WRRA NEWS FEBRUARY Winter sunset beach walks at Leentjies klip. So many evenings to enjoy! The Wilderness Hotel

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1 WRRA NEWS FEBRUARY 2017 Of special interest for those who live in and love Wilderness Winter sunset beach walks at Leentjies klip. So many evenings to enjoy! The Wilderness Hotel WRRA AGM, 15th February, 5.30 for 6.00 pm Wilderness Hotel & Spa. Get all the updates and an inkling of future plans and challenges. FREE Windows computer training for WRRA members. Page 3 FLOODS and LAKES...a huge responsibility. Page 5 New SECURITY initiative are you on board? Page 7 Your Chairman s farewell. Page 12 Wilderness Ratepayers and Residents Association, Wilderness, Western Cape, South Africa, 6560 wrra@tiscali.co.za

2 To TREE or not to TREE? That is the Question! Don t miss this WRRA talk on Wednesday 22 Feb, 6.30 for 7.00 pm at the Wilderness Hotel & Spa, when Irvine Kanyemba, General Manager, MTO Cape will tell us everything we want to know about our local plantation forests. Did you know that four plantation trees are planted every minute of every day here in the Cape? Did you know that about 21,000 hectares of forest plantation area in the Western Cape, mostly in the Outeniqua, is going over to conservation in 2020? With vast experience in Zimbabwe and Mozambique and now based in George, Irvine is responsible for MTO s forestry and sawmilling operations in the Western and Eastern Cape. He ll address the future of forestry on our local plantations, environmental issues, and the changes and growth of recreational uses in the forests. Rogues Gallery: problem Parkers! The driver of the BMW (CAW ) was presumably collecting post. If he/she does it again the next thing he/she collects might be a DENT and a PARKING TICKET! Another cowboy parking where they like, regardless of possible damage to our kerbs. Do we REALLY need more NO PARKING signs for these folk? WOW!!! So worth watching, especially the drone footage of the stunning beauty that surrounds us. Great advert for Wilderness! Page 2

3 Free Windows computer training for WRRA Members! Yes, free with no catches provided you are a paid-up member of WRRA. This will be the third course run by Doug Wilcox who also developed and maintains the WRRA web site. The course will be run at his home in Wilderness over 8 to 10 sessions each Thursday morning starting mid- March. Click on the link on the front page of the WRRA web-site for details and how to book a place. Embrace Technology CALLING WILDERNESS CRAFTERS We all know that Wilderness hosts an abundance of local talented crafters who lovingly hand craft beautiful world class creations right here in Wilderness..but many of us locals don t know about you!. The WRRA has been approached by one of the local businesses who have said that they would be happy to become an outlet for locally produced products. If you think this may be of interest to you and to Wilderness in general, please drop an to wrra@tiscali.co.za and we will put you in touch with each other. Let s all Buy Local. Its Lekker! Crafting comes before Housework in the dictionary as it should! Page 3

4 WRRA ENVIRONMENTAL UPDATE ROCKY SHORE EXPLORATION AT BUFFELS BAY - SATURDAY, 25 FEBRUARY Following the recent success of a morning paddling in the Knysna Basin looking at various life forms, WESSA are offering another exciting marine outing with the Knysna Basin Team. Louw Claassens and Maureen Lake will guide us around Buffels Bay on 25 February. On this particular Saturday low tide occurs at a convenient time for us to explore the fascinating creatures in the rock pools. The Knysna Basin Team will enlighten us on the unique adaptations displayed by rocky shore species. Adaptations which enable these species to survive harsh conditions in this intertidal zone. The morning outing will end with a bring your own picnic lunch. More details will be forwarded to those who book for this event. The group of participants will be limited to 30 persons. Secure your place by contacting: Annemarie angebhar@telkomsa.net or phone Please provide us with your contact details and location to facilitate organising lifts where required. Participation: R50 for WESSA members, R80 for non-members. WRRA takes charge of Village gardens again. Despite the garden services that WRRA has employed, there are just too many areas in the village needing TLC. Litter collects in the over-grown drainage gully near Milkwood Village, weeds are poking through pavements, etc, etc. So, at the last WRRA committee meeting, Cornell Barnardt offered to step in and drive the tasks required. Thank you, Cornell! PLEASE KEEP WILDERNESS BEAUTIFUL - LET S KEEP OUR STREET VERGES WEED Good Season thanks to all parties and SANParks Honorary Rangers. With just one unfortunate drowning in the lagoon (which resulted in an immediate increase in Life Guards in the area), Wilderness otherwise enjoyed a safe and successful beach season. The NSRI held an emergency rescue drill on the Blue Flag beach one Saturday that attracted a good crowd. TOP: The victim, (a brave NSRI volunteer) is carried to shore after being swept out to sea in a rip tide. If you get caught in a rip, wave one arm to signal you need help. (If there s no help at hand, DO NOT SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT just go with the flow until you are released and then use the waves to bring you back to the beach.) BOTTOM: A WESSA Beach Steward practices CPR on a dummy. Page 4

