115 show for Centurion security village initiative
“We would hope that this would result in less crime in the area, so that our kids could ride their bikes in the street again and so that my wife can be safe walking our dog.”
Another community has set out with an initiative to create a security village in their neighbourhood with 115 attendees at the Goshawk Village community meeting on May 22 to reopen the plan.
Barnette Joubert has taken up the reins following several years of work by another resident, Rian Venter.
“Rian Venter started the initiative a couple of years ago,” said Joubert.
Since November last year, some residents had begun to lose hope, but Joubert wants to breathe new life into the initiative.
“At this stage, we need to set up a new committee and start many of the processes again.”
Goshawk Village is made up of 523 properties, but this could increase if some complexes are included in the plan.
“At the end of the day, we would like everybody to get involved in this because we will all benefit from it, making it a safer area.”
CRIME AND SAFETY ARE RESIDENTS’ MAIN CONCERN
For Joubert, the main driver for the initiative is crime and safety in his neighbourhood.
“We would hope that this would result in less crime in the area so that our kids could ride their bikes in the street again and so that my wife can be safe walking our dog. To have a better quality of life, just to have that assurance that your property will be safe if you go away on holiday or something,” he said.
The process takes many months to gain approval and relies on two-thirds of the properties agreeing to the initiative.
This is made more complicated as not all residents are positive about the initiative, said Joubert.
“Many of the people in the area are elderly and retired, so financially this is difficult. You can’t ask people surviving on their pension to help fund something like this. But I’m trying to stay positive because it will add value to our community.”
Together with the added safety, Joubert said that residents could see benefits such as increased property values and decreased insurance premiums.
“I have heard of a couple of areas that did this. They went to their insurance companies and explained that they now lived in a security area, and they actually reduced their premium on the insurance. Maybe we can have a saving there as well.”
Finally, he says that the initiative is about creating communities that care for each other.
“There’s a lot of people that don’t even know their neighbours,” he explained.
“Luckily for us, my wife’s best school friend moved in next door.
“Her friend went overseas after school and they lost contact with each other. About seven or eight years ago my wife was waiting for a parcel to be delivered and she heard a hooter,” he said.
“She went outside and saw her friend moving in next door! Ever since then we have been braai-ing and kuiering over the wall.
“Every time one of us goes away for the weekend, we look after each other’s pets, and look out for each other,” said Joubert.
This is the type of community he hoped everyone could share in.
SOLUTIONS COMING FOR YEARS
Ward councillor Cindy Billson told Rekord that she has been pushing for these types of solutions for many years.
“It was just before Covid-19 and it was difficult to start.
“However, the committee did amazing work and did a lot of leg work on the ground.”
She said that the projects are made up of members of the communities they are trying to protect and are focused on creating a safe space for their families.
Billson said that there have been many benefits to the initiatives.
“Since the start of the different projects there has been a cohesion of growing community involvement in the direct areas.
“Active involvement of people helping to obtain consent for the projects, working on creating a safe space by grass cutting, for example, having community fundraising and braais, these projects broke down barriers. Residents are reaching out to each other and a sense of care for neighbours is growing,” she concluded.
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