Umhlangane Sports Field

The reinstatement and upgrade of the sports field situated adjacent to Mr. Price is continuing. The installation of the water supply has now

been carried out by eThekwini with whom the project is a joint venture. The Management Association will conclude the project by supplying

the goal posts and signage and will then hand the field back to the City for administration. Local sports teams and those from businesses

on the estate will then be able to make use of the facility.

Riverhorse Valley Business Estate Website

The web site is in its final phase, and it is anticipated to go live during November 2011. At present work is being completed on the mock up

of the site that has been created. The site will serve to create awareness about the estate, and serve as a point of reference for all govern-

ing documentation.

Way-finding Signage

The proposal for way-finding signage off the N2 off-ramps is ready for submission to eThekwini Transport Authority (ETA). Further signage

on North Coast Road at the junctions with Rinaldo Road and Queen Nandi Drive is also being proposed. As the proposal has already re-

ceived endorsement from ETA , it is anticipated that approval will be given before the end of the year.

The Rules of the Estate

The Rules of the Estate have been updated and approved for publication by the Board of Directors following confirmation from the Estate’s

attorneys, Garlicke and Bousfield, that they were in order. They are now in effect and copies can be obtained from the Management Asso-

ciation office.

Public Transport

The formal proposals to ETA by the Effingham, Newlands East and Kenville Taxi Associations to define their routes through the Estate

have been submitted. The submissions are a result of the Management Associations meetings with Kenville Taxi Association, and interac-

tion with Newlands East, as there were concerns from members of the Estate in respect of transportation for their staff. The applications

are currently with KZN Department of Transport, who will inspect the routes and advise ETA on final approvals. ETA have informed the

Management Association that once the routes are formalised, the inclusion of collection and drop off lay-byes will be reviewed.

Traffic News

Since the last newsletter, the new traffic lights at the junction of Effingham and Corobrik Roads has been installed and commissioned. This

has had a positive effect on reducing accidents, congestion, and speeding.

The widening of Queen Nandi Drive from and including the bridge over the N2 extending towards Briardene was confirmed on the 2011/

2012 municipal budget. Through communications with ETA, we have confirmed that the project will commence in November 2011, and the

project is anticipated to take 18 months for completion.

Following numerous concerns from members of the Estate regarding excessive speeding, and the fact that an average of 15 accidents

involving both vehicles and pedestrians take place on the Estate every month; a proposal for the installation of speed cameras in Corobrik

Road has resulted in a joint survey being conducted by Metro Police and ETA. The survey revealed that 55% of the vehicles recorded dur-

ing the survey were exceeding the speed limit by an excess of 20km/h. Regular trapping will now be taking place in the interest of road

safety.

Riverhorse Report OCTOBER 2011

Latest Developments / News M a n a g e m e n t

A s s o c i a t i o n

River Cleanup 2011

P a g e 2

Safeguarding

Landscaping

Irrigation New Sprinklers

Autoflow, the Estate’s irrigation contractor has recently completed the installation of automated sprinklers in Kubu Avenue. This

is the second area on the Estate to receive sprinklers; the first being Corobrik Road. It is the aim of the Management Associa-

tion that most areas on the on the Estate will eventually have sprinkler systems, which will be phased in annually. The next

anticipated area will be that of Riverhorse Road, once all existing development is completed.

New CCTV Cameras

The installation of 2 new CCTV cameras in Island Circle is complete, and those cameras are working well. The cameras were

installed to eliminate blind spots in Island Circle that had resulted from the development of properties whose building heights were

blocking CCTV coverage in certain areas. The Management Association’s thanks go to those members who have assisted in this

project.

Security Audit

G4S control room and reaction staff continue with their high standard of safeguarding on the Estate. Their collaborations with

SAPS and Metro Police ensure that the Estate continues to be as safe and secure an environment as possible. Recently the G4S

staff assisted the Management Association with a safeguarding audit of all the properties on the Estate. The purpose of the audit

was to raise awareness by identifying any areas on a members property which could be upgraded or improved from a safeguard-

ing point of view. The audit will continue with one-on-one interaction with each member by showing them the results of their audit,

and assisting with suggestions endorsed by Greenwood Park SAPS regarding those upgrades and improvements. The Manage-

ment Association may also be contacted directly by any members who would like the results of their audits sooner.

