Hout and About
News
from Residents’ Association of
rahb@houtbay.org.za
www.houtbay.org.za
December
2009
The last word before
2010
For the
last edition of 2009, we are happy to publish a (mostly) positive “month in
review”. This is testimony to each and
every member of Hout Bay who strives to make a difference in our small
community… whether that be helping a sick neighbour, being part of NHW, picking
up a piece of rubbish and putting it in the bin, contributing financially to
community projects, supporting local business and enterprise, letting someone
into the traffic on our increasingly busy roads, being part of emergency
services, keeping our Heritage and History alive, donating a book to the
Library, supporting our re-cycling initiative or just remembering that Hout Bay
Valley makes you feel alive and grateful for where we live.
There
are so many ways we can make a difference.
Remember the “small stuff” this festive season. It does not always have to cost a fortune and
make you feel suffocated by commercial Christmas overload. Stop, Breathe, Observe your Neighbour and
Decide what YOU can do to help.
Look
out for the people around you.
Thank
the waitron who serves you (and mean it)
Report
anything suspicious
Don’t
drink and drive (ever)
Set
your house alarm (every time you leave the house)
Smile!!
Take
a drive up our open Chappies (remember that long 10km walk and what fun we
had!)
Admire
our new dune hedgerows and watch our dunes grow with the wind
Pull
out Port Jackson saplings on your walk
Put
something into the NSRI collection boat
Have
a safe and fun filled holiday time (and think of those who must work to make
our holidays better!)
Historic Yacht Wylo
The
Association received an appeal from Alan Ford looking to get in touch with the
Nelson family, the current owners of the historic yacht “Wylo”. The Nelson’s used to own the Rumblin Tum
restaurant. After some detective work and a few e mails, we were delighted to
put Alan, Jenny and Henry in touch. In
Alan’s words, “Excellent now I can take my inspector Cluceau hat off and rest
easy. Thanks for all the help from the Houties by the sea”
We
are happy that once again, the RAHB network has been able to put people in
touch with each other – testimony to the wonderful community of
This
photograph from Roy McBride’s blog, CKD Boats
Grass as high as an
elephant’s eye?
A
local resident approached the Association for advice on what to do about a
neighbour’s overgrown property. Here is
the low-down on what to do if your neighbours are hiding elephants in their
gardens:
“Firstly, the responsibility
for serving notices (directives) on the owners of OVERGROWN properties (albeit
on State, Private and/or City owned land) rests with the City’s
Environmental Health Dept (Gavin Heugh – Principal Environmental
Health Officer and/or Malcolm Cupido – Head: Enviro Health South)
In terms of their new Health
By-laws, whereas should the conditions result in an ABNORMAL fire hazard
then Fire Services will serve notice in terms of their new Community Fire
safety By-law.
PLEASE NOTE however, that
according to the flow-chart for REMOVAL OF HAZARD FROM PROPERTIES your first
port of call is Enviro Mgt who will action accordingly (namely; Inspect
and then involve Fire Services, if necessary)”
A giant step for Main Road Clinic and a giant leap
against TB and HIV
Patrick McLaughlin of Rotary said “This is a milestone
in the fight against HIV/Aids in the valley to which our club has dedicated its
project ‘Operation Medical Hope’. Our first milestone was the import of some
R500,000 medical goods in 2004, mainly homecare, incontinence wear and
wheelchairs; the second phase was the upgrade of the Hangberg clinic with
extensions for HIV/Aids counselling and testing and now, the third phase, the
upgrading and new equipment for Main Road Clinic dealing mainly with TB and
HIV/Aids in Imizamo Yethu.”
The official opening was celebrated on the 25th
of November attended by Dr Ivan Bromfield, City of Cape Town Health Director,
Dr Karen Jennings, the City's HIV/Aids head and Lumka Bakana, the regional head
of HIV/Aids and Liz Huckle, the chair of Hout Bay Health Forum with whom Rotary
works on its health projects. Clinic staff
Dr
Ivan Bromfield stands with Sister Esther Carolus (centre) and the Main Road
Clinic staff after being handed back a fully refurbished clinic by Rotary Club
of Hout Bay
Clinic staff
"Dr
Ivan Bromfield stands with Sister Esther Carolus (centre) and the Main Road
Clinic staff after being handed back a fully refurbished clinic by Rotary Club
of Hout Bay
Clean, Mean Employing
Machine
At the
Residents Association meeting on Wednesday evening 11th November, our
Ward 74 Councillor Marga Haywood informed the meeting that Ward Allocation
funding has been made available for Beach Cleaning. Upon enquiring how
community organizations could submit tenders for the work, they were advised by
Marius Coetsee (Manager, Good Hope Subcouncil 16):
“Thanks for your enquiry and interest in the
The Association encourages unemployed persons to
register with the Council’s HR department to ensure they are considered for
employment on the Beach Cleaning programme.
Mystery
land movers
Can anyone shed any light on the earth moving taking
place on
Monarc
Mitigation?
