’s proposal is:

ITEM 1: DOGWALKING ON THE MAIN CAMPS BAY BEACH:

SUMMER: 01 November to 30 April

a. Dogs only on leashes - 6 pm to 5 am

b. Dogs not on leashes - 5 am to 9 am

c. No dogs allowed on beach - 9 am to 6 pm.

WINTER: 01 May to 31 October

d. Dogs only on leashes – 3 pm to 6 am

e. Dogs not on leashes - 6 am to 11 am

f. No dogs allowed on beach - 11 am to 3 pm

As a further initiative we wish to gauge your reaction to the following proposal:

ITEM 2: DOGWALKING IN THE GLEN:

All areas except The Glen picnic area:

a. OFF LEASH: ALL HOURS

The Glen picnic area:

b. ON LEASH: Saturday & Sunday 12h00 to sunset.

c. OFF LEASH: All hours except the abovementioned.

There was a gratifying 83% support response to the above proposals and it was accepted at this meeting by those present.

Trudi Groenewald and John Powell are to submit this to the Ward Forum to take matters further.

12. Planning

Chris Willemse reported and first thanked Charles Wells on behalf of CBRRA and its members and the public for his great leadership and contribution this last year as Chairperson of CBRRA.

Departure etc planning applications are currently at about three per month as compared with four a week three years ago.

There have been eight legal agreements this year organized by CBRRA between it, applicants and affected neighbours in respect of planning applications.

“The Crystal” development remains a serious problem – now having been declared complete and inhabitable by occupants in spite of still, in CBRRA’s opinion, being illegal.

At a recent meeting with Cllr Nieuwoudt, Piet van Zyl and Ossie Gonsalves, Cllr Nieuwoudt has promised CBRRA a Declarator on this matter.

The Concourt judgement in the Harrison case appeal is still awaited.

13. Any other matters and questions from the floor.

None

14. Date of next meeting.

Still to be decided and announced.

15. The meeting ended at 9-45 pm

Val Cleland passes away

It is with great sadness that I must inform you that Val Cleland passed away this morning.

All who knew Val will remember her fondly, and those who served with her will certainly never forget her immense passion for the community service to which she generously dedicated so much of her time.

CBRRA's sincere condolences goes to Doug, Kathy and Nicky.

Chris Willemse

CBRRA Chair

Little Glen fending forges ahead

Public Meeting Announcement 7 March 2010

PUBLIC MEETING

Mon 7 March March 2011 @ 19h00

The Rotunda, Camps Bay

ALL WELCOME

FEEDBACK ON
• Camps Bay Goes Green (Address by Sandy van Hoogstraten)
• CBRRA portfolio reports on issues relating to Camps Bay residents
• Meet our new team
• Address by Cllr Marga Haywood
• Supreme Court Ruling