September statistics:

Drugs/ alcohol - 1 incident (dagga smoking) Theft - 3 incidents (Public Property)

Break-in/ Robberies - 1 Incident (Office theft) Robbery/ mugging - 2 incidents (Pedestrians)

Newsworthy achievement - You may have seen the recent front page report in the Mercury (29/09/11) where parties where seen

and reported for abandoning a mother cat and her kittens. This incident took place on the Estate in Hippo Park Avenue, and G4S

must be commended on their excellent observation skills in picking this up and their quick reaction to it. As a result the mother and

kittens were rescued by the SPCA and the vehicle details of the parties abandoning them were given to the SPCA Officer which

has resulted in a background check being conducted by SAPS on those parties, and a criminal case being opened against them.

Re-forestation of the Public Open Space

The landscaping project to gradually re-forest the public open spaces in the riverine areas has commenced with Phase 1 of 3.

This project has been budgeted over the next 3 years and it will see the creation of groves of local species which as well as en-

hancing the natural environment will also attract wild life mainly in the form of bird species to the area. Phase 1 will see the plant-

ing of 1500 trees by Servest the Estate’s landscaping contractor, under direction from the Environmental Committee. Phase 1 will

be completed by the end of November 2011, and the remaining phases will take place each Spring until completion in 2013.

Landscaped areas

Servest will be undertaking extra work in the form of the reinstatement of verges in Riverhorse Road due to recent trenching

activity for communication networks. Further to this new landscaped areas are being created for planting which will increase the

aesthetic value on the estate, and some of these areas will also serve to prevent pedestrians from damaging the verges where

proper pedestrian walkways exist.

P a g e 3 Environment/ Projects River Cleanup 2011

The 3rd annual River Clean Up took place on16th September, as diarised in the previous newsletter. The cleanup kicked off at the

Umhlangane Sports Field at 11am with local schools. We had seven schools participating with approximately 140 learners and teaching

staff attending. The banks of the river extending from the sports field past Mr Price and City Couriers to the entrance of Island Circle

were cleared of litter and waste by the pupils and staff. The event was covered by the local newspapers and was a great success. We

would like to thank all the schools, students and staff who attended the event, and special mention should go to the representatives from

Durban Solid Waste and Umgeni Water who both gave presentations to the schools on the value of waste management and maintaining

water quality.

The afternoon saw the corporate cleanup start at 14.00. We would like to thank those parties who participated, especially the CAPCO,

Pharmed, and ER 24 staff for their participation.

Open Classroom Initiative

School involvement in the River Cleanup also served as the first step in another Management Association initiative; that being the Open

or Outdoor Classroom. The Management Association recently attended a local schools principal’s meeting where we outlined our desire

and invited the principals of local schools to make regular use of the riverine and public open areas on the Estate for educational exer-

cises in the form of field trips. Again the river cleanup initiated the contact between DSW and Umgeni Water who will be interacting

regularly with the schools in various environmental themed activities, such the upcoming Water Quality Month.

Durban Green Corridor

The Durban Green Corridor Programme which aims to link conservancies from Umgeni River mouth to Nagel Dam in a continuous trail

to accommodate all outdoor activities from trail running and mountain biking to bird watching recently visited the estate. The aim of the

visit was to map trails within the estate which are to be integrated with the rest of the programme’s network , and included in the interac-

tive map of the trails which can be viewed at - www.durbangreencorridor.co.za/environmental_umhlangane.html

Wetland Rehabilitation

The Estate’s joint venture with eThekwini to rehabilitate the riverine wetland environment that runs through the estate will commence

with the eThekwini’s undertaking that they will fund a large part of the excavation component of the project. The City are to be com-

mended for their commitment to this project , and once their contribution is fulfilled, it is anticipated that the Management Association will

be able with relative ease to gather the remaining funding to complete the project.

Service Providers Bicycles

The Management Association wants to make mention and thank our service providers, Servest, Autoflow, and Oricol in getting onboard

with the Association’s strong environmental ethic. You may have noticed members of staff of these companies going about their daily

business on bicycles. It is a small but noteworthy commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.