MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 16th APRIL 2025

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 16 APRIL 2025 at 18H30

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PRESENT:   Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Floh Thiele (La Camargue); Kim Robinson (Killarney Hills); Trish Terry (Gleneagles); Ian Morison (Killarney Park); Nadia Nikakhtar (Killarney Park); Michael Golding (Killarney Hills); Bradley Kirton (Interlaken); Ismail Randeree (Castlerosse).

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1. WELCOME

• Wayne chaired the meeting. He opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.

2.  APOLOGIES RECEIVED

• Eleanor Huggett (Councillor Ward 73).

3. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES, AND MATTERS ARISING

• The minutes of the previous meeting have been circulated to all attendees, and have been approved by them. The details thereof were incorporated into the monthly newsletter.

4.  STATUS OF OUR SUBURB, AND LIST OF ISSUES REQUIRING ACTION

• Pavement and street repair project –: Several streets are deteriorating very badly, including 2^nd Avenue in particular. However, we have recently been notified that the municipality has sued residents for repairing roads themselves, and we don’t want to fall foul of those rules. We have requested clarity on this from the ward councillor, but we are still waiting for a response. JRA has also been asked to fix our roads themselves, but again there has been no response as yet. Pavement repairs can continue. However in cases where excavations were dug for municipal repairs, we need to first ensure the repair is complete, and the soil has compacted sufficiently. In several cases where a water valve is involved, the municipality has to build a manhole first.

• Representative for Community Policing Forum -: Floh has identified a volunteer, and he will take them to the next CPF meeting so that they can get a feel for the process. Thereafter the volunteer will make their decision, and will hopefully agree to take on this responsibility.
• Improving lighting on the pavements –: We cannot touch the municipal streetlights, but we can add supplementary lighting. We are looking at the 4^th Avenue bridge, the car park in 7^th Street, and Riviera Road outside Daventry Court. Charles has experimented with different size globes in the existing Daventry perimeter light-fittings along Riviera Road, but he found that even the biggest globe that will fit is not providing enough light. It was therefore decided to focus on repairing the pavement with the existing paving stones, to make it safe for pedestrians. Ismail and Themba will do some research on this proposal.
• Repainting street names on kerbs –: Final corrections will be made in the next few days, weather permitting. The contractor claims that they repainted those street-names with the same name that was there before.
• Illegal hawkers, and illegal drinking on pavements –: We need to continue to encourage residents to take photos of illegal behaviour, and to report it to the JMPD – no other approach can work. Please get reference numbers as well.
• On-going risks of cell-phone snatching on pavements, and pick-pockets –: Stationing private security out on the pavements is a deterrent, because they can make a citizen’s arrest if they witness a crime being committed.
• The new law restricting CCTV cameras looking out on the street is undermining our safety-and-security strategy, but we are getting clarity on this through our ward councillor.
• Community upliftment initiative –: The “Themba Cleanup Projects” continue to add value, and residents are asked to suggest additional upliftment projects.
• A cluster of serious new potholes appeared suddenly in Newtown Ave at the corner of 8^th Street. This needs proper repair by JRA, but in the meanwhile Ismail and Bradley have filled them with rubble to improve safety. This is legal. We will cap that rubble with cold-mix asphalt once the weather dries out, to stop the potholes from getting bigger, because this is how the JRA and the Discovery Pothole Project patch potholes. We will also attend to the serious hole in 10^th Street, which is becoming dangerous. The meeting approved R1500 for Ismail and Bradley to purchase the material to do these repairs.
• We need R4000 per month to ensure Themba is available to Killarney for two days per week, every week. We are also using Talent the gardener for ad hoc projects.
• Community Street Walks –: This project has been rebranded, to focus on being a social event rather than a security patrol. Participation was declining, and some people prefer to avoid confrontation. There are now also daytime walks on Sundays, including around The Wilds. A communication task-team is being created to find ways to spread the word.
• NKRA Community Gardens project -: These volunteers are now expanding the veggie-beds in the park. An irrigation system has been planned, and funds have been raised from donations to pay for this. They are also establishing a seed library at the Killarney Public Library, where gardeners can obtain veggie-seeds for free. We have also been offered a range of fruit trees for free – this is being followed-up.
• Killarney Mall refurbishment progress -: The Mall owners say that plans to resolve the taxi issue are still being developed. Meanwhile the Mall has recently made some internal changes to improve the shopping experience, including providing background music, and adding fragrances to the aircon system in selected spots. More improvements are in the pipeline.

5. NEW ISSUES

• The Killarney Mall sponsored the recent Easter event in the park, which included cleaning and repairing the municipal ablution block. The event was well attended.
• The Friends of the Library have established a WhatsApp group to encourage interaction between like-minded people. They are holding meetings at coffee shops to make plans, and so far they intend to have an event to “meet the librarian”, they are planning to establish a book club, and they will be asking the Joburg Library management to open the library on Saturdays as well. They are creating posters to publicise these efforts, which will include QR codes to facilitate people linking up. We will try to put up some of these posters inside the Mall, and we will try to get this initiative publicised in the Gazette as well. The link to join their WhatsApp group is: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KrYlArsPHSRAiyoGHerC0s
• It was again raised that certain large tow-trucks are parking in 1^st Street, and are causing problems for adjacent residents. Please report these issues to the JMPD (supported by photos if possible), get a reference number, and escalate this to Councillor Huggett.
• The by-laws on Estate agent signs were again discussed and clarified. Agents who break these rules are being approached individually.
• It was suggested to hold occasional physical meetings of residents, to help with building community. This is largely dependent on finding appropriate venues.

The Meeting closed at 19h49

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Our next meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY 2025 AT 18H30

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

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City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911

SAPS patrol van – 071 675 6001

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

To report a water leak: 24-hour hotline – 0860 562 874 or 011 688 1699