News

Urgent Request: Check your fire hydrant NOW!

Date posted: February 11, 2020

This is a serious one!  A tree is blocking access completely – report this immediately.

Uh oh – another hidden hydrant!  All hydrants should be marked both with the FH inside a circle marking on the road, AND with a concrete pillar painted white and yellow with a red H marking.  In front of the pillar you should find a yellow manhole cover – make sure it’s visible, accessible and that the hydrant coupling inside is clear of dirt.

CPNW NEWSLETTER – JANUARY 2020

Date posted: January 26, 2020

Dear Neighbours,

Greetings from the CPNW Committee and best wishers for the New Year!

Crime Update

In terms of crime we had a relatively quiet Holiday period with a second visit to a property in Buren Rd, which did not appear to have been completely secured, a break-in in the Danieldale area and an episode where a trespasser was chased from a property in Protea Rd after being spotted in rather suspicious circumstances.

We have had news of at least two recent Home Invasions in Fishoek and Capri, so we would urge everyone to remain particularly vigilant at this time.

Security Providers

We are aware that many people are uncertain of the status of the relationship with FADT as the current, primary Security Provider (SP), in the area and of the status of negotiations with the alternative SP we have been in negotiations with, Deep Blue Security (DBS).

We apologise for the recent gap in updates which have been the result of complexities in ironing out the wording of a finalised agreement with Deep Blue and of the wording of the associated individual contract to our members. As much as this has placed a significant burden on the time of committee members (with a further impact on our ability to send regular updates), we see this as a positive, as it is ensuring that the agreement we do ultimately come to, will be one that is a significant improvement on the current status quo.

Deep Blue Endorsement Process

As many of the questions we have received about our relationship with Security Providers and our decisions in this regard, we have published on the website a detailed account of our understanding of the existing relationship and the thinking, motivation, investigations and processes involved in coming to the decision to propose Deep Blue as an alternative choice of SP that we would support.

Please click on the following link for access to that account (please note that you have to be a registered member of the website in order to view the document):

https://cpnw.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CPNW-DEEP-BLUE-PROCESS.pdf

In summary however:

With regard to FADT, while we recognise the exceptional service we have received from certain patrol officers, we have also repeatedly received complaints about various aspects of the service and particularly about price increases. In negotiating with FADT, it has been very clear to us that our power was very limited by the lack of any clear agreement in black and white that determined how the relationship works and we have on several occasions been made aware of our limited power in this respect, particularly as FADT became more dominant in the local market.

It is thus worth noting that the dramatic lowering of charges, a marked improvement in the visibility of patrols and the introduction of the Response Unit vehicle over the holiday period, all took place after it became known that we were intent on introducing another player into the market.

We however continue to maintain our relationships with FADT and to represent the interest of our members with them, as we have done, although we recognise that, should they lose significant clients numbers, they may feel they cannot maintain current levels of dedicated service.

Is there room for more than one Security Provider?

We estimate that there are over 400 potential customers in the CPNW area with over 260 holding contracts with FADT. It is thus entirely conceivable that more than one SP could recruit sufficient clients to justify providing dedicated services in the area, the extent of which would be determined by numbers contracted – with the benefits of a healthy competition for clients likely to be seen in the services they provide.

It should also be made clear that a non-negotiable aspect of all our interactions with anyone who may be involved in security in the area demand the very highest levels of cooperation, with and support for one another in dealing with any security concern.

Deep Blue – Proposal

After noting problems with our SP for a number of years at our AGMs and calling for proposals for potential alternatives, we last year received a proposal to consider DBS, which was made with an undertaking to take the lead in investigating the feasibility of such a proposal. This was communicated to our membership with a call for assistance and involvement.

An investigation was undertaken on various aspects of DBS and their capacity to offer a service that we could recommend to our members. Key to this is that we believe the service offered equals what we are currently receiving with FADT but comes with key advantages.

