Shelly Beach under the spotlight
Problems in the area were discussed at the forum's recent AGM.
THE Shelly Beach Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association held its first annual general meeting at the Shelly Beach Ski-boat Club recently.
Nominated to the committee were Sharon Osborne, Louisa Rembold and Tom Murphy. Chairman Wendy Vinnicombe thanked the present committee for its dedication and hard work during the past year and said that she would not be available for another term of office.
Ms Vinnicombe said the negative attitudes of the Hibiscus Coast and Ugu District Municipalities to residents’ complaints was a matter of concern. Faulty traffic lights, street lights and road signs had been reported but not repaired, despite numerous letters and photos sent to HCM.
Several roads in the Shelly Beach area had been identified as requiring priority attention, she said, adding that most of the damage and potholes were caused by blocked storm water drains. The manner in which potholes are presently being repaired is substandard as new holes appear within weeks of the repairs. On a more positive note, there had been a noted increase in pothole repairs and verge clearing activities had also been stepped up.
Another concern was the state of the Shelly Beach Ski-boat base, where the left side of the beach had been washed away by storm water drainage, leaving an eyesore of exposed rubble. This area could be rehabilitated to make way for extra parking, said Ms Vinnicombe. And at the fish cleaning tables, the barrier wall fell over some time ago and had not been repaired.
St Michael’s beach, although not in the Shelly Beach jurisdiction, was another eyesore she said, with run down ablution blocks. Although the relevant authorities had been contacted, only ‘half-hearted’ repairs had been carried out. The road to the beach was almost impassable and verge cuttings were not removed. The vandalised plastic benches and the barrier fence at the children’s pool had not been replaced. There were four showers, but only three had taps and all were left dripping.
Ms Vinnicombe went on to say that rates for vacant land had doubled, making development unaffordable and that new tenants were leaving the area because of shoddy service delivery.
There was a vote of thanks to those developers who had uplifted Shelly Beach without the assistance of HCM. It was felt that there was a need to merge the two municipalities which would go a long way towards saving costs.
It was also noted that kerbs in Marine Drive are not painted; stop signs have been ripped out and left lying on the verges and road markings had not been maintained, especially after road repairs.
Ms Vinnicombe said that she had appealed to the HCM for a grant in the region of R106 000 to get the town cleaned up but to no avail. She said that there were serious concerns about the town being left neglected, and more serious problems were sure to lie ahead.
