BISHOPSCOURT VILLAGE
RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE BISHOPSCOURT VILLAGE RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION (BVRA)
HELD ON MONDAY 29th AUGUST 2011 AT 19h30
AT ST.BERNARD'S CHURCH HALL, NEWLANDS.
- WELCOME
The chairman, Richard Williams, opened by welcomingthe 33 residentsand 8 guests (as per signatures on the register). Guestsincluded Iain Williamson and Gavin Robinson of ADT; Liz Brunette, Councillor for Ward 62; Moir Scholtz, chairman of Fernwood Residents' Association; Errol Wood, chairman of Claremont Sector 3 Community Police Forum; Miranda Alexander, the Bishopscourt Village river warden; Graham Halse, treasurer of Newlands Residents' Association; and Paul Martin from Harfield Pine Neighbourhood Watch.
- APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from 42 residents,as well as from Nicky Sparks (secretary ofBishopscourt Residents' Association), Inspector Sean Wentink (head of Claremont SAPS Sector 3), andLiz and Dave Wheeler (Friends of the Liesbeeck).
- ADT and the BVRA
Iain Williamson, ADT's new Community Security Adminofficer for Bishopscourt gave a brief presentation of ADT's role and available services. Iaintook over from Garith Dell two months ago, and covers operational issues, finance, marketing, etc in our area. There is also anarea manager, Chris Matthee, who monitors the performance of the bicycle patrol on a daily basis. Some aspects touched on by Iain in his presentation are the following:
ADT's crime stats show that theft out of motor vehicles had the highest incidence in the last year compared to previous years' data, and this is primarily due to negligence of residents or their visitors.
About 6 months ago ADT began using an auto dispatch system, whereby the alarm activation signalis transmitted straight to the armed response officerand to ADTcontrol room simultaneously. Previously thealarm signal went only to the control room, which then contacted armed response, and this process could take up to 2.5 minutes. So far ADT is the only company in SA utilizing this technology.
Iain also explained to residents how their Masterlock system works, and mentioned ADT Pulse, a productwhich is not yet available.
ADT once again encouraged residents to test alarms regularly, since false alarms are a waste of resources.
In closing, Iain thanked both Hank Williams and Richard Williams for their assistance and cooperation.
- ACCEPTANCE OF THE MINUTES OF THE BVRA AGM HELD ON 27.9.2010
Proposed by Steve Mayer; seconded by Joan Parker.
- BVRA COMMITTEE REPORTS
5.1.Chairmans report - Richard Williams
The chairman's report included a brief review of some of the BVRA Committee's activities and involvement in civic matters for the year:
Civic matters:As Secretary of BVRA, Linda Miszczak attended the monthly Ward 62 meetings, although only 4 were held in the period under review (July 2010-June 2011).One factor which affected the frequency of meetings was the dis-establishment of Ward Forums in March 2011 prior to the local government elections, and the new Ward Forums have yet to be established. Residents were regularly alerted about various civic matters in Monthly Updates, and despite being offered opportunities for comment on draft legislation or other matters, invariably it was left to the Committee to formulate an opinion on behalf of the Association.Matters commented on in the past year on behalf of the BVRA include: the Traffic By-Law (Nov 2010);the Department of Energy's draft Integrated Resource Plan 2010 Revision 2 (December 2010); and the rezoning and development of Princess Vlei (June 2011). From correspondence just received it appears that the City of Cape Town is not going to support the development plans which are currently on the table for Princess Vlei, which we feel is good news.
Trafficmatters and the BVRA websitewere handled of by Paul Durrant in the course of the year.
Further to the No Parking lines painted opposite driveways in Upper Noreen, Council also agreed to paint No Parking lines in the cul-de-sacs at the end of Upper Angelina and Upper Isabel, and this was done.At last year’s AGMa request was madefor traffic calming measures in Colenso Road, and many residents supported this. The Traffic Department reacted very promptly in surveying morning and afternoon peak traffic;however they found the traffic volumes were low even compared to the norm for similar residential streets, and therefore calming measures could not be justified.Residents were thanked for keeping their verges clear of overgrown vegetation in the past year and requested to continue to keep any vegetation that hinders line-of-sight for cars and pedestrians pruned well back.
The BVRA websiteran smoothly this past year and no major changes were made to its functionality. Various pages and photos were updated. Visits to the website remained much the same as the previous year, at about 1200 visitors for the year.
Richard handed over to Luke Brodziak to report back onLand Usematters:
Luke remindedresidents that with regards to planning and zoning matters, the BVRA Committee provides only an oversight role. Whilst not opposed in principle to development, the BVRA would like the residential nature of the village maintained. The BVRA Committee does not generally involve itself in cases where immediate neighbours do not object to a particular application for departure; butwhere neighbours do object, the objections are assessed in light of precedent and the need to preserve the character of the area.