First of these is the development of integrated camera systems (with the installation of additional cameras at key spots) using analytic technology to enable “virtual patrolling”. This is something we have long identified as a key strategy in staying ahead of crime, and particularly in addressing our vulnerability to entry via footpaths.

We also feel confident that we will have a far clearer contracts detailing the agreement in terms of services they will provide and greater transparency in terms of billing and future increases. They are a relatively small but innovative company which we feel is capable of responding rapidly to evolving security needs in our area.

The results of this investigation were presented at the AGM, with a strong endorsement of support for the introduction of the new SP as a preferred choice.

The way forward

We will thus be introducing DBS to our membership in the coming weeks and assisting our membership in finding out about them. As per our mandate at the AGM we are endorsing them strongly as an alternative security provider and we believe it would be to our community’s great advantage if they are able to recruit over 200 clients in the area, if not more.

Critically, as much as this is our belief and we recommend DBS, we recognise that every household retains the right to choose whatever security-provider they feel will provide the best service.

Declaration of Interest

We are aware of some criticism for the decisions we have taken and in this respect we would like to state clearly that no member of the CPNW Committee nor anyone involved in the evaluation of DBS behalf of the Committee, has any financial or other interests in DBS beyond the safety and security interest of our community.

We would further like to state unequivocally that no member of the CPNW Committee has at any time given an instruction to DBS or any other security company that they may not speak to members of our community.

Communication

We do recognise that some people may be feeling ill-informed, so we will strive to make all the necessary information available to our members and to continue to answer questions. We are however, pleased to note the increase in interest in security matters as a result of this discussion, and we would urge everyone to involve neighbours who may not be connected, into the discussions!

Ultimately however, we are confident that we have a membership who are well-capable of determining for themselves what is likely to provide best value and we will be guided by your actions.

The CPNW Committee

ADT price reduction

Date posted: January 2, 2020

Dear Neighbours

Some of you may have received a communication from ADT offering a dramatic reduction in rates to as little as R470.00 per month (excluding VAT and the voluntary contribution of R30 to CPNW).
This has come as something of a surprise to the CPNW Committee, as prior to the most recent increase from ADT and prior to the previous annual increases, we have for several years raised our objections which been met with responses to the effect that the service provided would not be viable without the increases. It is thus with some cynicism that we view this sudden offer (although it does illustrate nicely the healthy effect of competition in the area).

We also note that this offer does not come with any guarantee of how long such a reasonable rate will be offered or any explanation as to why it is suddenly possible to make such a marked reduction in the present economic climate. They also do not indicate how they will respond when customers in surrounding areas demand the same level of treatment.

As most will be aware, we are finalising an agreement with Deep Blue Security that will guarantee a service that we believe will be superior to what we are currently experiencing (including installation and monitoring of cameras), at a very similar price, with guarantees that annual increase will not be in excess of CPI. Please visit our website for details of the agreement and of the decisions taken at the AGM in this respect.

We regret that we retracted the original customer agreement we had put on the website, as there were details in it that were not in keeping with the agreement, that we as CPNW, had established with Deep Blue. Deep Blue immediately agreed to re-writing this to our satisfaction and this will be finalised in a meeting next week. We would therefore urge everyone to hold off until we have provided you with the new agreement next week.

Regards
The CPNW Team

Deep Blue Transition Documents

Date posted: December 20, 2019

Please see the below for documents for signing up with Deep Blue.

Step by step guide

Deep Blue Agreement

CPNW NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2019

Date posted: December 18, 2019

Dear neighbours,

AGM

Thank you to everyone who came to the AGM! Simply from a personal basis it is always so nice to see such a range of familiar faces and with 54 members, representing 51 households, present we felt that, in addition to ensuring proper governance it provided valuable guidance for us, as a committee, regarding the important matter of our partnerships with security providers. We have since acted on that mandate and now have an important announcement to make.

