The Newlands Community Improvement District (CID), which will provide top-up municipal services for a fee, was given the green light by the City in a council meeting at the end of last month.
“We support CIDs with strong business plans and clear goals for their areas and believe that they play an important role in promoting and safeguarding the interests of residents in their districts,” said mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Eddie Andrews.
March Turnbull, the chairman of the CID’s steering committee, said they had spent two years working on the project and mustering support for it (“Newlands CID calls for public support,” Southern Suburbs Tatler, September 14).
“We needed to find a sustainable way to fund the services our volunteer community was delivering, and we wanted to expand those, in the face of growing challenges. The overwhelming ‘yes’ vote told us that property owners were ready to make this move.”
The Newlands CID will function within the boundaries of the M3, Princess Anne Avenue, Klipper Road, Main Road and Protea Road. It also includes Newlands Avenue and Kildare Road.
The CID would encourage greater investment in the area by improving safety and cleanliness, Mr Turnbull said, adding that it was likely to start functioning from the beginning of next month with the collection of the additional rates then too.
“Given the very short time between the official approval of the CID from the beginning of June till July, it is likely that services will be introduced incrementally through July and August,” he said.
Mr Turnbull, who is also chairman of the Newlands Residents’ Association, said public safety would take up most of CID’s time and budget.
For more information, visit newlandscid.org or email info@newlandscid.org