5 FLOOD AND LAKES MANAGEMENT - A HUGE RESPONSIBILITY Every two months, WRRA and representatives from Sedgefield, etc., meet with the management of SANParks Wilderness Area, to discuss concerns and matters of mutual interest. Some feedback from the last meeting of interest to us wild ones: OPENING OF THE TOUW RIVER MOUTH: Due (in probability) to the construction of the railway bridge, there has been a constant build up of silt in the Touw River system. This means that the water level that signals the need to breach the river mouth, (the prescribed level for mechanical breaching is between m above sea level), is being reached more frequently and with less rainfall. Artificial breaching is often associated with a limited head/pressure of water behind the sand berm at the mouth. Without enough pressure there s a limited scouring of sediment from the estuary. Repeated low level breaching will almost certainly lead to gradual swallowing of the estuary from sediment accumulation, and this what we are currently witnessing in the Touw River Estuary mouth. The flood warnings of a few weeks ago cost SANParks R to have machinery standing by at the Touw and Sedgefield beaches only to have the main rain falling out to sea! Google Earth gives a good idea of the extent of the build-up of sediment in the Touw River Mouth compared to Hugo Leggat s picture taken before the N2 and railway bridges were built. DREDGING: SANParks has explored dredging and expelling the sand to sea. To lower the sand bed by one meter between Freesia Rocks to the bridges would cost between R8 R10 million! IMPROVING LAKES SYSTEM FLOW: Reed cutting and some dredging is taking place along the channels that link the lakes. Not only will this help reduce flood risk, but improve the lakes eco-system. Salinity levels in Island, Rondervlei and Langvlei lakes are dropping. This has led to an increase in invasive fresh-water fish (Tilapia and Carp) and the reduction of typical estuarine fish species. Currently the first phase of the project will focus on the channels between Rondevlei, Langvlei and Island Lake, the second phase of the project will remove the blockages in the Serpentine Channel. By improving and restoring the hydrological flow of water between the lakes in the Touw River System it is envisaged that this will improve the ecological functioning of the Touw River Estuary and restore its ecological function as important nursery for estuarine dependent fish species. Page 5

6 FIREWORKS! SANParks could not cover every point where fireworks were set off over New Year. In accordance with the Explosives Act, SANParks and WRRA will ask the Municipality to create and publicise one or two specific beach areas as the only places where fireworks may be set off. BATTERY & LOW ENERGY BULB DISPOSAL BINS NOW AVAILABLE at Jacks Paint & Hardware thanks to WRRA. Please do not dispose of hazardous waste in your black bags! WATER CRISIS AVERTED With more weather stations being erected in our river catchment areas, it seems that Wilderness and Sedgefield only survived the high water demands of the season thanks to better rainfalls experienced slightly inland. For example, the Farleigh Hills weather station is recording 3-5 times higher rainfall than in Sedgefield itself! Please continue to use water sparingly the rainfall is still sparse! Community Care Crafts that give HOPE! If you want to buy totally unique, handmade beadwork bracelets, necklaces, etc. (for yourself or as gifts) pop in at the Hope Church Centre (opposite Bundu Café, Wilderness Heights). What makes these items unique is that every bead is hand-made from tightly rolled triangles cut from the pages of donated magazines! Painted and varnished, they become exquisitely beautiful! PAWS care now in Touwsranten Estelle and Matty are now dipping in Touwsranten. Matty recently moved to the area and saw the massive challenge there cats bulging with worms; dogs covered by ticks... a dog with a badly damaged eyeball -I took him to the PDSA and had him sterilized at the same time! says Estelle le Roux, It s quite daunting, but if we can help some animals its much better thank none! Thanks to a very kind WRRA member s donation, (and friends giving Estelle donations to PAWS instead of birthday gifts) PAWS is able to sterilize another 10 + animals in Wilderness Heights! Page 6

