NKRA Communique – November-December 2024

Hi everyone

We held our November NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 20 November 2024. The key issues arising from that meeting are included in this newsletter. We do not hold meetings in December. Our next NKRA public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 15 January 2025. All residents and owners of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to participate. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated in due course.

The NKRA project to repaint the street names on the kerb-stones was initiated many months ago, and the intention was to get this finished before the Christmas shut-down. The work has been done, but there are still some snags and errors to be resolved, so the project is not quite finished. Various of the street-name signs have since received mosaic coverings. Once we are sure that all the intended mosaics have been completed, we will do a final inspection of all intersections, and all necessary corrective action will be implemented. If you have noticed any errors or omissions, please let us know so that we can add this information to the snag-list.

The NKRA avoids hiring casual workers to do internal projects, and prefers to work with contractors. We repeatedly publicised this project in the NKRA newsletters, we asked for and we received some recommendations for contractors, but we struggled to find people who were prepared to do this kind of work on this scale and on an outsourced basis. A resident assisted us in August by doing a detailed work analysis, and he produced two estimated costings based on two different paint products, but we were unable to find any contractor willing to undertake the project on the spec and for the costs suggested by these estimates.

After months of trying, we were only able to find two contractors who were willing to quote on this job, and the September NKRA meeting therefore voted to accept a quote for R11,475. The Beverley Heights Body Corporate donated 20 litres of white paint toward the project.

Re-painting the black areas on either side of the white name-panel would make the job look nicer, but it is purely cosmetic, and it would cost extra, so this was not included in the agreed quote. We can also consider painting these side-panels yellow instead of black. These options will all be discussed at the January meeting.

Some people have since arranged to procure a mosaic sign for their own kerbs, instead of a painted sign. This mosaic signage costs R1,200 per sign, and a number of these signs were sponsored by various residents. This mosaic does look very nice, and we hope that more of these mosaic signs will appear over time.

We thank all the people who were involved in the street signs project, for their various contributions. We look forward to suggestions for additional projects.

One of the best initiatives of 2024 has been the NKRA Community Gardens project, which is focused on growing food for the community, on the pavements and in the 4th Street Park. These vegetables are available to be harvested by anybody who has need of food. Riviera Villas and Mentone Court have also planted veggies on their pavements, and hopefully more buildings will join them. If you are interested in participating in this very worthwhile and value-adding project, please join us at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cjh3eJl57pv1XcoQ7OEBj9

Another very fine community project of 2024 has been the Themba Clean-up Project, which is ongoing. Donations continue to trickle in, and the more money we can raise, the more clean-up projects we can undertake. Thus far R39,945 has been donated to these upliftment projects, R27,202 has been expended, and R12,743 is currently available to finance future upliftment projects. If you are interested in helping with these projects, you can join in at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KA4ejvnpF6pGjFg9SJ3KEn.

The Community Street Patrols are ongoing, and are also adding good value. Trained security people accompany the patrols, to add skill and to call in an armed response service if needed. The Community Street Patrollers have no authority on the street, but they are proving to be quite effective in discouraging various forms of anti-social behaviour, such as the pavement drinkers and revellers, many of whom are Killarney residents. You can contact the Patrollers at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DsR92XsjIU49JLvv1pAHCI

Muggings seem to be on the rise again, particularly targeting cell-phones, and personal vigilance is still the best (and sometimes the only) defence. Some pavement areas are very dark, and non-functioning streetlights are a big part of the problem. Many of these non-functioning lights have been mapped and reported, and Cllr Huggett is following-up on the streetlight-repairs list that has been prepared and submitted repeatedly to the municipality. Buildings in the vicinity of these dark areas might also consider putting up appropriate LED floodlights, perhaps solar-powered where possible. The 4^th Avenue bridge is particularly dark, and this needs to be addressed as soon as possible in 2025.

Vision Tactical Security have patrol cars in Killarney, and they are willing to react to all reports of criminal activity. If you notice any suspicious behaviour, you can contact the Vision Tactical control room on 084 222 2222, or on 010 972 2600, or on 061 071 2001. The two Vision Tactical response vehicles are on 072 830 5305 from 8am to 10pm, and on 071 570 5173 from 10am to 10pm. We thank Vision Tactical for this community-minded service.

There have been a number of water-pipe repairs in Killarney over the last few months. A major excavation was dug in 3^rd Street, at the intersection with 2^nd Avenue, to replace a failed valve. There have also been excavations in 3^rd Street at the 4^th Avenue intersection, and in 5^th Street at the intersection of 2^nd Avenue, as well as a wide excavation in 4^th Avenue on the uphill stretch between 4^th Street and 5^th Street, none of which have yet been resurfaced. Soil is being washed away by the rain, and the holes are getting steadily deeper. These unfinished repairs are an annoyance, as well as sometimes a safety hazard, but at least the municipality is doing something. It will be much worse if they stop doing water pipe repairs altogether.

