Report on Ward 8 meeting 15 March 2021

Report on the Ward 8 committee meeting 15 March 2021

I attended the meeting on 15 March 2021 as the Botfriends representative. Botfriends are concerned with environmental issues over most of Ward 8.

I raised my concern about the following issues:

•  Item 3 of the agenda – Approval of the minutes – 8 February 2021:  I raised the issue that the minutes were not complete or had been incorrectly reported. I was not allowed to speak about the issues.  The chairperson’s  (Cllr. Gillion) comment was that I kept on raising the same issues over and over again, that some of these problems were not the responsibility of Ward 8 and that I was not allowed to even talk to the contractors, (damaging the environment).
• The chairperson would not add any items to the Matters Arising from the minutes.
• The Chairperson did NOT question the validity of the Botfriends report written after the February meeting and which had been circulated widely within Ward 8 to the people represented at that meeting (+600 interested people from both Fisherhaven and Hawston) as well as to the Chair and the Secretary.
• The Chairperson struggled to get someone to approve the minutes and then had to find another member to second the proposal.
• I then asked that my objection to the approval of the minutes of the 8 February 2021 be minuted. My question about what the function of a Ward 8 meeting was? then was not answered.
• Some of the issues were later raised in the meeting by other members. I raised my hand a number of times to try to clarify some of the issues, but was ignored.

The issues below had been raised at the February meeting BUT were not minuted by the minute secretary, or were minuted incorrectly:

Access control to Die Eiland:  it was minuted that no camping took place as no approval had been given due to Covid regulations.  The matter was Noted and apparently closed.

 There was no mention in the minutes that there had been vehicles there over Christmas and that vehicle presence was still ongoing. There was no mention of the discussion, destruction to the wetland and lack of signage to enable law enforcement to act. 

Permanent cleaning crew in Fisherhaven: it was minuted that the cleaning crew had been active.

Cllr Africa had reported that only a few problems had been attended to. Mr T Marx was to give a progress report with timelines as listed to the FRA at the next meeting. Verges had been maintained.

There had been progress on the slipway? It was recommended that poison be used for aliens that had been cut off.

There was no mention of the previous FRA comments on the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the cleaning crew. There was no mention of Botfriends’ comments of ineffectiveness and of the little work done by the cleaning crew and the wrong techniques. Also, there was no mention of Mr A Wyngaard’s (Senior Manager: Hermanus Association) comments that the OSM would deal with the cost of ineffectiveness and inefficiency.

The matter is now apparently effectively closed after the report by Mr T Marx.

Storm Water Masterplan: it was minuted that Mr D Hendricks (From OSM) had been invited but had not attended. A consultant has been appointed and they were still busy with the masterplan. There would be a public participation process. T Marx undertook to forward the information to the FRA.

Botfriends’ issues, such as incorrect maps and existing drainage ditches concentrating water and potentially causing flooding were not mentioned, other than that they could participate in the public participation process. It was not minuted that Mr A Wyngaard had reported that a storm water master plan was not a Ward 8 issue.

Later in the meeting it was reported by the FRA that severe flooding had occurred at a house where the drains had apparently been blocked by rubbish and clearing which the cleaning crew operations left in the drainage ditch. This had caused the flooding of the house. The point was also made that this was now a disaster and needed urgent action. The Chairperson reported that this was not a Ward 8 problem and not Ward 8’s responsibility, we were to wait for the Masterplan. Botfriends was allowed no input. Botfriends had before showed how a simple exercise of minimum cost could have halved the water in that particular drain. This would probably have avoided the disaster. The FRA did not raise this point.

Membership of the Ward 8 committee: no mention of this issue was made in the minutes at all.

The matter of the estuary breach was not raised at all.  

A protracted debate on storm water damage to the new RDP houses in Hawston ensured. The chairperson stated a number of times that she was not a contractor or an expert on these issues. She missed the point that Ward 8’s responsibility was not to necessarily solve the problems, but to bring them to the attention of the responsible body to answer to or deal with.

Michael Austin (representing Botfriends) As posted 27/3/2021

The report on the Ward 8 meeting of 15 March 2021 will be taken further.