7 SAFETY AND SECURITY Wilderness East and Wilderness Heights are second only to to Touwsranten in terms of reported crime! At a special security meeting held on the 25th January and again at the Police Forum meeting on the 30th, Warrant Officer Bennie Boshoff had a clear agenda. Having been told there s no funds for a second van and a dedicated detective, Bennie is keen to get the community involved in upgrading its own security measures. With a limited number of access roads and the Wilderness Police ready to monitor on-screen activity caught on camera, CCTV seems to be the way to go. Some individuals have started to erect cameras, but the equipment has proved not to provide the picture quality required to identify number plates (and in one case the data was so unclear the vehicle could not even be identified as a bakkie or car!) WRRA has taken up the challenge to drive a COMMUNITY SECURITY initiative similar to the camera units operating so successfully in Sedgefield! More news to follow. This will involve a small contribution from residents but the more people who join, the LOWER the cost will be! So for your sake, get your neighbours to join WRRA now! If you have any expertise that might help WRRA with these challenges, please contact Donald on WRRA will also be representing Wilderness on the George Community Police Forum. Wilderness Neighbourhood Security: WHATSAPP Groups Does your Street/Neighbourhood have a WHATSAPP Group? If not, why not start one yourself? Contact any of the administrators below to learn the ropes... Are you on your Security Group? If you live in Constantia Kloof Join ConsKloofSecurity SMS Donald Sands Road Join SandsRoadSecurity SMS Lucy Wilderness Heights Join HeightsWatch SMS Roy Wilderness East Join WECAN Security SMS Estelle Kingfisher Close Join KingfisherWatch SMS Peter Southside/10th Join Lagoon Watch SMS Sigi Simply send your name, and street address to your ADMINISTRATOR to join. If your WhatsApp Group is not listed, please send the name and cell number of your street s Security WhatsApp Group administrator to wrra@tiscali.co.za to add to this list of administrators. Page 7

8 THE FUTURE OF OUR Plantation FORESTS The next WRRA Public Lecture Wed 22nd FEB 6:30 for 7:00 pm, Wilderness Hotel. & Spa.. Irvine Kanyemba, General Manager, MTO Cape will tell us everything we want to know about our local plantation forests. Now based in George, he is responsible for MTO s forestry and sawmilling operations in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. He ll address the future of forestry on our local plantations, environmental issues, and the changes and growth of recreational uses in the forests. Members R10 Non-members R20. Cash bar. New Land Use Zoning its up to you to comment. THE OFFICIAL NOTICE: The commencement of the public participation for the proposed Integrated Zoning Scheme By-Law for the George Municipal area was advertised in the local press on 2nd and 9th February Land owners now have the opportunity until 02 March 2017 to inspect the zoning maps and check whether the zoning allocated to their property is correct and/or submit their comments on the by-law in writing. Visit the our town planners on Level 5 of the Municipal Offices, contact Mrs D Power at (044) for more details, or visit the George Municipal website at As many found it impossible to find, here is WRRA S HELPING HAND: Once on the George web site / policies and by laws, click Wilderness Town Planning Regulations George Municipality Integrated Zoning / George Municipality Land Use By-Law To locate your property and check its registered land use just click on the prominent blue icon marked LINK and a map will open up. Move it until you see Wilderness and identify your erf. In case of problems, follow the instructions below : If the top of the screen has a black background click on the message "Click to restore..." Click on the "OK" button in the bottom right If the legend displays in the right of the screen click on the "X" in the Legend header line. Zoom so that you have a view including your area of Wilderness. You can do this either by scrolling the wheel on your mouse or using the "+" and "-" below the "Draft Integrated Zoning Scheme" in the top left - it is not very visible. Scroll the map so that your area is approximately central. You do this by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the map. Repeat the scrolling and zooming to locate your property. Click on your property. You should get a "Draft Zoning Scheme" pop up. Clicking on the arrow will display details of the zoning. For most people this will be "Residential 1" The "x" in the top left will close the page. If you continue to have difficulty in using the map please send a message to dougwilcox@mweb.co.za Page 8

