The Village NEWS 17 April - 24 April 2019

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Grootbos wins tourism award

17 APRIL 2019

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See What's On this Easter weekend

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Your guide to the WB Xtreme

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#ALLOVEROVERBERG We’ve Got You Covered

Hermanus hosts WC netball event

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Jenny Parsons and her dogs Georgie (left), Holly (right) and Archie (whose tail is the only thing that can be seen in the distance) recently went for a late-afternoon walk towards Hangklip mountain along a path in the fynbos. PHOTO: Jenny Parsons

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Battle for HPP’s future heats up Writer De Waal Steyn

T

he battle lines have been drawn in the fight over the future of Hermanus Public Protection (HPP), with several groupings seemingly pulling in different directions as to what the future of the City Improvement District (CID) must be. This follows an announcement that HPP will begin with a winding down process after it was informed by Coenie Groenewald, municipal manager, in December last year that the municipality can no longer levy the additional rates for HPP for the 2019/2020 municipal financial year, commencing on 1 July 2019. This has come about as a result of changes that have been made to the Property Rates Act, the Special Rating Area By-law and the Special Rating Area Policy. Last week the Whale Coast Business and Community Forum (WCBCF) and a group called the Eastern Precinct Initiative (EPI) informed HPP chair, Roger Smith of a motion to replace the current board. According to the motion, during January 2019, and flowing from the December AGM of HPP, the media reported the winding-down of the entity, and the transfer of HPP-assets to the Overstrand Municipality (OM) post-30 June 2019. “At the previous AGM a request for the formation of a committee to participate in the affairs of HPP was ignored and set aside. Subsequently, legal opinions and documents became available to corroborate the media reports. “As a result, and combined with an unprec-

edented rise in crime across Ward 3, a few groupings of concerned property and business owners began focused research into the circumstances giving rise to the escalation in crime, and to the status and future of HPP (against the backdrop of media reports about its possible dissolution).” The motion continues to state that “in the interest of brevity, we (property owners of Ward 3 and representatives of the Eastern Precinct Initiative and the Whale Coast Business and Community Forum) respectfully wish to note that we hold subscription notices for membership of HPP, sufficient in number to carry the required notices, motions and voting to support the actions below. “We respectfully request that the current HPP board step aside soonest to make room for a new interim board. It may well be expedient for the HPP board, and convivial if agreed to by the directors of HPP, to handle this as an uncontested matter and by way of correspondence as provided for in section 60 of the Companies Act. “This note also serves the purpose for requesting a meeting with the current HPP directors to put forward notices and to discuss the required formalities for a board replacement.” According to the memorandum, the approach followed by the WCBCF and EPI was informed by legal counsel that funding of the HPP can continue even if it is not raised by the municipality. Thus, the HPP can continue to operate via private funding options, such as contributions by property owners. Continued on P3


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