Happy Holidays
10 December 2021 | Zerlinda van der Merwe
The holidays are fast approaching, and I'm sure all our readers are looking forward to the break as much as we are! Our offices will be closing on Wednesday, 15 December 2021 and we will be back in the saddle as from Wednesday, 12 January 2022. We look forward to engaging with all of you in the new year and undertaking exciting new ventures and challenges!
Even though we, in Cape Town, have not had quite the start to summer that we were expecting, and with travel restrictions and Covid-19 concerns being what they are, I'm sure we will still find many holiday makers in our community schemes, both local and those from afar. With that being said, we can all look forward to a bit more hustle and bustle in our schemes, which is not necessarily always a bad thing, with new faces to meet, a sense of community, and hopefully more attendees to form a quorum at an annual or special general meeting.
However, with more residents, either long or short term, comes more activity on common property, more noise, more smells, more use of common property infrastructure, more "PPP" problems. Yes, those pesky parking, party and pet issues. It is vitally important not to try to stop or unreasonably regulate such an influx into the scheme, but to consider the nature of the scheme, its location, its amenities and occupancy, and to ensure that conduct rules are in place to ensure instances of nuisance and disturbance is not caused or is dealt with effectively to ensure that it does not reoccur.
Perhaps make use of this holiday period to reflect on what your scheme has encountered this year, and how your rules could be improved upon to make next year a little less painless for the trustees, building managers and managing agents. Let's face it, it will never be completely smooth sailing, but it can certainly be more fine tuned.
Please ensure that your swimming pool enclosures are kept secure, your access control and security is working and monitored, your rules are handed out and placed on common property where they can serve a constant reminder, your common property is kept clean and the scheme's staff are treated well and with respect. Remember to be patient and considerate of one another, and count to one, two, ten before complaining about the conduct of your neighbour, and if you do, complain to them first before contacting the security or management team of your scheme.
Nicole and I have had a wonderful year meeting new people and getting to know everyone a bit better, and we look forward to continuing our role in this industry in the new year when we are back refreshed and ready for all the adventures and challenges that 2022 have to throw at us!
We thank each and every one of you for your support and the role you have played in our community this year.
Be safe and blessed. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Should you require assistance in the new year, please contact us at TVDM Consultants on info@tvdmconsultants.com or 061 536 3138.