9 Wilderness Improvement Program and Services Updates Cornell Barnardt and Willem Aweries have volunteered to help keep the village as clean and tidy as possible. Their tasks will include keeping the streets and pavements weed and litter free. The areas in and around the tunnel as well as all the flower beds will also be attended to. They will also, in conjunction with our newly appointed garden service, keep the lawns short and the edges trimmed on a fortnightly basis. NEW PROJECTS PLANNED:- 1. Neatening and maintaining Owen Grant Street, (reputedly the oldest street in Wilderness?). WRRA has requested George Municipality to grade this street so that it can in future be maintained at a standard befitting our village. 2. Re- varnishing the rubbish bins where necessary. 3. Painting the white fence in Leila s Lane behind Wilderness Hotel. 4. Two bollards to be erected to prevent unlawful parking. 5. Cleaning of Waterside Road and pavement up to where the paving ends. Hats off to Freda of Cocomo s who has, once again, sponsored the beautifying of the tunnel to Sands Road. Local artists Ingrid Nuss and Lee Molenaar are painting new murals. For murials, fine art or any commissions please support these young artists. (ingridnss@gmail.com ; leemolenaar@gmail.com ) ROADS & SERVICES Water. There were two water problems in recent weeks, both corrected. The weak water pressure in Wilderness Heights actually became no water at all for a few residents at the higher elevations. When the water supply in the village is disrupted, it often affects the Heights as the water supply in the village is replenished with Heights water. That doesn t happen often, but it did in this recent case. The other problem, on Koobooberry Road and Constantia Road in Constantia Kloof, was caused by a broken pipe at the water reservoir. It took some time to locate and repair the problem, but it was indeed repaired. Henry Jansen (Deputy Director Civil Engineering Services, Water and Sanitation) apologized to those affected: Please accept my apologies for the delay in fixing the problem. The source of the leak was difficult to find, but I am happy to inform you that it was found this afternoon. The temporary supply pipeline to the reservoir is still in operation and the repairs to the pipeline are in progress. The patience of the affected consumers is appreciated. Page 9