The continuing saga of the
“Returned from Johannesburg. What is going on next door is TOTALLY
UNACCEPTABLE. After the deluge that we
had to live through yesterday with all their building sand along with that of
the beachfront, we have barrows full of building rubble being DUMPED from every
flat in the complex and the dust and all that goes with it is too much.
Environmental laws prohibit anything
that is a danger to our health - am I right and this certainly is. We cannot
live a reasonable healthy life.
I have NEVER had sand on my entrance
like I had this morning I swept up a half a wheelie bin full and most of that
is contaminated with their garbage and building materials too. If you are going
past, please take a look. You can drive
into the bottom of SUMMERVILLE the opposite end to our entrance and see what
they are doing - bull dozer and all. I
appreciate that they have to clean up but water it down a little.
We contend with lorries from 7.00 in the
morning until all hours of the evening, weekends and all and the shouting that
goes with it is unbearable. The whole
apartment vibrates. We have cracks
coming in our plaster all over and when I contacted the Engineering Company
yesterday that came to take photos of our complex inside and out before the
building got underway, he told me that I had to get the neighbours together and
contact DRABBE himself!! Where is the
justice in all of this?
Did they finally remove their signboards
a couple of weeks ago through your complaints?
They have now moved out all their site offices et al.
Speaking to the security guard he told
me that they were going to put up a wall at the bottom. We need a wall between us and they must also
repair our verge as it is through their trucks and sand that they have
destroyed the entire verge area of Brighton Street.
P tried to get hold of you but said she
could not. She has a lot of stories to
tell you. Make contact with here
please. Her telephone is continually
off, as the builders do something to the line.
Her electricity and water were threatened with cut-off also, as the
Development were drawing off her! “
Celebrating
2009
The RAHB Exco year-end function was held in November
with a social “Pot Luck” evening. Due to our unseasonable weather a braai was
out of the question and we enjoyed an eclectic and exciting buffet provided by
our Exco members.
Please put your hands together for the team who have
worked tirelessly to make our Valley a better place for all and a special
mention for our Chairman Len Swimmer whose dedication, understanding, integrity
and leadership makes him a true asset to our community.
Deputy
Chair Reinhard Marx proposes a toast to Chairman, Len Swimmer
Imizamo Yethu
Expansion and Re-development
The
decision by SPELUM to turn down the request for an interview with the RAHB and
Town Planner, Tommy Brummer is deeply regretted by the Association. The recommendation to Province to ignore the
interview requests and support Option 5 as presented by Chittenden and Nix
illustrates the opaque “public participation” in this process. The RAHB has repeatedly stated their opinion
and requested a hearing (over and above the PPP), but it is clear the City are
determined to ensure their original objectives are achieved, regardless of the
impact on Greater Hout Bay and its residents. RAHB have never before been
denied their interview that was requested. Len Swimmer wrote to Mayor Dan Plato
on Saturday 28th November concerning the issue – to date no reply
received, only acknowledgement of the letter.
For
the full text of the Minutes of SPELUM please go to our website wwwhoutbay.org.za
Welcome to our gorgeous Hout Bay beach!
This
is a message from (HBR) Hout Bay Recycling’s Zero Waste project:
“We are trying to keep it
pristine for everyone to enjoy. Dog walkers are asked to help in an exciting
new project aimed at collecting and composting dog pooh without using plastic
bags”.
What
dog walkers should do:
- Collect a green flag on
arrival at the beach from a Hout Bay Recycling member in exchange for a
small donation;
- Place a flag next to
your dog’s pooh;
- HBR will scoop the pooh
into a bucket
- The pooh will be taken
to a nearby compost heap;
- Flags will be reused.
Reasons:
- Dog pooh in plastic
contributes to landfill waste;
- Dog pooh is perfectly
compostable and plastic is not;
- Dog pooh in plastic
causes leachate and methane emissions (poisonous ground water and gasses).
Let’s make a difference together!
For
more info see www.zerowastehoutbay.org
Finally, we wish all the
residents of Hout Bay a happy, safe and healthy festive season and a prosperous
2010
NB! Mind the new speed bumps
in Valley Road -
We invite you to join the
Resident’s Association by sending an email to rahb@houtbay.org.za and we can send you details re
membership and alert you to some of the important issues that might affect you
as a resident of Hout
Bay
You might also want to use your
skill to help the Association operate and participate in community affairs
MEMBERSHIP
(R50 per couple, R30 per individual)
Forms from Chairperson or
Library. Association’s Banking Details:
FNB,
Subscriptions may be paid electronically (please use
your full name as a reference on the payment – to ensure that we correctly
credit your membership as this information appears on our Bank Statement
If you prefer, payment may also
be dropped into our wooden box at the Library (next to the Hall doors) or posted
to our Post Office Box: 27031
Len
Swimmer
Chairperson,
Residents’ Assoc of
Tel:
790-0268, Email: lens@telkomsa.net