Here’s hoping that hope will win

We hope the entire bypass issue gets resolved.

An extremely merry new year to you all and a sincere hope that you have a better one than you had last year.

And especially for all those half-full bottle folk who hold hope dear, we have – after carefully considering the data of an impromptu citizen's survey – compiled a special hope list which we hope everyone might find relevant.

We thus herewith hope that in terms of 2019 you express the hope with us that:

● No wildfires ignite our world and that if they do, proper systems are in place to cope with them run by capable, accountable experts.

● No-one, absolutely no-one, is killed or dies in the name of politics on our shore this year – or in fact ever again.

● Our municipal authorities ferret out any semblance of corrosion, canker, decay and corruption that might be represented in their midst and dedicate themselves to serve the town in the people's best interests without being continuously reminded to do so.

● Those responsible for the advancement of tourism in Knysna (whoever it might be this week), perhaps focus on what used to seem like an obvious aspect or their portfolio: the enhancement of so-called destination marketing. (The reasoning being that holidaymakers, businesspeople, skateboard illustrators, members of the Nunavik igloohousing committee and Central African Bambenga hunters alike, will only be drawn here if it becomes a charming little coastal haven again instead of a crowded cluster of new malls.)

● That someone somewhere come up with a reliable and affordable public transport system so that citizens can have a few beers or glasses of wine on their birthdays or daughters' 21st celebrations in a public place without the fear of being humiliated and spending a night in jail (and that the western and eastern sides of town can once more be united like Buda and Pest).

● The entire bypass issue gets resolved by proving there is nary a soul on the main road that still believes commerce is enhanced by the juggernaut of multiple-wheeled behemoths thundering down the town's primary artery. And that it can be resolved sans the proposed tolls for local people thanks ever so much.

● The old one can be discarded in its entirety and a brand new water purification system can be established to curb harmful effluent and other yuckies from being disgorged into the estuary.

● That the Oyster Festival becomes a coherent celebration instead of the rather confusing jumble of disparate events, that many people accuse it of being.

● A compromise can be found between those wishing to maintain beaches such as Buffalo Bay as the somewhat sombre, stoic enclave particularly conducive to Sunday school picnics that it currently is, and those yearning to convert it into a permanent rave party.

● Hospitality venues on the Garden Route institute at least some seating that one can lean back on in the midst of the awkward Yellowstone National Park-type picnic benches that somehow have come to dominate that landscape. There are many kiddie playparks that would welcome the excess.

Yours hopefully – KPH Ed