As indicated last year, the following applications were objected to:
a) 1 Princess Avenue - ERF 56842: the original township plans provide for a minimum plot size of approximately 450 square metres. The owner applied for a sub-division which will result in one of the two newly divided properties being 419 square metres in size. The application was approved by the City of Cape Town in line with their densification strategy, and neighbours and the BVRA lodged an appeal against the decision. We await Council’s decision on the appeal.
B) 11 Edinburgh Drive: this was reported on at the AGM in 2010. No feedback has been received.
Guidelines for building plan consent: BVRA committee have prepared a set of guidelines to enable a smooth planning process by residents when planning any minor renovations to their homes. The guidelines have been loaded onto the BVRA website.
City of Cape Town Spatial Development Framework (SDF) & District Development Plans: over the past 4 years, the City of Cape Town has been preparing the SDF,the purpose of which is to align the City’s development with provincial and national policy and guide how the City should develop over the next 20 years.The SDF is to provide policy direction for the proposals in the district Spatial Development Plans (SDP’s).A District Spatial Development Plan provides development guidelines around land use on a district level. It also serves as a guide for new public investment (such as road links, parks and public facilities). The City has been divided into 8 districts and Bishopscourt Village falls under the Southern District’s Plan, specifically in sub-district 2 (Bishopscourt, Constantia and Tokai).Luke highlighted aspects of the SDP for Sub-District 2 which are deemed relevant to BVRA.
The Greater Cape Town Civic Alliance (GCTCA) together with WESSA (Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa), objected to the Plans on the grounds that the City failed to perform a regional strategic environmental assessment (SEA) to gauge (amongst others) the limitations and needs of infrastructure like sewerage plants, waste sites, water pumps, electricity supply, roads, libraries etc. As a member of GCTCA, the BVRA aligned ourselves with the above view and now await the City’s response on the submissions.
Brett Hilton-Barber asked if BVRA has a view on developments with Protea Village. A fair amount of discussion ensued. Protea Village doesn't fall within BVRA's ambit and as such no official BVRA viewpoint has been formulated. Councillor Liz Brunette informed the meeting of developments thus far and that according to her knowledge William Booth is taking the matter on appeal.Her advice was that anyone wishing to get involved at this stage would need to research the history. The Land Restitution Act doesn’t allow for the incumbent local community to be involved in the restitution process. There are approximately 84 claimants, and a business plan has been developed. The area to be developed is on the northern side of Kirstenbosch Drive, below the stone cottages, and the latter will remain with opportunity for income generation. Gap housing is not envisaged. The contentious issue is a few pockets of the arboretum area. Public participation will be allowed at any stage when development applications get submitted.
5.2.Treasurers report – Sue Brownlee
Once again the Treasurer reassured members of BVRA that the association is financially very sound.
Slides were presented, showing a summary of the Income and Expenditure for the year with figures from the previous year provided for a comparison, although most figures are very similar for both years.
It was pointed out that figures for the Bicycle Patrol and River Project are shown separately since they are funded differently and thus it gives a clearer picture of how subscriptions and donations are utilised.
Bicycle Patrol (BP)
BPIncome is made up of members' subscriptions, as well as interest earned on reserves and subscriptions paid in advance (annual and bi-annual). Subscriptions were higher in 2011 due to the increase imposed on members as a result of ADT’s increased fees. The number of subscribers was constant at approx 140 for both years. Interest earned was slightly lower in 2011, which is not unexpected since interest rates were lower than the previous year.
BP Expenses are mainly ADT’s fees, and bonuses (monthly incentives and year-end bonuses) paid to the patrol officers. Contract fees were up in 2011 due to ADT imposing an annual increase of 5%.Security maintenance, which covers everything from coffee flasks to hardware for the patrol officers’ shed, was pleasingly lower in 2011 than 2010.Administration costs include ever increasing bank charges, the year-end street party, labour for the garden at the traffic lights and stationery expenses. In previous years professional fees were included under admin, but in 2010-11 it is shown as a separate item to explain that the 2010 figure covered audit fees for 2 years while the 2011 figure covers 4 tax submissions, due to a catch-up. SARS ruled that we were liable for tax on interest earned during 2007 and 2008, so we paid R5 066 in May from a provision of R7 000 set aside for this eventuality. The law has since been amended and as an NPO we are no longer liable for tax on interest earned.
The net surplus for the BP was R28 764 in 2011 compared with R38 244 the previous year; the differencebeingmainly due to tax submission fees and bonuses.
The River Project's finances:
Income: The River Project is funded by generous donations from residents as well as visitors who use and enjoy the area. In addition, Joan applies for whatever grants she can and we are very grateful to the RS Nussbaum Foundation and the Roland and Leta Hill Trust for their extremely useful grants.
