New residents’ association for Fontainebleau and surrounds

FONTAINEBLEAU – A new residents’ association is expected to help instil the spirit of community in Fontainebleau, Ruiterhof and Moret, and will be launched during a public meeting on 28 February at the Community Church on Rabie Street in Fontainebleau.

Organiser Estelle Langenhoven said she was approached by Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood and Ward 102 councillor David Potter.

“We both believe it will benefit the community, based on successes of other similar groups,” Langenhoven said.

She said they have included the Ruiterhof and Moret suburbs in Fontainebleau given how geographically small these areas are. “Crime is obviously one of the issues we need to address, as it appears to be on the increase and is also becoming more opportunistic.”

The association is expected to keep the residents abreast of suspicious criminal activities in the suburbs.

The community group was initially started as a WhatsApp group towards the end of 2015 by Priscilla Cillie during the major infrastructure upgrades by Johannesburg Water and Vumatel installing fibre cables.

Later these groups became a channel of communication among residents on a variety of matters, including issues of crime and service delivery.

The idea was to work closely together with the Malanshof group, as well as other groups from neighbouring suburbs and the Linden Community Policing Forum.

You can read: New resident’s association

“Priscilla has already organised a get-together at a baseball club in the Walter Sisulu Sports Complex in Malanshof, which will include our group as well as the Malanshof Resident’s Association on 25 February.”

This will be used as an opportunity to invite residents to join the Fontainebleau group, as well as to raise awareness for the public meeting.

Also read: New resident’s association in Boskruin is underway

Objectives of the new residents’ association are as follows:

• Instil a spirit of community in the residents of Fontainebleau, Ruiterhof and Moret and encourage people to become actively involved in issues in the area
• Organise clean-up operations in local parks as a way of expressing pride in the community’s environment
• Encourage recycling
• Educate residents about bylaws to ensure everybody adheres to them
• Communicate core issues regularly through social media
• Formulate a central group with representatives from other associations in geographic proximity through which councillors can disseminate relevant information regarding these areas.

Details: Ward 104 Councillor Mike Wood 082 853 2174.

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