Regarding the homeless people in Killarney, a new WhatsApp group called Socioeconomic Issues has been created to co-ordinate humane but effective responses from the community. A resident arranged a meeting with the Urban Surfer organisation at the Waste-Picker camp situated between the highway and the Holland Insurance premises, to see how they work, and how we can work better with them. In particular, we need to find a way to reduce the littering in the nearby park on Oxford Road. We hope to see some results in the new year.

A meeting with the Killarney Mall was held at the end of November, to receive their feedback on the taxi situation, and to discuss various other issues. We were informed that the owners of the Mall are willing to sell the Mall, but they are not being offered their desired price. If the Mall is successfully sold, then the refurbishment project will be undertaken by the new owners, based on their own research. However, if the Mall is not sold, then the work will continue on the current refurbishment plan. This will obviously affect the project to build a taxi facility on the Mall premises, as the size and position of this taxi facility will impact heavily on their various refurbishment options and costs. We have agreed with the owners to hold another meeting in January, to get the latest feedback. Meanwhile, residents can contact the Mall management directly, at killarneymall@cityprop.co.za.

The project to install an artwork gate in the 4^th Street Park, is on-going. We still need to get formal authorisation from the JCPZ (City Parks). After that, we will also need to consult the community about the final design and colour of the new gate. This project will cost around R13,000, and although we have raised R10,000 toward this project, we still need to raise another R3,000, in addition to obtaining the outstanding municipal authorisations.

During 2024, 41 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera were paid-up members of the NKRA – this is about 74% of the total. The invoices for the 2025 year will be sent out in February. The list of the members for 2024 were as follows:

• Berkeley Square
• Beverley Heights
• Biarritz
• Brenthurst Court
• Bretton Woods
• Canterbury Close
• Castlerosse
• Chartwell
• Chelston Hall
• Christina Court
• Cranwell Hall
• Daventry Court
• Devon Place
• Dumbarton Oaks
• Earls Court
• Glenhof Gardens
• Greenhills
• Hampshire House
• Hampshire Mews
• Highbury
• Hyde Court
• Interlaken
• Killarney Court & Gardens
• Killarney Hills
• Killarney Park
• Killarney Village
• Killarney Wilds
• Knightsbridge
• La Camargue
• Mentone Court
• Monviso
• Park Avenue
• Rapallo
• Riviera Mansions
• Riviera Villas
• Santa Margherita
• Sevenoaks
• Sloan Square
• Splice
• St John’s Wood
• The Rivieras

Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support, and also to the various people who make personal donations as well. We are grateful for this support, which enables us to undertake small projects for the benefit of us all.

The motto of the NKRA is “Safer, Cleaner, Better, Greener”. If you have any specific ideas and suggestions to help us implement this vision, please do share them urgently. Otherwise, our primary focuses for 2025 continue to be as follows:

• Managing the squatter and hawker and taxi and street-drinking problems in Killarney;
• Reducing the various crime risks, including specifically the risk of pick-pockets and phone-snatching on the pavements, and improving street-lighting;
• Building up a sustainable Community Street Patrol;
• Building up a sustainable Community Gardens Project to grow food;
• Undertaking community projects where possible, including more WALK-R initiatives. These initiatives will include various approaches to cleaning and beautifying the pavements and other visible public spaces, expanding the existing Themba Clean-Up projects by means of additional fundraising, improving relationships with the trolley-recyclers, and engaging the community to agree on a future use for the small “Anerley Park”, because if it stands empty and neglected then it will continue to attract trouble.

We are happy to receive photos of interesting things that might be happening in our area, which we might include in future newsletters. We also welcome all inputs, on all issues. All interested persons can contact us at wdford@global.co.za to be added to the mailing list. Our website is at www.nkra.org.za.

Our next public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 15 January 2025. All owners and residents of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to participate. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated in due course.

Please would you share this newsletter with all your neighbours in Killarney-Riviera?

New Year Greetings to all, wishing you all a peaceful and prosperous 2025. Keep well, and keep safe.

.

City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911

If you get no response from the patrol van, please call 10111

Councillor Huggett – by SMS or WhatsApp – 071 785 8068

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342

JMPD Control Room – 011 758 9620

JMPD number to report Homeless People camping in the vicinity – 011 490 1538

JMPD number to report Illegal Dumping – 011 490 1684

JMPD number to report Noise Pollution – 011 718 9684

JMPD number to report Illegal Advertising – 011 490 1547

JMPD number to report Illegal Trading – 011 490 1744

JMPD number to report other By-Law issues – 011 490 1684