GENERAL - COWIES HILL

What roads are included within the Estate?

Acacia Avenue

Avon Place

Alida Place

Braby Place

Bedford Road

Balmoral Drive

Belvedale Road

Braemar Road

Buckingham Place

Catherine Avenue

Cecil Fisher Road

Cedar Road

Cheshire Avenue

Dudley Road

Doveton Place

Ernest Whitcutt Road (1 – 32)

Hillside Road

Hillside Crescent

Josiah Gumede Road (Old Main Road)

Lark Place

Luandor Place

Marwick Road

MacDonald Road

Morewood Crescent

Norfolk Terrace (up to 45)

Redmond Road

Rockhaven Road

Springside Drive

Phyllis Argo Road

Tividale Road

Templeton Road

Tunbridge Drive

Woodside Avenue

NPC SPECIFIC

1.) Why have you set the minimum threshold of 70%?

i) Central to the creation of the NPC was to drive sustainability.  One of the main requirements to achieve this is a strong financial base to allow the entity to successfully deploy the solution proposed.

ii.) To view the ongoing vision for additional contribution, read on LEARN MORE

iii) The 70% minimum put forward will allow the NPC to meet the commitments made in the proposed plan. 

iv) It is the hope of the NPC Board that the adoption will be greater than 80%

2) What happened to the Special rating Area (SRA)?

i) The Special Rating Area (SRA) application was not successful.  There were a number of contributing factors but at the top of the list were:

a) Voter apathy – we missed the required numbers by 36 homes out of 470

b) Council – despite commitments from the Executive Council were unable to meet commitments that they made to the community.

c) Community pushback – There were less than a handful of the 470 homes who were opposed to the SRA and threatened legal action should we proceed.  The volunteer committee was not in a position to respond to such an action.

ii) Council has since made a number of fundamental changes to the SRA model which has resulted in it not being a best fit solution for Cowies Hill Estate.  We have therefor decided to pursue the Not for Profit Company model instead.

3) Is this the same as the Special rating Area (SRA)?

i.) The proposed model is not the same as the SRA model.

ii) The SRA model is a Council designed and managed concept.  Once successfully formed the SRA is under the oversight of Council Treasury.

iii) The new model centres around an independent, Not for Profit Company (NPC) being created with a purposed designed Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI) which defines its function.

iv) The NPC is an independent company with a mandate to benefit the area of Cowies Hill Estate and to ensure that the security and prestige of the area is maintained through direct investment in upkeep and infrastructure.

vi.) Members join the NPC through a binding 24-month contract that will allow them to benefit from the security elements as well as being a benefactor to the Cowies Hill upliftment element through their donation. 

4) Who runs the NPC?

i) The NPC has a Board of Directors made up of 5 home owners representing the areas that make up Cowies Hill Estate.

ii) The procurement policies as well as the business direction and operation framework is well defined in the MoI.

5a) What happens if I am not a member?

i) Non-members are free to continue as before and engage with their preferred home alarm company.

ii) Non-member will not have access to the community app, use of the in-Estate assets such as the response vehicles & armed response officers, and will not be directly linked to the Estate response model with automatic links to SAPS and Metro.  They will not have access to the Estate Control Room operators and related services nor will they receive the community communications, updates & free training on offer.

iii) In short non-members will “go it alone” and will be responsible for their own property and personal safety as is the standard model in suburbs.

5b) I would like to volunteer my time in helping the CHE board, what opportunities are there for me to do this and who do I contact?

i) Admin at info@cowieshill.co.za

6a) What is a primary entrance?

i) One of the 6 Main entrances of the precinct.

6b) How does recycling works here in the estate?
i.) Recycling bags are collected by eThekwini on a Monday. Every few months, orange bags are delivered to households. If you don't have these or if you run out, you can buy more orange bags from most standard grocery stores (Checkers, SPAR, Pick ‘n Pay etc.)

ii.) These bags can deal with cardboard and plastic only. There is at present, no community solution for cans and bottles, these still have to be taken to recycling centres by individuals. Recycling drop off facilities for glass and cans can be found at the Westville Civic centre in Buckingham Terrace (near Westville Mall.) They are located behind the Town Hall.