10 ROADS & SERVICES CONTINUED The George Municipality operates a large water and sewage system. At the Wilderness Waterworks there is a standby engineer on duty 24/7 and this engineer is responsible for the operational decisions after hours. Residents who wish to report water problems during normal working hours (Monday-Friday: 07:45-16:30) should call /6. After hours, call Once reported, with reference number in hand, you should be able to get the latest information from Teresa Barnard at Roads. Status of the upgrade to Heights Road, Whites Road, and Seven Passes As described previously the road upgrades are being done in sections with different requirements for each. Resealing The section from the University for about three kms towards George will be resealed being scheduled for second week March. There will be single lane closures and hence stop-goes lasting a few days. Access through Seven Passes will thus remain open. The section of Whites Road from the top of Heights Road past the Bundu shop up to the nursery: This will be resealed after the above, that is mid to late March. This will also have single lane closures and stop-goes. Seven Passes The hold on work continues. A meeting was held 8th February between the Western Cape Government (responsible for the specification of the road works) and the Heritage Foundation around certain issues concerning the widening of the road and cut back of the vegetation. Hopefully the issues will be resolved in the next few days. Once work recommences there will be full closure to all except the two properties resident on the road. The road surface will be lifted, milled and relaid to stabilise the road. Closure should last three to four weeks. Heights Road It was planned that re-closure would only occur after the Seven Passes was reopened. However, if there is continued delay then the work on Heights will be brought forward. Heights and Seven Passes will not be closed at the same time. The contractors are currently working on the sides of the road and will begin casting concrete shortly. Drivers are ignoring the red flags and so it may become necessary to do lane closures to ensure the safety of those working on the road. Heights will undergo the same stabilisation as Seven Passes from about 450m from the circle at the hotel. This is the boundary between the George Municipality and Eden District Council sections of the road. However, repair work of the guard rails and minor stabilisation on the George section will be undertaken. After stabilisation the whole road down to the stop behind Dr De Vos's offices will be resurfaced. Full closure will last three to four weeks. Whites Road gravel section The contractors are only responsible for regrading the road while Heights is closed. At all other times it remains the responsibility of George and Eden District to maintain their sections of the road. However, users of the toad are not helping the situation. The engineers advise us that excessive speeding greatly accelerates the deterioration of the road surface and makes it unsafe to try to grade the road when used as a bypass. If you are one of the users exceeding the speed limit then please don't complain to us about the state of the road. Due to the uncertain dates for the closures of Seven Passes and Heights, further updates will be sent out as soon as we have information. Page 10.

11 NEW! HOEKWIL NEWS NO MORE HOEKWIL RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION? All of the present committee of the long standing Hoekwil Ratepayers and Residents Association have resigned, for a variety of personal reasons. It is not because of any strife or conflict. Unless other residents of Hoekwil step forward to form a new committee, there is a real danger that the Association will have to be dissolved. Residents are urged to come to the AGM on 2nd March, and nominate keen people to carry on the good work of the Association that has done and achieved so much for residents over the years. Need a gardener, a plumber, a house-cleaner? Well help is on your doorstep! The WRRA and HRRA have initiated a local employment initiative called Support Our Skills (SOS). Check the WRRA website ( for the growing list of locally available skilled artisans and workers looking for the opportunity to earn a living. Dates to Diarise: WRRA AGM THE FUTURE OF OUR PLANTATION FORESTS HRRA AGM WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY, 5.30 for 6.00pm, Wilderness Hotel & Spa. WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2017, 6:30 for 7:00 pm, Wilderness Hotel. & Spa. Irvine Kanyemba, General Manager, MTO Cape will be revealing everything we need to know about the future plans for our local plantation forests and their handing over to SANParks. R10 WRRA members R20 non-members. Hoekwil Residents and Ratepayers Association AGM THURSDAY 2 MARCH. 6.00pm, School Hall SATURDAY 5 MARCH HOEKWIL 9 till 1pm on the 1st Saturday of every month at the Hoekwil Primary. Contact Mariëtte Künkel on Page 11

12 Council News Ward 4 Councillor: Marlene Viljoen In the recent past I have received several s regarding the tarring or paving of untarred residential roads in ward 4. I felt that this is the right platform to share information in this regard and I trust that this slot will answer some questions. The budget for upgrading of municipal roads is determined by the Pavement Management System, priorities/recommendations and the roads reflected in the Integrated Development Plan (IDP). Before the approval of any Capital Project can take place, (which includes tarring) the project must be on the IDP so that it can form part of the prioritisation and budgeting process. Residents are encouraged to attend the IDP meetings that are arranged in each ward to ensure that they can register their requests as part of this process. The Civil Engineering Directorate then reviews the available budget for road upgrading and divides it into the 27 Wards of the Municipality to ensure that there's an equitable share. Now from the word go I can assure you that the amount of money required to upgrade George's roads, far exceeds the available funding each and every year. For example, for the 2015/16 financial year ending on 30 June 2016, Council approved a budget for upgrading of roads of R11.5 million. However, for 2016/17 the budget was reduced to a mere R5 million (this amount is only made up of municipal charges and does not include any Grant Funding). Cutting of the budget emanated from the Minister of Finance s decision to cut budgets and this filtered through to all three spheres of Government. The above is just to give you some insight into Council processes when it comes to upgrading of roads. For example, the cost of paving a road of approximately 820m, (similar to Lake Road) will amount to a construction cost of roughly R 1.65 million. Bear in mind that if there's only R5 million budgeted, this will mean that 33% of that entire budget will be spent in one ward alone! Now one can well ask why some roads in George are being upgraded and not others, but it all depends on the funding stream. The Go George bus network has resulted in most, if not all the bus routes being upgraded or maintained with Grant Funding for this purpose. So too, some streets linked to housing projects and a number of flood damaged roads were also upgraded. All were upgraded with different sources Grant Funding and not municipal funds. I trust that this explanation helps to explain the process that needs to be followed when a need, as in the case of tarring a road, is expressed by a resident. Marlene

