Mossel Bay Harbour: Our ship is coming in

Mossel Bay Harbour: Exciting developments

Valuable land for development in the Mossel Bay harbour area will soon become available for development. The Harbour Master, Mr Willem Roux, highlighted these opportunities recently and suggested that whatever development is agreed upon, it should keep in mind what Stephen R Covey say: “Begin with the end in mind”…

Suggestions for the development of the valuable land for the enhancing of the tourism industry in Mossel Bay will soon be called for. Interesting parties will have the opportunity to come up with novel ideas for developments within the harbour area. This exciting news was made available by Roux recently to members of the Mossel Bay Business Chamber. The audience listened with great expectations as Roux shared the news that after a long period of negotiations and talks, the land is about to be released for development. The area in focus runs from the harbour to Santos Beach, including the old Mossel Bay station.

He gave the assurance that no development will be made without taking the rest of the area around the harbour into consideration. The harbour developments will form an integral part of the rest of the development in town. “We need to work hand in glove with the role players that are involved in the proposed renewal of the CBD as well as the Point area.” These areas can form a unique tourism mecca that will help the town to attract more visitors nationally as well as from abroad.

The redevelopment of the CBD will be done in conjunction with the Mossel Bay Municipality and the Central Redevelopment Forum. Soon the public will be asked to give their inputs at a public meeting to be help in this regard.
Mr Roux emphasised the fact that Mossel Bay needs a unique look and feel. “We do not want a replica of the V&A Waterfront or the Knysna Waterfront,” he added.

Tourism
Tourism is one of the main sources of revenue for the town which with its location along the ocean lends itself to activities that join the sea and the land.

Roux mentioned that sailing is the ideal industry to look at to develop. “We need to become the first choice when national and even international sailing events (which are designated to be held in South Africa) are planned and diarised. During August the prestigious Lipton Cup will be held here. And this is the ideal opportunity to make our mark in the sailing world” he said.

Other water sport such as jetski, deepsea fishing, scuba diving, parasailing and pleasure trips are all great opportunities that can be built into a thriving industry. “However, when I look at the area next to the local Yacht Club, I’m embarrassed. It looks like a squatter camp” he said.

Roux mentioned that the port of Mossel Bay might be the smallest of all the commercial ports in South Africa, but that it was also the cleanest. This he attributed to the “clean” industries of fishing and petroleum as apposed to coal and grain handled by the others.

The local harbour also feeds the rest of the Garden Route when it comes to passenger liners docking in the bay. This is a grossly untapped market. During 2006 a total of 13 passenger liners called on Mossel Bay. Roux suggests that the tourism role players look at this with new interest. “If we have to put up a designated building for them to enter on shore, then we have to built it” he said and added that the role players also needed to get their house of offerings in order. Some of the activities that are being look at also include aqua culture activities, a variety of speciality and craft shops.

Railway line
The whole area needs to be made pedestrian friendly and create a culture of tourism spaces in the CDB. Roux mentioned that he can envisage a walkway all along the coast to join the Point with Hartenbos. He also suggested that the rail be used for a commuting service between Hartenbos and Mossel Bay – especially during the season to elevate the traffic congestion.

In the harbour itself there is a wealth of heritage buildings and Roux advocated the restoration and preservation of these in conjunction with the rest of the town. Interesting trails and walk abouts can also be established.

The first step however is to make the land available and to ask for suggestions for developments. Roux said the process to transfer the land to one entity that can work with it, has just about been completed. According to him the public will most probably be able to see movement in the project by the end of the year. “There is a sense of urgency about this development and it is a sin not to develop this valuable land” he said.

Residents are also encouraged to put on their thinking caps concerning the CBD so when the Forum calls the public meeting, they will be able to voice their opinions and suggestions in order to help to create a tourism mecca.

Potential developers who are interested in the opportunities are invited to contact Deon Terblanche at +2744 691 3560 or send an email to deon@ttps.co.za.

Original article published in the Mossel Bay Advertiser

Brilliant 360 degree view from Mossel Bay Lighthouse

One of our Twitter friends, John Gore, has done a brilliant 360 degree panoramic image from the Mossel Bay Lighthouse. Don’t you think this is one of the most beautiful places in the Garden Route (South Africa)?

The panorama is hosted on 360cities.net. Go check it out.

