Month: August 2016

Greyton Heritage Survey

The first draft of the Heritage Survey, done by the consultants Cedar Tower Services, has been completed for Greyton as part of the process to inform the next step toward the  finalisation of the Greyton Overlay Zone/Architectural Policy.

Ward 2 Forum fully supports the stated intent of the Municipality and HOZAC to work for the implementation of a suitable and successful zoning scheme, with protective Overlays to control development in Greyton, including Heritage Protection Overlays. However, numerous concerns have been highlighted during the process and these need to be scrutinised for further comment by interested and affected parties.

We consider that this project is critically important to the future of Greyton and it should contribute to the success of TWKM. Therefore, it is essential that sufficient time is made available for all the necessary consultation to be completed properly. This must be supported by TWKM Planning and HOZAC, who should be communicating information to the community and responding fully to queries etc.

The public consultation process should include discussion and debate, not just on the Heritage Survey itself, but also on all aspects arising from the Survey, and leading to the finalisation of the Greyton Overlay Zone/Architectural Policy (Mr Gxoyiya’s letter of 24 May 2016 to Ward2Forum refers).

The Ward 2 Forum has requested that the Theewaterskloof Municipality considers an extension of the due date for submission of comments to allow all interested and affected parties adequate time to study the documents. Note that the current date set for comments is the 9th September 2016.

Here is the W2F Request for Extension

Please note that a hardcopy of the consultants’ draft documents are available at the Greyton Municipal Offices for perusal or may also be viewed on the Cedar Tower Website:

  1. Heritage Data – http://www.cedartower.co.za/greyton-heritage-survey
  2. Heritage Survey – http://www.cedartower.co.za/surveys/index.php/821921?lang=en

The Ward 2 Forum will keep you posted on all the relevant information about the process going forward.

screenshot_2007The Ward 2 Forum Team

incl:/ Request for extension 1.1

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Concern about the Brownish Colour of our Potable Water

INTRODUCTION

We have had several questions about the “brownish” colouring of our potable water in the Ward 2 area. In a bid to alleviate the fears and concerns that the water is not safe to drink, we have compiled a short summary of what causes the discolouration.

DISCOLOURATION

The discolouration is a phenomenon that is generally associated with winter and the rainy season of our region. However the discolouration is not only restricted to the Cape, but is traditionally a feature of the mountain water of the western Cape.

screenshot_2197

CAUSE

Soil contains a wealth of organic matter from decomposed plant material. A substance known as “humus” is the primary component of that organic matter. As water washes through soil, particularly in the winter rainy periods, it washes away the humic acids from the humus in soil. The higher the level of Humic Acid and depending on the molecular structure of the compound the water will vary in darkness.

Due to the richness of the biodiversity of the Western Cape the humus content of the soil in the catchment areas of our mountain water is very high and thus prone to leaching during winter rainy periods.

TECHNICAL INFO

The release or leaching out of the Humic Acids is a vital part of our Cape ecosystem, which allows the rich mineral to travel downstream into alluvial plains and is the building blocks of Vlei and wetland areas. The molecular structure of the Humic Acid promotes the uptake of oxygen in plants.

Humic acids are complex aromatic macromolecules with amino acids, amino sugars, peptides, aliphatic compounds involved in linkages between the aromatic groups. The hypothetical structure for humic acid contains free and bound phenolic OH groups, quinone structures, nitrogen and oxygen as bridge units and COOH groups variously placed on aromatic rings.

HEALTH

Research has shown these acids to be a very effective tool for regulating metals in both plants and animals. Generally, it is accepted that humic acid is not harmful but rather good for the human body. However the quantities in our water are so low that it will have little to no real affect on humans.

In terms of the SANS 241 Drinking Water Quality standard, the determinant that deals with the watercolour is deemed an aesthetic/operational determinant and has no health related implications.

To remedy this and to achieve a crystal clear water, as we are so used to, the filtration process being used in the Ward 2 area would have to be modified extensively to allow for a flocculating process to be added to the treatment cycle of our potable water system. However, it is generally accepted that the traditional chemical used to achieve this is aluminium sulphate and notoriously difficult to control and dose. Flocculating agents are either inorganic salts or water-soluble organic polymers. They act by shrinking the ionic double layer, or neutralizing the surface charge of suspended particles, or bridging between particles. The type of flocculent used depends on the type of solid–liquid separation being performed. Flocculants are usually selected by the results of laboratory-scale experiments.

Some agents or impurities in them may present toxicological or environmental problems. The general economic trend is the replacement of inorganic salts with organic polymers, which give improved performance.