13 The Last Word The last time I mentioned the lack of rain, within a week we received a really good shower or two. So here goes again: Where s the rain we re supposed to have at this time of year????? On 15 February we will be having our AGM and I urge all members to attend if you possibly can. It s very important to us as your committee to hear what you have to say about WRRA and what we re about. It is only through this form of engagement that what is often individuals opinions on matters can be shared and debated openly. Please appreciate that items need to be WRRA specific. WRRA does not have any say over municipal matters but does engage the municipality and influence decisions on a regular basis. Also, the AGM is not a decision making forum unless proper notice of the item has been given and apart from the minor amendments to the constitution, there are no other items this time around. As some of you may be aware, I have taken the decision to step down as chairman of the Association. It wasn t an easy decision as I have thoroughly enjoyed it and the interaction with our members has been nothing short of amazing. I will certainly miss this but it is time to give a bit more of a priority to family and friends. I will remain a committee member for at least the next two years. So, it gives me an opportunity to publicly thank firstly all our members for your support, guidance and wisdom. You have made it a most enjoyable time for me even though it was exhausting at times. I have had a hard-working and supportive committee and to each one of you, my sincere thanks and appreciation. I must single out our secretary Vanessa for all she does as the window of the Association. After 5 years, Vanessa too has decided to step down from the committee. It is still early days and the new committee will be appointed once we have had a look at which portfolios need reviewing. Vanessa Hau-Yoon and Niel Viljoen (WRRA s super efficient Treasurer) joined on the same day and have both resigned on the same day after five years of loyal service to this community for which we are truly thankful! Page 13 As you read on page 7, one area that we intend giving a lot more attention to is that of security. WRRA is currently in discussion with SAPS and will be taking on expert advice from both Sedgefield and George as to what WRRA can do to improve security through CCTV cameras and other forms of protecting valuables. However, this requires the participation of every household if it is to fully succeed. To this end, we will be a lot more proactive in recruiting new members as security must be high on the priority list of all residents of Wilderness. Cheers Neville See you at the AGM Wed 15 Feb, 5.30 for 6pm

14 2017 membership now due R160 (see bank details below) and recruit your neighbours! If you CARE about Wilderness.... then join the Wilderness Ratepayers & Residents Association. For just R160 per year you will Help influence municipal decisions (and get roads/pipes, etc. repaired) Receive security/emergency alerts, (road closures, electricity issues, flood warnings, etc) Help keep the village clean and safer through our Wilderness Improvement Programme, Have access to news and talks of interest to us as a community. Wilderness Ratepayers and Residents Association PO Box 10, Wilderness, 6560 wrra@tiscali.co.za APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP Please enter your details below and /post to the address above. The subscription for year ending 31 December 2017 is R Last Name:.Initials:. Title:.. Postal Address:.... Post Code:.. Erf Number: Street Address:... Mobile:...Tel:.. Fax:... address:. EFT payment:: Wilderness Ratepayers & Residents Association NEDBANK, Garden Route Mall Branch code: Acc No Please use your LAST NAME and ERF NUMBER as reference and send payment confirmation to wrra@tiscali.co.za Welcome to WRRA! Page 14

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