Mayor Rudolph Smith, who was accompanied by members of the Cliff Path Management and other municipal councillors, planted ten Milkwood trees (Sideroxylon inerme), in Piet-se-bos, as part of Arbour Week celebrations earlier today.

Frank Woodwine harvested the seed of the Milkwood trees, propagated and nurtured them in his back yard for three years before donating them to the Cliff Path Management Group to plant back into Piet-se-bos.  He chose an area that is infested with kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum) so that once the trees reach maturity, they create enough shade to restrict the growth of the kikuyu which is a pest along the cliff path.

Overstrand Mayor, Ald Rudolph Smith encourages the planting of trees in communities and spoke on the significance of Arbour Week as an ideal opportunity for all residents to recommit themselves to caring for the environment, particularly the conservation and better understanding of trees.

Thursday, 1 September 2016:  Even the heavy clouds and slight drizzle did little to dampen the spirits of attendees at the recent official opening of the Haygrove Primary Health Clinic that took place at the Haygrove Heaven Farm on Thursday, 1 September 2016.

The first of its kind facility was established through the partnership efforts of Haygrove Farm, Waitrose Foundation and Cipla; and is designed to cater to the health needs of farmworkers of the Haygrove Heaven Farm in the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. 

Since opening its doors on 1 August this year, 200 Haygrove Heaven Farm workers have undergone medical screening and, where necessary, medical care has been afforded to them.

Overstrand's DA councillor, Andrew Komani took over the position of chairperson of the Community Services portfolio in the mayoral committee at a special council meeting held on 31 August.

Cllr Archie Klaas was appointed deputy mayor of the Overberg District Municipality (ODM) and will therefore no longer serve on the mayoral committee.  Overstrand Municipality has two representatives on the ODM Mayoral Committee, Cllr Archie Klaas and Cllr Moira Opperman.

Ald Dudley Coetzee  remains the Chairperson of Finance. Cllr Riana de Coning will now be the chairperson for Management Services as well as Protection Services. Cllr David Botha will chair Infrastructure and Planning and Cllr Elnora Gillion will be the chairperson for Economic Development and Tourism.

During September 2016 a socio economic survey will be conducted in the Overstrand Municipality. The aim is to determine the demand for affordable housing in the Overstrand. Interviews will be conducted with randomly selected households in specific housing settlements regarding their housing needs as well as related matters.

In addition, group discussions will be conducted in selected settlements from Buffelsjag River to Betty’s Bay.

The research focus is on the spectrum of households that qualify for government subsidized housing. Households whose income exceed the maximum limit allowed for government housing, but whose income is too low to qualify for financial assistance from commercial banks, the so-called gap market, will also be included in the research.