Newsletter June 2017

NRPA NEWSLETTER

JUNE 2017

NEWS

WELCOMING WINTER AND WARMING HEARTS

Winter has arrived with a wonderfully wild storm and welcome rains. The beach was underwater and the foam was flying!

But as you sit around your fires sipping your hot soup please think of others who may not be as fortunate and for whom our wild Noordhoek weather may not be as welcome. If you would like to help keep tummies full and bodies warm items such as blankets, warm clothing and non-perishable food will be greatly appreciated and can be dropped off at Fish Hoek Municipal Building (main building – next to the Library) between 08h00 and 15h30 during weekdays.

For more information contact Donna Green-Thompson:

Tel: 021 784 2017  Email: Donna.Green-Thompson@capetown.gov.za

FIBRE IN NOORDHOEK

Good news from Craig Botha and Telkom!

“As Broadband Development Manager for Telkom I have been pushing hard to get Fibre rolled out for us – it is finally here!” he says.

If your property falls into the light shaded purple in the map below (Chapmans Peak/Dascro) then you have the option of applying for a fibre line. San Michel and surrounds are expected to be rolled out next anytime from September / October.

For information on how to get reliable, high-speed fibre and to find out how you can merge your landline number onto the fibre (only available with Telkom), please send an email to jenni@telkomagent.co.za

Please use this contact point for fibre queries only.

Thank you Craig!

CELL MAST APPEAL

The NRPA has lodged an appeal against the approval to construct a cell mast on a property in Dunedin Rd.

Cell mast appeal – 05.06.2017

‘NOORDHOEKED’ – TEADING LIGHTLY AND CREATING JOBS

We are very pleased to introduce Paul Kata who can be seen on and around the beach and wetlands on a daily basis cleaning up the considerable amount of litter and plastic (including plastic wrapped dog poo!!) that accumulates there.

How did this all come about? Enter Sonette Hill, a Noordhoek resident and keen horse rider whose husband and boys surf and who have all noticed the sorry state our beach and wetlands are in. When Sonette heard from her gardener that his brother, whose wife is expecting twins, had lost his gardening job due to the drought, she ‘joined the dots’ and started a crowd-funding initiative to enable Paul to clean the beach. So far she has raised R6 000 to cover Paul’s equipment (‘Noordhoeked’ embossed raingear, boots, buckets, gloves and bags etc) and wages of R250/day. If you would like to contribute please go to:

gogetfunding.com/create-a-job-to-clean-noordhoek/

Sonette’s vision doesn’t stop here. “If we raise more funds, we will move on to the rest of the Southern Peninsula,” she says.  She tells how her parents started a similar initiative in Onrus 15 years ago that burgeoned into a gardening and housekeeping skills training for young unemployed men and women who are then assisted to find jobs. Most of those helped are continuing to thrive, “…not to mention Onrus still being one of the cleanest coastal villages.”

As the founder of The Body Shop, Anita Roddick, once said, if you think one individual can’t make a difference in the world you’ve never tried to sleep in a room with a mosquito. Thank you, Sonette!

For more info contact her on sonette@web-lingo.com

SPEAKING OF DOG POO…

Another active Noordhoek resident, Karoline Hanks of SUPA (Single Use Plastic Alternatives) fame, has had the great idea of getting dog poo off the beach, out the plastic and back in the earth where it belongs – by making compost out of those smelly little landmines scattered across our favourite outdoor spaces just waiting to be stepped in.

The plan at this stage is to run a trial near the common and at the beach to assess the speed at which dog poo actually breaks down, using worms and other activators and perfecting the “recipe”.

It is early days yet but it already has the backing of our ward councillor, Felicity Purchase, and the support of The Pole Yard who will be providing all the infrastructure for the three worm “hives” – two of them free, the remaining items at a massive discount. Go Pole Yard, Noordhoek’s homegrown lumber yard!

Karoline promises to keep us updated on their progress but for more info or to get involved contact her on karabos@mweb.co.za

GOING GAZANIAS CONTINUED

Well done Noordhoek flower lovers! On the Verge has received 21 punnets or 126 gazania seedlings so far towards realising their vision of turning Main Rd and Silvermine Rd into a huge splash of colour this Spring. (see original article here) They say a very big thank you to all of you who have donated and are preparing the areas for planting.

As you can see they are still going to need lots & lots so please spread the word and/or donate a punnet or 2 or 3 if you haven’t already. You can leave them at either Noordhoek Garden Emporium, Harry Goemans, Guy’s Coffee or drop them off at PoohCorner.
And thanks to Harry Goemans Garden Centre, if you mention this campaign you will get 10% off the Gazanias.

