The Schotsche Kloof civic centre is set to undergo scheduled maintenance from this week.
Ward 77 councillor Francine Higham said the civic centre will not be available for public bookings during this time.
“This includes the crèche, and notices have been served in advance to inform them. The crèche aren’t tenants of the property, but instead are booking the facility on an ongoing basis. I did submit a motion to the Sub-Council in February requesting that the Recreation and Parks Department consider a full refurbishment of the Schotsche Kloof Civic Centre. The responsible department are currently considering this motion,” she said.
Shihaam Daniels, the principal of the Bo-Kaap daycare centre, said they have relocated to St Paul’s Hall and will return to the Schotsche Kloof civic centre once the repairs are completed.
“We moved last Friday (May 3) and we are settled. The City did inform us of the maintenance taking place and we will return to the centre once (renovations) are complete,” she said.
Munifa Canterbury, a fourth-dan black belt and sensei at Munifa’s Martial Arts Academy, also stopped their karate training at the civic centre.
“We practice in the Leeuwen Street park, depending on the weather, we were using one of the smaller halls but because of the maintenance we decided not to,” said Ms Canterbury.
Meanwhile, erf 1796, just off Military Road, which has multiple property owners in SANParks, the National Department of Defence, and the Western Cape Department of Public Works, is being examined for development.
The City’s Recreation and Parks Department is in charge of the erf, but due to its size – 141 650 square meters – the land has not been managed in terms of removing alien vegetation, clearing fire breaks, preventing unlawful occupations, cleaning litter or illegal dumping, said Ms Higham.
“The aim of the motion is to request that the responsible property owner, Recreation and Parks, conduct a feasibility study into the future use of this property, including the establishment of a maintenance and management plan. Should any future uses be identified in the course of the feasibility study, this will go through extensive public participation with the community before implementation,” she said.
The Shukokai shooting club lease the shooting range within the erf and are aware of the City’s plans.
“We have had a meeting with the City and the local councillor in this regard. They have accepted our lease renewal application and it is being processed. At the meeting it was mentioned that they will go through a feasibility study and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the land that we occupy,” said a representative from Shukokai.
