Dear Fellow Residents,
In February of this year, I wrote an introductory letter introducing myself and the new CRA and our objectives – To our fellow CraigPark Residents – Craigpark™ Residents’ Association. In the letter I also asked for your help and to become a paid-up member of the CRA, and I promised to report back to you every three months, so here is the first update.
Membership
THANK YOU to the 96 new members who did and the 60 existing members who renewed their membership. As at 18 May we had 219 paid up members, with 44% of this number being new members. That is a great start, with a long road ahead, but we are travelling in the right direction.
To meet our revenue target of R500K, we need over 600 active memberships, or three times as many as we currently have.
I’m also pleased to report that Anthony Poorter has taken responsibility for the membership portfolio, and we are developing a comprehensive membership strategy going forward, you will hear more on that in due course.
Our membership is spread across our suburbs, as shown in the following membership map. We have colour coded it, Craighall in blue, Craighall Park in Green, and Dunkeld in yellow. There are also different legends for households and businesses, and you can then see how our active membership is spread across the suburbs, and the split between business and household membership.
Finances
Our financial situation remains steady as a result of the R120 000 we have received in membership fees, already exceeding last year’s total of R108 000, but we have a way to go, so the membership drive continues. You will see membership initiatives such as the current one, for May subscriptions, where the lucky draw winner will receive a fantastic hamper from Lulu Local.
Please also join us at the Delta Park/Spruit clean up day on 29 May from 8-12 a.m. near the Blue Bridge on Marlborough Avenue. Jozi Trails will be there, so its an opportunity to find out more as to what is happening in the Delta. CAP our PSS provider will also be there for you to engage with them, find out how they are addressing security in our suburb and address any questions you have, and join up if you’d like to.
CRA Initiatives and CRA Facebook Page
By now, I trust, you will have noticed an uptick in the initiatives within our suburbs. If you would like to have a look please look at our newly refreshed Facebook Page Craigpark Residents Association (CRA) | Facebook, where you will see what’s been achieved to date, with more to come. Monthly newsletters available on our website, Newsletter April 2021 – Craigpark™ Residents’ Association are also a good source of information.
A brand-new development is that the CRA is now also part of the Jozi Trails initiative (www.jozitrails.co.za) and working with them and other Residents Associations, City Parks, and the security providers to ensure the long term sustainability and safety of our Delta Park.
Financial disclosure and budgeting
We have also developed a budget off the back of our revenue targets, splitting expenditure into central administration costs and gardeners, portfolio spend (e.g. environment, town planning, community) and central larger project spend. I will share that with you in August, we’re just doing some final fine tuning. Transparency is key, and is something I believe very strongly about, and resident association finances are not something to be taken lightly and only disclosed briefly annually at an AGM.
As always please feel free to drop me or any of the committee an email or call should you have any questions, comments or suggestions. And please do sign up if you haven’t already. Click here and follow the links, it’s quite “user Friendly”. Membership – Craigpark™ Residents’ Association
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Markus Borner
082 552 4981