Feed Back Report – Public meeting 1 April 2025
1. Public Participation
Napier has participated in processes that have had good results. In the past we experienced little consideration from CAM regarding participation with regards policies and bylaw.
The NRA has provided feedback on the Nuisance Bylaw working together with Struisbaai Resident Association. The Bylaw that got the most public participation was the Animal Keeping and Impounding Bylaw with over 80 respondents from Napier. This has resulted in CAM having to review this but has resulted that CAM are having to review the Land use and zoning bylaw with overlays having to be reintroduced that were removed in 2022. This will bring back the rights on keeping of animals in specific parts of Napier such as the horses and sheep that we have within the town was removed in 2022 and one of the reasons I personally then got involved with the NRA.
Currently there are policies requiring public participation. The Heritage Strategy: A critical step in protecting Napier’s heritage which is the results of our community continued push towards a heritage survey that was completed last year.
Street Names Policy: There is a miss conception about the policy that is about getting streets renamed but protecting the general renaming of streets. So this is not about CAM spending money on renaming streets. The policy provides a framework for naming new roads and managing applications for existing roads.
Another policy is the Events Policy. This is being implemented without public participation. The impact on events remains unclear pending a detailed review.
Upcoming Budget and Service Fees and IDP: The new budget, including service fees and rates, should be released on Friday. It is very likely that there will be significant Increases in water and waste service fees.
Community participation in the review of these policies, bylaws and budget are critical and would like to encourage the community to get involved in these.
2. Infrastructure and Budgetary Concerns
Road Funding & Maintenance:
There are concerns about municipal funds being redirected from Napier this year. Efforts are underway to secure road funding by July and we need community. We know roads are critical and we need to find a way to get funding for this.
We have asked CAM to request funds from National Government for resurfacing and tarring of roads in Nuwerus. Additional funds are being sought for speed bumps in Nuwerus.
I need to thank John Moult for doing a survey of all the roads in Napier. This gave us an idea of priorities based on condition not on what people think. This has now resulted in a survey being done of all roads in Napier which is currently in progress.
Speeding on Sarel Cilliers Street:
Residents have reported ongoing issues with excessive speeding. The NRA is advocating for additional traffic calming measures in the area. Although we will not see raised tables in the near future, we hope to see other speed calming measures starting this month.
Sewerage & Wastewater Issues:
Persistent problems with sewerage overflow and poor drainage have been reported. The municipality has been engaged to address these issues, but community monitoring remains important. This we need a full review of within the budget and if there are actual plans for delivery.
Bridges
The tender has been awarded and the finalisation of that was today. The first step of hand over to the contactor should happen this week. We will then find out what date construction will start.
Sports Fields
Upgrades of the rugby fields are still meant to happen this year.
Other infrastructure:
General infrastructure is a concern, and the NRA are constantly asking questions.
3. Social issues
Our community suffers from many social issues relating to drink, drugs and unemployment. Family, children, education, crime. These are issues impacting many people in the community.
4. Informal Settlement
Informal Settlement has had no support from CAM. This has resulted in the nonfunctioning of the Informal Settlement Committee that was established by CAM. A new Association has been formed to represent the Informal Settlement and will be official from Tomorrow. This means that the community is now taking ownership of the area. You may have seen the photos of one of the roads in the Informal area and how clean it was. This is the effort of members of the informal settlement and one of the aims of the new association.
Issues include, rubbish, roads, sewerage in the streets, water, housing, crime, drugs, alcohol and social issues that affect the children.
There is now a new director who has taken over there due to interaction from the NRA and others some CAM employees have been put on notice and someone even suspended. On Friday I had a call from CAM on how we can assist them within the Informal Settlement. With the launch of the Napier Informal Transformation Association we will work together to effect change within the community.
5. Communication
Facebook has always been the NRA main communication means. We have introduced the whatsapp group and the website. I would like to encourage residents to keep abreast of updates on the website.
6. Community Building
If we want to see a difference, we need to make the difference. Always saying they have not done or blaming someone else on what is not happening or for something wrong. We can keep saying they have not done, or we can start saying what can I do, what can we do as a community. This is what is starting to happen in the informal Settlement with cleaning. There is saying CAM does not clean, other people are messing but a few people are saying we can make a difference by cleaning.
6. Community Acknowledgements
- We have seen significant community engagement of the past 6 months.
- Collaboration with local organizations which has yielded progress.
- Thank you to the community for support in advocating for fair bylaws and proper municipal service delivery.
- Public engagement is key in ensuring Napier receives the governance it deserves.
- With regards service delivery we would like to encourage all residents to log service requests via the Collab Citizen App. This will be a way that we can measure service delivery.
- There are many projects we could embark on as a community and if you are keen to give of your time or money please speak to me on as there are already projects that are in the beginning stages.
Conclusion:
The coming weeks are critical for policy reviews and budget decisions. If you wish to be involved in any of these processes, please reach out. Thank you for your time, and let’s continue working together for a better Napier.