It is thus, in our view, safer to live with the discoloured water that is perhaps aesthetically unacceptable rather than add an additional process & cost of which the outcome is unknown anyway.

screenshot_2007

 Ward 2 Forum Team

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Ongoing concern re Solid Waste Management in Ward 2

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT WITHIN WARD 2

With the ongoing concern about the Solid Waste Management within the Ward 2 area, the Ward 2 Forum in conjunction with the Transformation Committee, other member organisations and concerned residents of the area have monitored the Genadendal Landfill site on a periodic basis.

The situation of Solid Waste in the Ward 2 area has worsened particularly over the last 8 months. Waste volumes have increased and the management thereof reduced. Ward 2 Forum submitted to the Local authority a full Viability Report on this with proposals in March 2016, after the debacle of the proposed Solid Waste drop-off at the entrance to the Greyton Village. This was not the first time though as a similar Project Presentation Report was submitted in 2008/9 by Derek Crabtree and George Juries to TWK through the then Ward Committee (Caroline Wood being the councillor at that stage).

The area contaminated has grown substantially, with still no fencing of the area to assist in curbing the pollution of the surrounding area by windblown plastic and paper and the keeping out of those Animals roaming and rummaging through the waste. See Videos below showing the current situation. Yet, the oxidation ponds in Greyton have partial fencing topped with razor wire.

CONCLUSION

A concerted effort is now urgently required by all interested and affected parties. The Ward 2 Forum is currently engaging with Province and Boetie Bantam to assist in finding a workable, viable and sustainable solution for the Sorting and Recycling (S&R) of Solid Waste for the Ward 2 area. The legislative requirements are prohibitive in starting a large scale project but allows for smaller projects to be operated without having to go through the prescribed EIA, scoping and application exercise.

Our problems are compounded by the fact that both the Greyton and Genadendal Landfill Sites, in terms of the Waste Management Licence (WML) granted to TWKM on the 14th November 2014, are scheduled to be decommissioned by the year 2019. The WML for the closure of the Facility by TWKM was submitted as part of the final Basic Assessment Report dated 1 April 2014, and must be implemented together with all the conditions stipulated. For which there is, we believe, no budget for any of the requirements.

Although the proposal in the Environmental Management Programme (EMP) is generic and as such, the various design features should be properly assessed, to include the following:

  • Future waste should be sorted rather than disposed of.
  • Waste salvaging should be reconsidered as a possible way of reducing the existing waste volumes.
  • The fence should be erected but allowing easy access by the community to the facility at all times, otherwise illegal dumping may increase in the area.
  • The rehabilitation of the site must be done with local indigenous plants.
  • And much more – rebuilding of the pipe culvert over the Scholtz, security system (gate and attendant), construction of a disposal cell including clay liner and engineered drainage, monitoring of ground pollution at specific boreholes.

For this to be achieved we, the Ward 2 Forum, invite all individuals, organisations and associations to assist in a participatory process to find workable solutions to the ever increasing challenge of Solid Waste management in our area.

A very positive project that would require the assistance of a specific and specialised group of individuals from our area is the Landcare Initiative being championed by the Department of Agriculture of the Western Cape Provincial Government. The Ward 2 Forum was invited to be part of the Transformation Committee delegation to attend the inaugural Plenary Workshop session held at Gabrielskloof.

The Landcare initiative is an Areawide Planning methodology that aims to include all role players and affected parties and will remain a community-based initiative. Additional information on this will be published on the Ward 2 Forum platform.

Should you wish to participate in the Solid Waste project or any other of the Ward 2 Forum initiatives please contact us on the following email:

info@ward2forum.org

Ward 2 Forum Team

Viability Report 1.1

PRESENTATION OF Ward 2 Refuse Issue

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Comments on Auditor General’s Report on the TWKM financials for the 2014/15

Having had a chance to study the Auditor General’s Report on the TWKM financials for the 2014/15 financial year (Click to read) the Ward 2 Forum had the following queries, which we sent off to the Director Finance for clarification.

As was stated in the Auditor General’s Report 2014/15 that TWK, although having received an Unqualified Audit report, some items had been flagged with “Findings”. This is mentioned under the heading of concerns about the Supply Management as well as the Financial Health of the TWK municipality.  Our query was specifically about the two issues highlighted by the AG.

  1. R 43 mil in respect of irregular expenditure.
  2. R .003 mil in Wasteful expenditure.

Additional questions have arisen out of the documentation received which we have forwarded to TWKM for further clarification. Click HERE to read the additional questions.

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