FINANCIAL

8) How much will I pay?

i) The membership is made up of 2 parts which total R980 per home per month.

a) The annual donation to the NPC (Not for Profit Company) of R9 600 is divided up over 12 months at R800 per month per home

b) An upfront membership fee of R2 040 is required to contribute to the investment in technology which the village has already undertaken. This can be amortised over 3 months if necessary.

ii)) Total monthly payment for months 1 – 3 will therefore be R1 660/month

a) Total monthly payment for month 4 – 12 will be R980/month

8b) I have heard about the Tax exemption for members due to Public Organisation Status. Can you explain how this works?

After a 2 year application process we are beyond pleased to announce that CHE has formally been awarded the tax status of a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO).  This has significant financial benefit to our members.

As a result of our PBO status we are now able to issue a Section 18A certificate to our members for the donation element of our invoices.  This means that each member will be able to claim the tax back for that portion of the month contribution.

 Our rates are structured with a value being apportioned to the Guarding company, and a further portion to the Estate. Your invoice will look like the below breakdown:

We have run a few examples of this below to see what the personal saving might look like:

Contribution on the CHE invoice to the Estate R800 x (personal tax rate)

@20% = R160 (R1 920/year)
Monthly = R820

@30% = R240 (R2 880/year)
Monthly = R740

@43% = R344 (R4 128)
Monthly = R636

Important points:

1.       The PBO status is effective from 1st June 2021 allowing us to issues S18A certificates to our members for 9 months of the current tax year. (2022)

2.       Each member will need to submit the S18A certificate as part of their annual tax return to ensure the tax is deducted from their personal calculation.

3.       Should companies wish to donate to CHE they will be eligible for a tax rebate for the donation.

9) What am I paying for?

i) Please read more here in our ‘Why Join?’ Newsletter

ii) The monthly contributions now cover a number of services

• Armed response for your home alarm

• Access to our CHE Community App

• Access to the Blue Security Mobile Panic App

• A dedicated Estate controller at the call centre - 24/7.  This operator also logs municipal faults on your behalf if you put a message on the CHE Community App.

• 2 x dedicated Estate Vehicles, that serve our members only

• Access to CCTV footage upon request, a right of members only. 

10) I have a query on my fee statement, who can I contact?

i) Admin at info@cowieshill.co.za

11) I am considering selling my house or have already sold my house. How long is the notice period that I agreed to in my contract and who do I contact to do this?

i) There is a 90 day notice period towards the end of the annual contract. If the house is sold inside this period, the contract needs to be migrated over to the new owners.

TECHNOLOGY

12) What is an ANPR camera?

i) An Automatic Number Plate Recognition or ANPR is a camera that is capable of reading the vehicle registration as it drives past the camera.

ii) The registration number along with the date and time it was taken is then sent to the Estate software for review.

iii) Our Italian imported ANPR cameras are of the highest quality. These are also able to pick up make, model, class and colour of the vehicle allowing extra analysis.

iv.) We use a software system in the precinct that is linked into law-enforcement databases. Notifications of vehicles flagged for varying degrees of suspicious activity run through our database every minute. Stolen vehicles, cloned plates (referencing make, model and colour of the vehicle) as well as suspicious or hot-listed vehicles (known association with a crime) are all stored in this system. An alert is sent to the relevant authorities in the event of one of these vehicles entering our precinct.

13) What must I do if I need to request CCTV footage?

As we move towards the implementation of POPIA, there is a strict approval process to disseminate footage and SNIPR information to members.

There are only 3 scenarios where information can be freely given:

i) On presentation of a CAS number and the name of the investigating officer

ii) On the formal request of a CHE Board member of Security Committee member

iii) During an active event when a Neighbourhood Watch member requests it in relation to that event.

SECURITY

14) If I have an incident at home what is the best procedure to follow to get help?t

i) Home alarm panic button

ii) Mobile phone panic button

iii) Home alarm activation

iv) Call through to the Blue control room

v) Request for assistance on the community chat

15) Why do we have booms?

The booms were put in place to automate the manual functions that the guards used to perform. The booms fulfill the role of slowing down traffic to afford the oversight cameras an opportunity to get a good visual of vehicles entering the precinct.

16i) Why don't we have booms on all roads?

It made the most amount of financial sense to replace the manned huts (where booms were previously operated by guards) with automated booms first. This represented a significant saving to the NPC on a whole.

ii) Are all vehicles without plates flagged as suspicious?

The short answer is No. Due to the high number of vehicles without plates during regular hours, these in and of themselves do not create an alert. Between the hours of 11am and 4am, vehicles without plates will automatically create a red flag. These flags result in our AROs being contacted by the control room in order to intercept the vehicles.