HPP Newsletter - July 2023
Supplementing Municipal Services for a Safe, Clean and Healthy HSRA
Dear Hermanus Special Rating Area (HSRA) Property Owner,
During July,
- A wide variety of stakeholders participated in a HPP strategic planning session
- We engaged with Pat Redford, Chairperson of the Hermanus Baboon Action Group
- We took steps to finalise arrangements to move HPP’s Control Centre to the Overstrand Municipality’s Incident Command Centre (ICC)
- Nelson Mandela International Day was celebrated by distributing dignity packs to homeless people in Hermanus.
Firstly, thank you for the emails sent in response to our June newsletter. In these emails, several ratepayers provided input on the possibility for HPP to take responsibility for parking management in the CBD. The information received has confirmed my view that parking in the CBD is a complex issue which attracts strong views and emotions. The issue was a topic of discussion at the HPP strategic planning session held on Friday 14 July.
Strategic Planning Session
Twenty-six participants representing the HSRA’s suburbs, businesses, CBD property owners, broader civil society, and the Overstrand Municipal Council met to provide input to HPP’s strategic priorities. We are in the process of planning for the period up to 30 June 2025, when the HSRA term ends.
We worked within the parameters of the HSRA’s current mandate which is “To supplement the services of the Overstrand Municipality and provide a safe, clean and healthy environment”.
The following priorities were identified and are now being validated:
Draft Strategic Priorities
- Deliver services which offer value for money to ratepayers.
- Ensure effectiveness and efficiency.
- Develop and communicate performance measures.
- Review all policies which govern HPP’s services.
- Review service contracts and consider a variety of suppliers to encourage competition.
- Benefit from developments in CCTV and monitoring technology.
- Combine with OM’s Public Safety Unit to enforce by-laws.
- Build strong relationships with members, the Overstrand Municipality (OM), the business community, the South African Police Services (SAPS), the neighbourhood watch groups (NWG’s) and neighbouring Special Rating Areas (SRA’s).
- Foster integration and synergy between role players.
- Be an active participant in the OM Incident Command Centre.
- Build robust contingency plans for events which threaten our safety.
- Partner with business entities and their Foundations
- Ensure that boundaries between organisations are honoured.
- Communicate with our members, clearly and often.
- Clarify what is inside and outside our mandate.
- Be open about our performance.
- Contribute towards the revitalisation of the Central Business District (CBD)
- Promote and enable a sustainable, safe, and clean environment.
- Encourage the OM to lead a new parking management initiative in the CBD. Determine how HPP can best respond to the OM’s lead.
- Educate members to manage threats to:
- Their personal safety.
- Their property.
- The environment.
- Plan for the continuation of the HSRA beyond June 2025.
- Co-create a bold Vision.
- Develop and execute the plan.
- Consider the extension of the SRA boundary to include the Fernkloof Nature Reserve.
- For those issues (e.g. baboon management, unemployment, vagrancy, homelessness, destruction of the natural environment) which threaten the well-being of Hermanus but fall outside our current mandate:
- Promote and facilitate change.
- Support organisations which can best drive initiatives.
If you have any comment on these draft strategies, I will be pleased to receive them.
At the close of the planning session, I asked participants to nominate the top priority which they would like HPP to influence. More than seventy percent of the responses received asked that we influence “social development issues”, such as vagrancy, homelessness, and unemployment, in our environment. This response presents a considerable challenge in that HPP’s current business plan and financial agreement (which ends in June 2025) precludes us from playing a leading role on these issues in the wider Hermanus environment.
Participants at the HPP Strategic Session held in July.
Commemorating Nelson Mandela International Day
To mark Nelson Mandela International Day on July 18th, HPP patrollers handed out dignity packs to homeless individuals to honour Mandela’s legacy of justice and human rights. The packs included essential items such as socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, facecloth, soap, Vicks Vaporub, and sanitary towels were provided in the lady’s packs.
Homelessness is a widespread issue affecting millions worldwide. Beyond meeting immediate needs, the act of distributing dignity packs fosters compassion and connection between givers and receivers, signifying that every individual deserves respect and dignity, regardless of their circumstances.
Our gratitude goes to HPP Director Ann Wright, for coordinating this gesture. Additionally, we extend our thanks to the residents who generously donated the items.
Satisfaction Survey
The intention of the satisfaction survey is to ascertain the general opinion of Hermanus SRA ratepayers about the service provided by HPP. The outcome of the survey will assist the HPP NPC Board to determine what improvements can be made to the current services provided as well as establish which issues residents would most like to see addressed.
Complete the survey now! The HPP Satisfaction Survey won’t take more than 4 minutes of your time – follow the link to share your views here: HPP Satisfaction Survey 2023
Survey closes 18 August 2023.
That is all for now and as always, I urge you to be vigilant and aware.
Jerry van Niekerk
HPP Chair
E-Mail: chairperson@hpp.org.za
Website: https://hpp.org.za