Expenses: In general expenses in 2011 were higher than in 2010, mainly due to the purchase of a wendy house, the construction of gabions, and repairing and improving the walkway. Wages, a major expense in previous years, were paid out the of the Lottery Fund grant which came through in August 2010; exceptions to this were wages for casual labour brought in for specific tasks, and end of year bonuses paid to the gardeners.
The surplus for 2010/11 for the river Project is R49 454 which is a comfortable margin, but necessary since we will not know until mid 2012 if we will receive grants from either of the trusts again.
Lottery Fund:Expenditure of the Lottery Fund grant of R164 370.40 was explained. The grant was made in accordance with a budget that Joan submitted in her original application, and determined how the funds had to be used. In addition, they had to be used within a year of the grant being received, ie by the end of August 2011. We are still uncertain if we can spend the interest that has accrued on the funds or if we must pay it over to the Lottery Fund, and we also not sure if and when the second tranche will be granted. Once 75% of the funds were used, a progress report was submitted to the Lottery Board as stipulated, and a final report will be submitted after the end of August.
Combined BVRA and Bicycle Patrol figures:
The total combined surplus for the year was R78 218, which makes total accumulated funds R396 725, being R247 153 for the Bicycle Patrol and R141 533 for the River Project. Sue outlined why the committee feels the need for prudent management of the surplus that has built up over a 7 year period. A loss of just 5 subscribers from the Bicycle Patrol reduces our income by R9 400 pa and we can easily lose subscribers who may leave the neighbourhood for any reason. The River Project surplus is even more vulnerable. If we don’t get any grants from Trusts or worse, if the Lottery Fund withholds the second payment for any reason, we will not be able to sustain the River Project at its current level: wages for the present staff complement are approximately R150 000 pa, and that is just one item of expenditure.It would be sad if the project could not be sustained, since all would surely agree what a tremendous asset it is to our neighbourhood.
Attendees were told that the approved financials for 2010 and the unaudited Balance Sheet for 2011 were available for inspection but no-one asked to see them.
5.3.SECURITY REPORT – Hank Williams
BVRA Bicycle Patrol continues to be effective, particularly in comparison to other areas: BVRA maintained an average97% accuracy of patrols completed; Camps Bay 92%;other areas 60-70%. This is achieved through a “hands on” approach throughout the year.Patrols are monitored by Hank on a daily basis, and if performance falls below a 90% average effective rate for the month, the BVRA deducts R1700 from the ADT monthly payment in terms of a performance agreement. Patrol officers are incentivised by the BVRA with a monthly bonus to ensure that patrols are carried out in line with various graded operational targets that are set. Our base of patrol officers has been stable other than Mr Mike Xabendlini replacing Mr Mavume who had been with us for a long while and needed new challenges; Mr Madlebe and Mr Mjuza continue from last year.The 3 officers work very well together.
The BVRA committee recently reviewed the bicycle patrol operation against the new services (Mountain Men) being used in Fernwood. It was concluded that with our geography and smaller number of households, the bicycle patrol option is still the better value/benefit for us. Mountain Men would be much more expensive without adding much to our security. However we will constantly evaluate all options to keep our village safe.
BVRA Crime Trends
The BVRA overall stats are again in line with last year and the previous 2 years at 33 incidents.These figures include all incidents reported to BVRA by residents and by ADT, hence they differ from the stats kept by ADT (12 incidents) and SAPS.For the past year BVRA stats have included a line item on “Suspicious Persons”, and if this is excluded from the total then the overall stats reflect a significant drop of 9 incidents last year,reducing the total down to 24. Suspicious persons are seldom reported to ADT or SAPS, nor recorded in their stats.In line with ADT's stats, the trends show that Car Break-in/Theft still remains the biggest concern increasing from 10 incidents last year to 13 in 2010/11 – in 12 incidents items were visible.The good news is the significant drop in House Break-Ins with only 4 incidents compared to 11 last year. November 2010 and June 2011 were particularly bad months for us with a spate of car break-ins and some Common Theft (stealing grates from drains etc).Two arrests occurred in BV, prompted mainly by our Bicycle Patrol officers on duty.
Generally speaking our stats are well in line if not better than the drop in crime that is reported by Claremont SAPS, with the surrounding residential areas being a lot higher, especially the area around Cavendish.
Thanks to the following people were put on record:
Our resident bicycle expert, Clyde Rutterswho continues to maintain and service our patrol bicycles.
All those residents who provided coffee and sandwiches to the night patrol officers.
Joan Parker, who assists wherever necessary.
Iain Williamson, our new ADT link who was welcomed to the village.
Jason de Havilland asked whether it is feasible for ADT to penalize/fine people who have recurrent false alarms.Hank commented that this is not within the BVRA's ambit, but suggested residents talk to their neighbours if false alarms are a problem. ADT can track the frequency of false alarm activations which are a waste of resources; they will take action if there are more than 13 activations in one month.