Dana Bay’s historic poll
In another first for Mossel Bay, the municipality will host an online poll to gauge the applicable residents' preference for a planned alternative access road for Dana Bay.
As far as could be established, no other municipality has as yet used an online poll as part of their public participation process to give residents in the affected area a direct say in a matter.
At the monthly council meeting in September 2018, council noted that the Dana Bay community repeatedly, though temporarily, was trapped in the suburb due to veld fires and civil unrest.
The result is that residents feel anxious and frustrated at not being able to access critical care and other facilities in town, nor are they able to get to their places of work.
At the IDP and community meetings, the Dana Bay residents implored the municipality to urgently construct an alternative access road to the area.
Council decided at the September meeting to mandate the administration to continue with the pre-planning phase for the respective options consisting, among other options, of securing the necessary funding, possible pre-environmental impact study analysis, negotiations and discussions with the private landowners and SANRAL as well as road alignment determination.
The Road Master Plan indicates two roads as future planned road network linkage. The adopted Spatial Development Framework of council, dated May 2018, acknowledges the Road Master Plan and indicates the future alignment of these and other roads.
Two options
The Dana Bay community mandated the municipality to investigate the viability of two options, one being the extension of Flora Road to link up with the N2 at the Herbertsdale intersection.
The other option consists of the extension of Flora Road to Apiesdoring Street in Heiderand to the Eastern side of Dana Bay.
Polling
Residents of Dana Bay, the Mosselbaai Retirement and Lifestyle Village, Paradise Coast, Pinnacle Point and Fynbos Retirement Villages will be given the option to participate in an online poll on the municipal website from 07:00 on 22 July until 21:00 on 24 July.
To participate, residents will have to key in their municipal account numbers.
On the landing page of the municipal webpage at www.mosselbay.gov.za, a very obvious button will lead participants directly to the poll. The two options will again be highlighted, with pro's and cons, before residents will be given the option to make an informed decision.
For residents who do not have access to computers or who would prefer to have help with the online poll, municipal employees will be available at the community hall on Wednesday, 24 July from 07:00 until 21:00.
Similarly, an informed municipal official will be on hand on the Wednesday from 16:00 to 21:00 to answer any questions the community may have on the two proposed roads.
"Mossel Bay Municipality is the leading local authority in South Africa. It is important to note the opinion of residents prior to taking the latest research into the proposed options to council for a final decision on this matter.
"The online poll is by far the most inclusive and cost effective manner to gauge the opinion of as many as possible of the community who will be directly affected by the final decision. The municipality therefore implores community members of the areas as mentioned above to ensure they participate fully in this poll," the municipal spokesperson, Colin Puren, urged.
To participate, residents will have to key in their municipal account numbers.