The extension of the Green Point City Improvement District is still following a process of being approved by the City of Cape Town as well as residents of this suburb.
According to Joepie Joubert, Acting Manager for CID Spatial Planning and Environment, a public meeting will be held on March 8 at Hamilton's rugby club, and objections will be accepted until March 24.
“The extension of the Green Point CID has not yet been approved. The City did however receive an application which has been advertised for comment and objection. The closing date for objections is the 24th of March 2023. Their second public meeting will be held on the 8th of March to provide information in respect of the application,” said Mr Joubert.
Liz Knight, the co-chair of the Green Point Ratepayers and Residents Association says it was (and still is) a tough task but they have the backing of 60% of the residents which is required by the City of Cape Town.
“I am also on the steering committee even though not a property owner in the area, no vested interest, took on the challenge purely in the interest of the community and by some miracle we reached our goal,” said Ms Knight.
Tim Harbich from Sea Point has commercial interests in the area and says that he is 110% behind the CID extension.
“There is crime and grime in the area and I’m in favour of the CID and the extension. I have a commercial interest in this area and having more patrols in the area will benefit everyone greatly, I can tell you that my tenants are in favour of this too as they are aware of the benefits,” said Tim Harbich from Sea Point.
Sean Stegmann is part of the steering committee of the GP CID and says they have followed the process according to City regulations to make the CID happen, they are now looking to deal with objections.
“This is an extension of the CID so there is a proven track record of the CID in this area. We will now wait for objections to be sent (via email) to the council and then we look at it. There’s not many objections and we have to look at legitimate objections that we can respond to,” said Mr Stegmann.
He adds that because of top class world events happening in Green Point that it’s vital to extend the CID to benefit the residents beyond the next decade.
“We do need the CID and what's important for people to realise is that Green Point is becoming like Manhattan. You have so many events happening here, there is a marathon that happens here, there’s the Formula E and that could lead to bigger things and there’s a high-performance centre from Bellville that is moving to the stadium and if we don’t clean up the grime between spaces then you limit the potential for this area. So it’s not just about protecting the community, it’s about how Green Point will benefit, how many jobs will be created, how many new restaurants will be opened, there is so much potential with all these events happening here,” he said.
Marc Truss, the CEO of the Oranjezicht and GP CID says that the relevant boxes have been ticked by the steering committee and that if the CID extension is successful then they will commence duties on July 1.
“We’ve met the goal of the 60 plus one majority and it’s not a done deal yet because this still has to be approved and supported by the council for this to go ahead,” said Mr Truss.
Mr Truss says the CID have over 22 years of experience and adds that about 20-25 people will be employed if the CID extension is given the green light.
“The advantage of having a CID is the top up level services that we provide, visible policing, public safety officers, street sweeping and landscaping, improving spaces between buildings and these are all added value elements to an area that was neglected over the years. This is directly managed by a team of specialists that are on the ground,” he said.