ICYMI: Noordwyk locals ready to start an association
NOORDWYK – Local residents are ready to tackle issues and start a new residents' association.
The residents of Noordwyk will soon have their own residents’ association in order to tackle the issues in their area.
Headed by local residents and conveners of the project Sipho Dibakwane and Herman Lekwane, the idea is to start a resident’s association was initiated to tackle a number of issues in the area. The issues include a lack of social cohesion, high rise in crime, skyrocketing rates and taxes and a lack of inclusive community participation in new housing and infrastructure among other things.
Dibakwane said, “Our safety and security in the area is one of our main priorities. We have the worst crime rates in the area and we hope to assist the current CPF (Community Policing Forum) structure in alleviating crime in our area.
“We aim to promote and safeguard the interests of the residents in Noordwyk. We believe that any community should have a platform to interact and raise issues of concern.”
Lekwane added, “We have noted that there are no social cohesion and community-building programmes in our area. We believe that we need to assist in the introduction of such things in our community. This can be in a form of sports such as fun runs, arts and culture, spring celebrations, Christmas and Diwali celebrations, or any religious event celebration, and also have a market for residents to sell their products or advertise their businesses and, in that space, have residents to interact and know one another better.”
The association would cover the Noordwyk area as per the approved map of Ward 112 and have engaged with councillor Lerato Mphefo regarding the initiative who has availed her time for assistance when requested.
The association is currently in the early stages of development. Dibakwane said that they are currently developing a constitution, which is in the draft phase. It has been circulated to a number of residents in Noordwyk, but not all and they still in the process of acquiring a full of list residents’ details.
Their aim for June is to circulate the constitution to all Noordwyk residents in order to amend and refine the document in July. They concluded that Noordwyk residents interested in getting involved and sharing their input can email them at resident.noordwyk@gmail.com..