Feedback on the Consumer Protection Act info session

Our very own Deon Terblanche recently (13 July 2011) presented a keynote talk on the implications of the Consumer Protection Act (the Act) for estate agents. This was at an information session on the Act held by the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa (IEASA) in Wilderness at the Wilderness Beach Hotel.

Here’s a nice little piece written by one of own property consultants about her thoughts after the keynote:

“Let’s be honest. When I first heard that I would have to spend a Wednesday morning attending a seminar on the Consumer Protection Act – yet again – I wasn’t exactly thrilled.

Here we go again, I thought. Hopefully I will get through this one alive and won’t gnaw through my wrist from boredom halfway through it. I couldn’t think of a worse way to spend my time than to listen to a long and boring new piece of legislation that was going to be presented to me by a person who probably didn’t understand the act, let alone be able to present it.

The seminar was organised by the Institute of Estate Agents of South Africa of the Garden Route. To myself, and I bet a few other fellow estate agents as well, the seminar was actually very interesting and was presented in a way that was very understandable. Thinking that I would come out of it more confused than when I went in, this was a very pleasant surprise.

Congratulations to Deon Terblanche of our offices for getting something right that his predecessors before him couldn’t: conveying very important information in an understandable format.  This act has a lot of implications on how estate agents will do business in future. Yes, my initial thoughts about the act, and I believe that a lot of people would agree, was not positive at all. On second thought, though, the Consumer Protection Act is actually a good thing. All agents will be now be forced to give a new standard of professional service to their clients. As if we really needed to be reminded.

Maybe now after all these years the public will start viewing agents as property professionals and we will then be respected, and the selling of property will finally be regarded as a proper profession.”

Written by Annemarie Terblanche… who managed to win a bottle of wine at the seminar!

Annemarie winning the bottle of wine at the IEASA Seminar on 13 July 2011

Update to the proposed Property Rates Amendment Bill

The Ministry for Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) came out with a very welcome media statement yesterday, 18 July 2011. This was in reply to the public outcry regarding the wording of the proposed Property Rates Amendment Bill tabled on 9 June 2011.

Property owners and the property industry as a whole can sigh a collective sigh of relief again. It will still be possible to own two or more residential properties without having to pay commercial tax rates on the second and third (and further) properties owned.

The quick response by COGTA must be welcomed. The property market is in the beginning stages of a recovery, which should be nurtured. Unnecessary distractions such as these are unfortunate.

The full media statement is quoted below:

“The draft Municipal Property Rates Bill was gazetted for comment on 9 June.  We are keen to hear from the public on the Bill. The last date for comments is 22 July.

Deputy Minister Yunus Carrim says “We understand, especially in these difficult economic times, and with increases in the cost of municipal services, that house-owners are anxious about property rates. But contrary to media reports on the draft Bill, people who own more than one residential property will not have to pay commercial rates on their additional residential properties. The intention is to ensure that guest-houses, bed-and-breakfast establishments, small hotels and the like pay commercial rates. If necessary, we will amend the draft to make this clearer before submitting the Bill to parliament.”

The draft Bill is in response to complaints from the public and some municipalities over the years about the lack of clarity of aspects of the original Act and difficulties in implementing it. There was widespread consultation on the draft that has been gazetted. Public hearings were held in April last year in all the provinces, and were attended by stakeholders such as ratepayers’ organisations, agricultural unions, business chambers, state owned enterprises, community organisations, traditional leaders, municipalities, and individual ratepayers.

“Essentially, the Municipal Property Rates Act is being amended to make property rating simpler, more transparent, more uniform and easier to implement,” says Deputy Minister Carrim.

The only policy shifts in the Bill are:

• Properties used for trading in and hunting of game will be regarded as agricultural property and subject to rates in the interests of equity and fairness.
• There needs to be greater uniformity across municipalities in rating houses owned by recipients of old-age pensions and disability grants
• Aspects of public service infrastructure will be excluded from property rates because of their contribution to the country’s developmental needs.”

 

Do a virtual tour of our offices

Have you ever wondered what a busy estate agency looks like on the inside? Where does your Terblanche Total Property Solutions property consultant go to make sure that your property sells in the shortest time possible at the best possible price? Do property consultants even use offices?

The answers to those questions will now be revealed. The friendly folks at Private Property were kind enough to do a great virtual tour of our Mossel Bay offices. Go check it out here. If you have any ideas or decor tips, let us know what you think.

Here is the link again.

About the Hartenbos office

Here’s an interesting question for those of you who wondered what happened to our Hartenbos office.