Month after month we fight for police visibility as we are not capable of taking crime into our own hands and don’t have the authority of a police officer.  We have come to realise that most of the incidents that take place do not get reported as we believe that the SAPS don’t respond to our problems fast enough. We however don’t always realise that just as we get busy with our daily tasks, so the SAPS also get busy and don’t always have the resources or manpower at the immediate time that a complaint is registered in the area to assist or respond immediately to our problems.  The SAPS presently will not increase their resources within Blackheath Industria, as the area comes across as a low crime risk area.

Please report all incidents of crime no matter how small to the local SAPS!

This is also due to the positive effect that our own visible Security Patrols has on crime and the deterrent it presents to would be criminals moving through the area.

As we look at last month’s report we notice that 3 pedestrians were mugged on the Happy Valley side of Wimbledon road which is a decrease in this statistic although 13 incidents of General Theft were experienced, especially concentrated along Range Road.

This clearly shows a marked increase in opportunist thefts, 70% of theft is happening at night.

 Items such as scrap metal, Council wheelie bins and other easily removed and unsecured items were clearly targeted according to SAPS records.

Should you have anything to report please contact ST3 on 021 905 3399 or SAPS at 10111 or 021 909 9300.

Home Choice is busy setting up a brand new build for their Distribution Centre in School Road. The Opening Launch will be early next year.

What does HomeChoice do?

The HomeChoice Group is a leading credit-based direct marketing retailer selling homeware merchandise and financial services to the expanding urban middle-income mass market in Southern Africa. Established in Cape Town in 1985, the group has evolved from a start-up mail order business into a multi-channel direct marketer with a customer base of more than one million people. Marketing channels include direct mail through the catalogue, electronic channels such as the Internet, mobile phone and electronic mail, and telemarketing through inbound and outbound call centres.

HomeChoice offers an extensive range of household textiles and homeware merchandise with a home delivery service. Credit is available on terms of six, 16 and 24 months. FoneChoice, a direct-marketing start-up business, sells laptop computers and mobile smart phones on credit to HomeChoice customers on terms of 24 and 36 months.

The group owns the head office building and a new distribution centre being developed in 2013. It has also acquired a property adjacent to the head office building for possible future expansion.

 Why do business in Blackheath?

There are a number of reasons that HomeChoice selected to stay in Blackheath when considering where to develop its permanent home. The infrastructure in Blackheath is very suitable to our needs. Its proximity to both the N1 and N2, as well as the lack of congestion in the area, facilitates the movement and distribution of stock. Secondly, the public transport infrastructure is established and there are good public services.

We also believe that there are good tenants within the Blackheath park area, and we are proud to be part of this community.

With expanded operations, there will certainly be additional career opportunities.  A large number of staff are being moved from contract to permanent, and we are currently looking for an Operations Manager and a WareHouse Site Services Manager for the new DC being launched in early 2014.

BCID

Welcome to the August 2013 edition of the Blackheath City Improvement District Newsletter!  We reported previously that we had approved the Annual Financial Statements of the Blackheath City Improvement District for the 2012 – 2013 Financial Year and that we would report back about the date for our Annual General Meeting that has now been set to be held at 13:00 on the 02^nd of October 2013 in the Board Room of the Peninsula Beverage Company in School Road, Blackheath.  A formal invite with a copy of the Financial Statement (That will be available on our website shortly at www.bcid.co.za) and an Agenda for the meeting will be sent to you in due course.

The meeting is set to give feedback on operational activities during the previous financial period, to report back on the financial position of the company and then to agree the Budget and Implementation Plan for the 2014-2015 Period.

Thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to speaking with you very soon in preparation for this auspicious event.

Over the past month we experienced slightly bad weather, but managed to keep our cleansing up to speed.   We did come across a few blocked drains and especially the one in Range Road that created a little bit of flooding, but the BCID team made sure it was cleaned immediately.  Our streets are still being cleansed on a daily basis by our committed team of staff who are directed by the BCID management and in addition to this we try our best to keep the grass verges as neat as possible.

After a long battle with the City of Cape Town they finally decided to clear all the port Jackson trees alongside Wimbledon road on the Happy Valley side.  I am sure that pedestrians will find it much safer now and the area is looking cleaner and less dangerous already.   We requested this area to be cleared, as criminals were hiding in the bushes to mug pedestrians en route to work.

We have continued to cleanse every street within the Blackheath footprint at least once during every calendar month whilst paying attention to verge clearing, verge upgrades, the clearing of canals, storm water drains and waterways and mowing verges throughout the area.

Before

After

During the month we have made it a priority to repair and replace bollards.  In Nebula Crescent most of the bollards had been damaged and displaced.   To this point all the bollards that we fixed are still standing and we trust that it will stay that way.   Please remember that these bollards have been placed to protect the valuable infrastructure in the form of storm-water inlets and kerbstones and other infrastructure.