Click here for the Chairman’s Report

Click here for the AGM Presentation

Uptick in Incidents

More urgently however we must make note of a number of recent incidents that have taken place since the AGM. We became aware of two break-ins to outbuildings at Avondrust Mews in recent weeks that we did not know of, in the wake of learning of a resident waking up to find a burglar inside a house at the Mews in the early hours on 3 December. The intruder fled, taking a handbag, when the resident shouted out. The alarm was then raised via a local WhatsApp group and ADT was called. It was noted that access to the property was relatively uncomplicated, with little in the way of alarms of other security measures and it would seem that the burglar spent some time in the area, both before and after the incident.

This was followed by a burglary this week, it would seem whilst load-shedding was taking place, on either the evening of 11 or 12 December in Buren Rd, with the burglars making user of load shedding to get into a property. A wheelbarrow, cabling an iron and items of clothing were taken.

This is of course, the time of year when crime does tend to peak and with a declining economic climate we can only expect the risk will increase. As a result, we can expect that criminals will start using events such as load-shedding as opportunities to enter the area. This is thus a critical time to be checking radios and alarm systems, particularly with regard to battery back-ups, as well as to consider general security and things like electric gates etc.

Security Provider

In terms of our decisions about Security Providers, as set out in the Chairman’s Report, which has been made available with this newsletter, we had received a proposal from a member to consider a partnership with an alternative Security Provider: Deep Blue Security. This had taken place on the back of previous AGMs when we had called for such proposals after members had raised concerns over various issues related to our existing Service Provider. We have since spent some time having a careful look at Deep Blue, including obtaining references from other areas where they operate, investigation of their monitoring and reporting systems, a visit to their control room and an assessment of their financial sustainability.

As set out at the AGM, we believe that Deep Blue offer excellent value as an alternative choice for a dedicated security provider in our area for the following reasons:

• They offer a single dedicated vehicle with an Armed Response Officer (ARO) 24hrs per day with a second vehicle and ARO for 12hrs at night, as per the existing arrangement.
• They offer in addition, an advanced system of camera monitoring that would incorporate all our existing cameras and they would additionally install extra cameras in vulnerable areas. The feeds from these cameras can be connected to our Control Room at the Community Centre to send us automatic alerts, whilst it will also be monitored at the Deep Blue Centre.
• We are confident that their monitoring and reporting systems as well as the fact that they are a relatively compact operation means that they are able to be highly responsive to our needs as a community.
• They offer a significantly improved rate on what we are currently paying, with a transparent and uniform pricing system.

We presented these findings to the AGM and there was very strong support for the view that we should support the establishment of a partnership with Deep Blue by actively encouraging members to sign up with Deep Blue as their security provider. As you will see from the proposal Deep Blue Security have made to us, they will manage the changeover of alarm radio transmitters without charge and they will be taking a range of other steps to assist members with the change in service provider.

Concerns

Whist support for developing a partnership with Deep Blue was almost unanimous, concerns were raised on two counts:

1. What would happen if we ended up with a “hung” situation, with neither security provider in the area having enough clients to justify the terms we demand for our area? We are very happy to report that we took this back to Deep Blue and they have responded very positively to our concerns, with a commitment to retaining services in the area regardless of whether they have reached break-even numbers. We also know that, with in excess of 400 households in the area, there are at least 100 who have no security service at all and we are hopeful that the improved rates (and perhaps some peer-pressure) will encourage more to sign up!
2. As a major drawback in the existing relationship has been our inability to hold the Service Provider to account when we have had problems, how will this be any different with the new Provider? We are happy to report that, although we had concerns regarding the limitations of what a voluntary association can demand in terms of individual contractual agreements with its members, we raised this with Deep Blue and they have agreed to develop a penalty system for any default at the level of service delivery.

Deep Blue Proposal

We are thus publishing the detailed proposal from Deep Blue Security on our website and we have sent it out with this newsletter. In keeping with the sentiment expressed overwhelmingly at the AGM and having addressed the only concerns that were raised, we would like to very strongly urge everyone in the Chapmans Peak Area to sign up with Deep Blue as your personal security provider. We are confident that they will be an ideal partner in our efforts to continually develop our capacity to maintain security in our neighbourhood and the strength of this partnership will be dependent on the degree to which we act in unison.

