On 25 July all Oakwood homeowners received an email regarding the establishment of an SRA [What is an SRA? (An FAQ document from the City of Cape Town)] in our area from Norman Brook.
Email:
I am writing to give you formal notice (see attached) of a meeting to discuss the proposal to establish to establish a SRA, to be called the Oakwood Hughenden Meadows Community Improvement District (OHMCID) in terms of the City of Cape Town: Special Rating Area By-Law, 2012, as amended 2016.
A small working party comprised of property owners from Oakwood Meadows Hughenden area have been working closely with the City of Cape Town to develop the business plan (see attached) which forms part of the process of application.
The plan will need to support in writing of 60% of the property owners in Oakwood Hughenden Meadows area to be successful.
The meeting to be held at 18h30 on Wednesday, 8th August 2018 will take place at the Generation Summit House School which is situated at 6 Riverside Terrace, Hout Bay. The school is situated directly across Main Road from Hughenden Road on the left hand side of Riverside Terrace.
The purpose of the meeting is to (i) inform all attendees of the relevant information pertaining to the application and to (ii) discuss the practical implications relating to the application.
On 9 August, following the meeting, two more emails were sent out by Norman, one with the meeting summary and another with a formal Consent/Objection form.
Email 1: Oakwood Hughenden Meadows Community Improvement District
Dear Property Owner,
We had a very good turnout, 54 in total, at the public meeting held last night for the purpose of informing attendees of relevant information pertaining to the application to establish a SRA, to be called the Oakwood Hughenden Meadows Community Improvement District (OHMCID) in terms of the City of Cape Town: Special Rating Area By-Law, 2012, as amended 2016.
I have attached a copy of the PowerPoint Presentation from the meeting for your information.
During the question and answer session there was discussion regarding the financial impact of the additional rate on households. A model of the additional rate for different property values is included in the attached presentation. The additional rate will be in the region of 21% of the municipal rate.
Please bear in mind that approximately 60% of the funds raised through the additional rate will be invested by OHMCID into public safety and should replace contributions that property owners are currently making towards Hout Bay Neighbourhood Watch, Community Crime Prevention and other public safety initiatives.
Property owners receiving partial or full relief in terms of their municipal rates will be exempt from paying the additional rate.
Regards
Norman Brook
Website: OHMCID.co.za
Email 2: Oakwood Hughenden Meadows Community Improvement District Consent/Objections
Dear Property Owner,
The next step in the process to establish a SRA, to be called the Oakwood Hughenden Meadows Community Improvement District (OHMCID) in terms of the City of Cape Town: Special Rating Area By-Law, 2012, as amended 2016 is to collect consent/objection forms from property owners in the area.
To be able to submit our application in September in order to establish a CID by 1 July 2019 we need to receive consent from 60% of property owners.
I have attached the consent/objections form for you to complete and return by the 20th September 2018. The steering committee look forward to receiving your completed form.
Yours sincerely
Norman Brook
It included this attached consent/objection form.
The emails on 9 August caused a lot of concern among some Oakwood residents, and several homeowners met up for an informal meeting to discuss the SRA on 15 August. Minutes from Meeting at Lynn’s property.
The trustees contacted the steering committee of the SRA to highlight the concerns raised. They sent through this response, and requested that they be given the opportunity to talk to the Oakwood homeowners. This meeting was set up for 27 August. The minutes are attached here.
The requested action items arising from the meeting were:
- We need to liaise with the SRA steering committee to quantify the exact savings on our levies.
- The trustees need to determine whether we require a simple, special or unanimous resolution for the HOA to object/consent to the SRA.
- The trustees should ask Heinrich to submit his opinion on the pros and cons of the SRA.
- The trustees to circulate a resolution asking the homeowners how to vote with respect to the three common erven in the estate.
After the meeting, Paul Rutzen requested that his opinion be circulated. You can see it here.
Heinrich sent a letter describing a lot of the history behind the reasons for the proposed SRA implementation and his opinions. You can read those here.
Supporting documents that Heinrich attached: HBNW Protection Plan, Hout Bay Security Strategic Planning Report & HBCIA Presentation.
The trustees will continue to work through the action items, and will communicate information whenever possible.
We encourage you all to inform yourselves as well as possible, and we’ll do our best to communicate unbiased, factual information.