UIP go-ahead brightens Ballito’s future

After nearly four years of hard work Ballito’s Urban Improvement Project (UIP) cleared its final hurdle last Tuesday with the go ahead from council.

“The Ballito UIP is a significant private/public sector partnership milestone which reflects a unique and exemplary collaboration between the Ballito commercial property owners, the Ilembe Chamber of Commerce and KwaDukuza municipality,” said Ilembe Chamber chief executive officer, Cobus Oelofse.

According to Oelofse, a total support of 50% property holding and 50% property value of commercial owners in Ballito had to be achieved in order to go ahead with the UIP, which was exceeded in both cases.

UIP chief executive officer, Brian Wright said that once they had achieved over 51% in both cases, they stopped recruiting.

The first levies will be deducted from some of the town’s commercial property owners from July 1 to build up funds for the planned public area security to begin in September and then cleaning and landscaping services in October.

The delivery of these UIP services will then cover areas including the entrances to Ballito on the N2 and M4,

Ballito Business Park and surrounding commercial properties, Ballito Drive, Compensation Road, the boardwalk and adjacent beach.

While the UIP will be funded primarily by commercial property owners in those areas, additional support will be required in order to adequately service the boardwalk and beach, therefore the UIP will be appealing to Body Corporates adjacent to the boardwalk to contribute.

Following this, the next step will see property owners establishing a non profit company that will administer funding and ensure optimal service levels are delivered as per the UIP mandate. UIP steering committee member and representative of Ballito Estates, Barbara Shingler said property owners are excited about the UIP and cannot wait for it to start.

“They see it as an insurance for their investment to grow,” she said. People do however need to be patient, warned UIP steering committee member Clinton Markram of Ballito Accommodation.

“It is going to take time to see the improvements, although it will probably take less time than Umhlanga. People cannot expect everything to be fixed overnight.”

He said that it is critical to assess what changes or services will make immediate impact and to prioritise correctly.

The Ballito UIP will be providing the following services: negotiating with the municipality for investment in economic enabling infrastructure; improving municipal service levels such as road repairs, cleaning of the beaches and grass cutting; provision of added privately contracted services; security guards for public areas of the boardwalk, Compensation Road and business precinct; appoint street and beach cleaning staff as well as landscaping services including reoccurring maintenance and special beautification projects and general maintenance such as painting and minor infrastructure repairs like paving and sign straightening.

A website and communication network will be set up to distribute latest news, advisories and community updates, as well as a special 24 hour UIP emergency number and fault reporting service, to ensure that reported issues will be followed up with the municipality until the task is completed.

Private property owners will also be approached to improve boundaries bordering on public areas and general upgrades.

Furthermore, negotiations will take place to set up partnerships with the relevant stakeholders to contribute to the UIP through their Body Corporates to market and brand Ballito better.