Click here for the Deep Blue Proposal

Privacy

We will on no account release anyone’s personal data to any company without your permission, so if you would like to be contacted directly by Deep Blue, please to reply to this mail to let us know. Deep Blue will be holding an information session at the Community Centre which we will announce in due course and they will be marketing actively in the area. We will also make information available on terminating contracts and to try and respond to any other concerns that may arise.

Please discuss this important matter with your neighbours too (especially the ones who do not have a Security Provider but sure benefit from the rest of us)!

We wish everyone a wonderful Festive Season and a happy and secure 2020!

The CPNW Committee

CPNW NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2019

Date posted: December 18, 2019

Dear Neighbours,

Crime Update

I must first of all, as CPNW Chairperson and the person responsible for our newsletters, apologise for the long delay since the last one! In mitigation, however, it is with great pleasure that I am able to take note of the fact that it is nearly nine months since we had our last recorded incident of crime in our area.

This is a remarkable achievement for which we should all take credit, coming as it does after the release of the National Crime Statistics that show persistently increasing crime levels over the last two decades. We believe that what has been key in reversing this trend in our neighbourhood has been not only the multiple combinations of strategies we have used and tailored specifically for where we live but as critically, the involvement of a significant majority of our members in our efforts to keep crime out of the area, from the small “connector” street groups to our larger communication networks and interactions with SAPS, local authorities and security providers.

Of course our winters are usually a quieter period so please let us not get complacent and consider that now is probably the ideal time to be doing a radio check, reviewing your security system, and perhaps putting in those upgrades you have been thinking about!

Beach – Risk Area

It should also be noted that there have been worrying indications that the beach and other areas under the authority of SANParks, in particular, are by no means safe and that the risk of muggings may already be rather high and increasing as we go into the summer.

Aside from the horrible murders that have occurred of late on the beach and mountainside in other areas, we have been made aware of at least two incidents, and possibly a third, where attempts on beachgoers were thwarted before any crime had taken place, both down near the wreck as well as close to the parking area.

We would thus urge everyone to continue to exercise extreme caution on the beach, wetlands and mountainside and to please warn visitors to the area!

Municipal Bin Flyer

The City of Cape Town recently issued a flyer concerning the correct use of Wheelie Bins and their policy regarding bin pickers:

https://cpnw.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Bin-picking-flyer-pg1.pdf

https://cpnw.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Bin-picking-flyer-pg2.pdf

Security Provider

Lastly, I must inform you all of an exciting development in terms of security providers in the area and make a request for your assistance: For some time we have expressed our own reservations about certain aspects of our current relationship and, particularly in response to fee increases as well as a range of other complaints, a number of our members have urged us to consider alternative security providers.

Our response has consistently been that we would be open to considering alternatives, if anyone was prepared to do the work required to find a suitable alternative provider and to involve themselves in the due diligence and negotiation that would be necessary before we would able to recommend anyone else to our membership.

We are pleased to say that, at a time when we have again been having significant difficulties in our relationship with Fidelity ADT, a member has come forward to propose an alternative provider and to do the work.

We are thus in the process of considering a proposal from an alternative provider, which, we believe may be able to offer and equivalent or even improved service at competitive rates and we are busy assembling a team of members with the requisite expertise to perform a due diligence on the company so that, by the time of our AGM, we will be able to make a firm recommendation based on a sound assessment of our options.

We would be very grateful for any further volunteers who would be prepared to join this team. In particular we are looking for members with expertise in all aspects of security services as well as with regard to making an assessment of the financial viability of the company. If you are interested please let us know by return of mail!

Wishing you all a safe summer!

The CPNW Committee

CPNW NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2019

Date posted: December 18, 2019

Dear neighbours,

Crime Update

Unfortunately, our more than 9 month crime free run in the CPNW has come to an abrupt end with two incidents in our area as well as one on the nearby sports fields.

