As I write this I have not even been in the subcouncil chair for a full 16 working days.
Those 16 days have gone by in a blur, yet not a single day has been without excitement and challenges. Naturally, when there is a new leader there are many people who want to meet and greet and discuss challenges. My diary is overflowing but it gives me great joy. For more than that I couldn’t have asked.
The subcouncil staff have been fantastic in bringing me up to date with the current pending items. We have already sat together as a team and worked out a year plan to ensure we don’t miss any important dates and we will be well prepared. I have met so many fantastic people and learnt more over the last 16 days than I have all year.
I am still working through my one-on-one meetings with each councillor. These are proving to be very fruitful and each meeting brings another level of organisation, planning and preparedness. If you are well prepared and organised you will be able to tackle anything that comes your way.
The subcouncil will have a tour of all the wards in the coming weeks. The aim is to get to know one another’s wards so we can give informed input on items that come to subcouncil and support our colleagues where necessary.
While the subcouncil is stabilising and we are all getting used to one another and different ways of doing things, the City’s projects and processes are continuing. Just today we attended the launch of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone Food Security project. More than 20 beneficiaries will receive training over the next six months on various skills to help them on their way to becoming successful urban farmers.
We received a very detailed presentation on the project to rebuild the sea wall that is collapsing in Small Bay in Ward 23. The project is moving along well albeit with challenges here and there. Thankfully there are a team of coastal engineers who are working on this project so we know that it is in good hands.
We are also busy with a sewer-pipe replacement programme to replace aging infrastructure and Atlantis is one of the areas on the programme. The City has already replaced more than 14 100 metres of sewer pipeline in its bounds since the start of our financial year in July 2021. Our target is 26 000 metres and we are well on our way to achieving this target.
The City is investing in this infrastructure, and we ask communities to help us protect the cables, pipelines, roads, parks and pathways. If you see someone dumping or damaging public equipment please immediately alert the City by calling 021 480 7700 from a cellphone or 107 from any landline.
We need your help because we cannot be everywhere at the same time, and this infrastructure is ours after all, and not just the City’s. It is the community that uses the parks and walkways and which the infrastructures serves.
Help us keep our areas tidy!
We have only just begun. I look forward to a fruitful five years in this subcouncil. All good things take time, but we will keep on keeping on.