Visit the On The Verge facebook page to follow the Gazania Bombing progress

GREEN WARDENS UPDATE

After 2 years of alien clearing the Green Wardens have made a huge impact on Noordhoek. This is the  latest news from Robin Stott who has been managing them:

“The Green Wardens have been busy again in Noordhoek since February (we share this team with Capri) and in total the team from Masi will have been working here for going on to 2 years in August!

This has been an awesome project for Noordhoek as they have been clearing aliens on all municipal land and the look and feel of Noordhoek without invasive plants is great. The team started with a clean up on the municipal land below Chapmans Peak after the fires in 2015 and caught the seedlings when they were still small. Today that area is free of aliens compared to the private land on the upper side of Chappies that is completely infested with plants over 2 meters tall.

All the road verges along Ou Kaapse Weg and around Noordhoek have been cleared of alien vegetation and this week they are busy in the Sea Cottage Drive area. The sports field and beach areas as well as all the public open space in Noordhoek have also been cleared.

So as you can see we have been busy!

Recently I introduced Cathy Fish of On the Verge to Richard Burns of the City of Cape Town alien clearing division and they will be working together to green Noordhoek’s verges as the city has plants and trees for this purpose.”

Anyone who knows of alien vegetation growing on City owned land (NO Private land) please contact Robin: robin@stott.co.za

IMAGINE A DAY WITH NO PLASTIC BAGS!

That’s exactly what Waste Reduction Far South, a group of environmental organizations, businesses and individuals have done, calling on all shops, supermarkets, farmstalls and restaurants in the Far South Peninsula to get creative and support

INTERNATIONAL PLASTIC BAG FREE DAY
on
MONDAY, 3 JULY

Click here to read more: PLASTIC BAG FREE DAY.

And remember to go armed with your baskets, eco-bags and SUPA cloth bags when you go shopping that day and …forever.

Lets go from this…….to this

Visit SUPA on facebook to order your SUPA bags by clicking below.

SUPA Alternatives

GOOD NEIGHBOURS

BORDERLANDS PROJECT

On Saturday mornings the eMzantsi space at the Chasmay Road Campus is abuzz with lively 16-year-old girls from Ocean View and Masi who have joined the Borderlands drama and performing arts skills workshops. The groups vary from 5 to 13 girls and have been running for 8 weeks. Guided by facilitators Rehane Abrahams & Chase Rhys (with the occasional guest facilitator) they are working towards creating their own performance piece to be showcased at the 3-day Borderlands festival at the beginning of 2018.

The group was recently taken on an outing to watch a show at the Masque Theatre in Muizenberg in which professional actress, Laren Laubser, was acting. Laren is originally from Ocean View and has agreed to facilitate this Saturday’s workshop. She regularly works with youth in various communities and NGO’s sharing her life story, skills & experience.

Borderlands is working on partnering with the Desmond Tutu Centre to be able to offer more regular workshops especially dance which requires more space. (They are always on the lookout for larger spaces to host workshops so if you have any suggestions please contact them.)   The aim is to bring in more professional performers to share skills & resources. Plans are still on track for the proposed youth camp in the December Holiday followed by the 3-day festival.

Borderlands also strives to regularly take their young participants on outings to live shows around the city for which they can apply for comps, but transport & food are often a problem. Anybody willing & able to provide assistance with lifts, making of food or contributing financially towards this cause can contact Chase on 084-247-9623 or email borderlands.deepsouth@gmail.com

Read more here

THE NRPA @WORK

Do you wonder what the NRPA actually does?

As a newcomer to the Exco I have been astonished by the dedication and amount of work put in by the elected members heading up the various portfolios as well as by a willing band of supporters, all of whom volunteer their time, expertise and energy to enhance the life and community of Noordhoek and the greater valley.

The NRPA is represented on various forums such as the Far South Peninsula Community Forum and the Ward Committees to ensure the voice of the community is heard and to give input where relevant. This means there are myriad meetings to attend, emails and issues to follow up, objections to be lodged and liaising to be done with other ratepayers associations, ward councillors and local government officials on issues of mutual interest and subjects such as road works, land usage and planning.

There are residents’ queries and requests to be answered often meaning research into arcane by-laws to make sure the facts are at hand and correctly communicated in order to assist Noordhoek residents to help themselves. There are the hours spent meeting with individuals and interest groups in the valley to find out more about these groups and inspiring projects, networking with them and helping them to network with each other in a way beneficial to all. Many of these projects came out of the 2030 Vision Process for Noordhoek that was organised and funded through the efforts of the NRPA in 2016. There is all the technical stuff and database maintenance to ensure glitch free Internet communication so that we are all kept up to date with what is happening in our immediate neighbourhoods, further afield and in our local government.  And all this will soon be communicated to you on a brand new user friendly website which is in the process of being created.

A big thank you to everyone and to our chairman, Brad Bing, who keeps us all motivated, on time and appreciating the many positives we experience in our special valley. Liz Smith

Keep warm.
Regards,

NRPA EXCO