Mugging

In the first of these, a woman walking her dogs near the sports fields had her cell phone taken on the morning of 18 October. We have been told that a perpetrator was later identified and apprehended, with the phone by some of the rugby players who use the fields, to whom we are enormously grateful.

Theft from Car

On 20 October a car, parked at the Common was broken into and objects removed. It was thought to have been locked and alarmed at the time so the possibility that a jammer was used has been raised. Regardless of whether this is the case, or not, this incident serves as a good reminder to avoid leaving anything of value on display in a parked car and also to be doubly careful to ensure that locks and alarms are indeed activated when using a remote device.

Burglary

On the night of 28 October or in the early hours the following morning a break-in took place at a house in Beach Rd, with the theft of a wallet and a laptop. The house was entered through a bathroom window and it does not seem that any alarm system was being used.

Fortunately the wallet was retrieved by an ADT officer near the Common with some cards and a driver’s licence still in it although cash had been removed. Reports from residents in Beach Rd suggest that there may have been some activity in the road prior to the break-in, with signs that people may have been around and on the lookout for opportunities. This is thus a good reminder to us all to ensure we do have working alarm systems in place and to be particularly vigilant about suspicious activity late in the night.

Robbery at the Friendly Grocer

Earlier in the month, as most will be aware, there was an armed robbery at the local Friendly Grocer. A suspect was immediately arrested with the assistance of ADT officers and we were very pleased to receive news that his accomplices have since also been apprehended.

What can we do?

We can thus be fairly certain that, with the onset of summer, which is generally when we do see more crime, we can expect there to be further attempts in our area, as well as along the Beach, so we must as everyone to not only exercise caution but also to warn visitors to the area and particularly on the Beach.

We are convinced that, by maintaining a high level of vigilance, we can deter a great deal of the crime that does happen, so we would like to ask everyone to review security systems now, before the height of the summer and to make sure your radio is working properly by doing the odd radio check. It is also a good time to start thinking about holiday arrangements, whether these involves having guests from abroad and briefing them on security-consciousness or on ensuring that your house is protected whilst you are away.

CPNW AGM

Finally we would like to invite everyone to our AGM on 18 November at 630 for 7, at the Community Hall. Aside from the usual report backs, we will be discussing some of the challenges we have had in terms of Security Providers and we will reporting back on our negotiations with and assessment of a potential new Provider.

We thus, collectively have some very important decisions to make, so we would really appreciate a good turn out! We will also be rounding the evening off with a braai and some drinks to share but please bring along a little extra, it is always good to get to know one another but critically so when we understand that the key to a safe environment is a community that stands together.

The CPNW Committee

Joint Beach Patrol with SANParks

Date posted: December 18, 2019

CPNW NEWSLETTER – JUNE 2019

Date posted: June 18, 2019

Dear Neighbours

Quiet Time

Once again we are very happy to be able to report an exceptionally quiet time in the area, with one report of a vehicle behaving suspiciously but no other incidents of crime that we are aware of in our area. Whilst we usually do experience less crime in the winter months, the current run is unprecedented, in the time since we started keeping records.

It is good both to celebrate this and to acknowledge that there is little cause for complacency given the horrifying stories of crime elsewhere in our province. Indeed we believe that it has been through a consistent policy of pursuing systemic and multifaceted responses that we have steadily reduced crime in our area and it is critical that we keep developing better approaches.

[Update: there was an attempted break in at the KRES stables in Protea Road on Sunday, but the burglars ran off after triggering the alarm. Be especially alert if you own a tack room.]

Cameras

With that in mind we were delighted to hear of a new initiative involving the development of an integrated street monitoring camera system, connecting street-facing cameras from private cctv systems.

The concept is still in the early stages of development but it would be very helpful if anyone putting in cameras would have a discussion with our team regarding specs that would be compatible with the system we are planning. Please contact Craig : craig@southernsecurity.co.za .

Fire

We are grateful to everyone who responded to calls on the radio network regarding a house fire in Beach Rd on 10 June. Unfortunately the heat of the fire limited what could be done before the fire brigade arrived, which was fortunately in time to save most of house from being burnt.

Our thoughts are with the owners as they recover their home from the damage. To those who did raise the alarm it was a useful reminder of how important it is to be familiar with the radio, and to have emergency numbers available on one’s phone.

In this case the useful numbers to have at hand include:

• the Fish Hoek fire station 021 782 9082
• the Emergency Control Centre which provides 24 hr response to a range of emergencies: 021 782 0333.

Make sure they are in your phone!

Community Centre

We are delighted that our Community Centre is seeing more and more use and we hope the plant sale is a great success!

NRPA AGM

Finally, thanks you to everyone who came out to support the NRPA at its AGM. They are doing a huge amount of important work and deserve our support! It was gratifying, yet came as no surprise to learn that this part of Noordhoek has the highest percentage of paid up members, nor to learn that Noordhoek achieved greater water savings than any other part of the city last year. It is for the same reason that our crime is low. We have a community to be proud of!

Wishing everyone a safe winter!

The CPNW Committee

CPNW NEWSLETTER – MAY 2019

Date posted: June 18, 2019

Dear Neighbours,

Quiet Period in Noordhoek

We are delighted to report a continuation of one of the quietest periods in our history as a neighbourhood watch, with two attempted break-ins in Dunedin and Heldray Avenues in early April and one report of a car being broken into in the Farm Village parking lot this month.

Sadly this stands in contrast to a wave of violent crime in and around the Ocean View area with the horrific hijacking and murder of a surfer from the Scarborough area, who was approached whilst returning to his car above Witsand Beach. (Just today, SAPS have announced the arrest of the second suspect in this case.)  We urge everyone to exercise extreme caution when travelling along Kommetjie and Slangkop Roads, where a number of attempted hijackings have been reported.

Beach Activity

We have also received concerning reports of suspicious activity in the region of the Kakapo wreck, with at least one sighting of an armed male in the area and another report of an incident of indecent exposure.

We do not have any reason to believe that the intensified security activity provided by SANParks will be maintained into the winter season and with generally fewer people around on the beach at this time of year, we would urge everyone to be extremely cautious about going too far down the beach alone.

Keep those radios switched on – and test them!

It’s only natural that when there’s less crime, we let our vigilance slip too…  Please keep those radios on, and test them regularly.  Remember that anyone can respond to a test transmission – don’t wait for the radio team to respond, do it yourself!  If you don’t get a response, send a message to your connector group on WhatsApp and prod your neighbours – but don’t do it after 8pm!

Community Centre

After a surge in activity at the Community Centre we have noticed a drop off in bookings of late, so please do consider it if you are looking for a local venue for your meeting, function or other activity. Our rates are very reasonable, at about R50-80 per hour, depending on the nature of the event. Please go to bookings@cpnw.org.za to make a booking.

Nisan Bloch

We were sad to receive news of the passing of Nisan Bloch, who has always been an active supporter of CPNW as well as of many other community projects and, together with Kathy Fish, was a central figure in leading the “On the Verge” project for the past 5 years.

We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to the trees that will be planted along the “Heritage Avenue”, along Avondrust Circle, in his memory. He will be sadly missed.

NRPA AGM – Please Attend!

Finally, on the note of community involvement, we would urge everyone to attend the NRPA AGM, which will be held on Thursday 23 May from 1800-2000 at Monkey Valley.

As CPNW, we are convinced that a great deal of our success in keeping crime down in this neighbourhood has been as a result of the strong sense of community that has been steadily developing. The hard working members of the NRPA Committee have done a great deal to develop this further and have a wonderful vision for how we can evolve from here. They deserve everyone’s support!

Wishing everyone a warm and crime free winter!

The CPNW Committee