GEESE AGM this Sunday – 25th March @ 17h00 In St Andrew’s Church, Glen Road, Glencairn

The big debate will revolve around FISHING – should it be ALLOWED or STOPPED????

 Please come and voice your opinion.

 GEESE – Glencairn Education & Environment Support Enthusiasts

Chairman – Sir Rupert Bromley & Secretary – Lady Bromley

The Old Manse, 71 Glen Road, Glencairn, 7975

Phone : Fax : Email <> : Skype crbromley

webpage

 

Notice for the 2012 Annual General Meeting for GEESE to be held on Sunday 25th March at 5pm in St Andrew’s Church,

73 Glen Road, Glencairn

                                                                  

GEESE belong    This is a very important meeting as decisions will have to be made about FISHING in the wetland.

As you know, four birds have been tied up with fishing equipment.   One was trussed up with fishing line ‘ready for the oven’;  another had its foot amputated;

one had a hook through its knee and was crippled for life; and Mr Gander has migrated with his young goslings, still with a fishing hook embedded in his knee joint, causing him pain and suffering.   This simply can’t go on.   What do we do?

  

Is there someone who lives very close to the berm and is willing to act as a Warden who will monitor the fishermen?  

  

Should fishermen be asked to report any incidents to that Warden – as genuine mistakes can happen.

  

Should fishing be banned?   This would be sad as it provides a wonderful opportunity for grandfathers to pass on their knowledge to future generations.

  

Please email your thoughts/responses to giving the information below.   We need to know what the majority think so we can act.   Voting will close at the AGM on 25 March 2012.

  

Name Phone No Address Yes/No to fishing or What

  

   Please note, there is no membership fee to join GEESE.

The qualification to become a member is to have a passion for the Glencairn Wetland.   Communication is done through emailing and the notice boards.

  

A G E N D A

  

  1. Welcome & Apologies
  2. Chairman’s Report & the Accounts will be circulated in advance & he will answer questions and request their adoption.

3.   DEBATE - should FISHING be ALLOWED or BANNED or WHAT???

  

4.      Election of the Executive Committee – this is not very onerous – we hardly meet as a committee but we do need help with ………….

                   v     Organise Litter Clean-ups                                         v   Photographer/Publicist

v  Information/Educator                                               v   Maintenance Supervision

Do you see something that needs to be done and would you be willing to organise it?   Sharing out the jobs makes it so much easier!   The current executive is:

         John van Huyssteen, Margaret Cartwright, Wendy Sheen, Anne Fry,

         Bob Hulsman, Rupert and Cilla Bromley – additional members most welcome!

  

5.      Vote of thanks for the support received from Councillor Simon Liell-Cock, the City of Cape Town, the Simon’s Town Civic Association and Chris Bonthuys.

  

6.      It is hoped that our Researchers will briefly update us on their findings:

             z     Research on the Clawless Otter

             z     Search for the Glencairn Leopard Toad breeding Site

             z     Ranging behaviour of Cats in the Wetland

             z     Ringing of birds & identification

plus    z     Any interesting observations made by members of GEESE – open to everyone for comment

  

7.      Any other business

 

Everyone is invited next door for refreshments after the meeting

                                    March 2012

GEESE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2011                           

   

                2O11 was an exciting year for GEESE in that we applied for, and were granted an award of R45,550 from the Rowland & Leta Hill Trust for the building of a walkway under the Glen Road bridge over the Els River.   We think that members will agree that this is a considerable asset to the community.   Thanks to the addition of Philippe Jaques’ bench, it is a very pleasant place to sit, being eye level with the water when the lower pan is full.   It also means that anyone, especially campers at Gordon’s and

Rotary, can go down to the beach without crossing the main road which is subject to such heavy traffic.

   

      It was good that the Rowland & Leta Hill Trust were able to give us this walkway, as they also provided  the money for the Wiley suspension bridge.   Ben Swanepoel, who had designed and built the suspension bridge also came up trumps in designing and building the walkway, with considerable help at the end from Philippe Jaques.   The official opening in December was attended by two representatives from the Trust, who were most enthusiastic, and also by our previous and present Ward Councillors, Nicki Holderness and Simon Liell-Cock.

   

                There were a number of litter clean-up parties, the biggest being the International Coastal Clean-up in September, for which we were joined by the Fish Hoek Lions.   John Kieser of Plastics Federation of SA again provided the bags AND contributed 10 pairs of tongs, making it much easier to collect the rubbish.  A great number of bags went to the Blue Waters dump where they used to be sorted by False Bay Recycling but sadly, now they just get carted off.

   

      The Simon’s Town Spring Festival was also celebrated in Glencairn.   There were walks round the wetland, an historic walk up Glen Road and Forrest Drive, led by Margaret Cartwright, a treasure hunt for the young and an afternoon snorkelling course put on by AfriOceans Conservation Alliance (AOCA) who are welcome newcomers to Glencairn, in the area under the old hotel.

   

      The young ‘goslings’ have been very busy.   As the lower pan reached a critical low, Miranda Jaques organised two most successful fishing rescue parties when as many fish as they could catch were removed from the lower pan and released in the upper pan.   They have also been helping the artist, Donald Barnett to create a large rainbow mural along the wall above the station.

   

      As reported in the last annual report, our red data plant, the Solanum Africanum, or ‘dronkbessie’ was positively identified early in the year.   It is in full flower now — February and March are the best months.

   

                Sadly, there were a number of problems which required fairly constant attention during the year:our bird life is increasing, but we are having difficulty in persuading dog-owners to keep their dogs on leads when going round the water, especially the upper pan.   This is despite detailed notices at each end of the pan and above the wooden walkway.   Confrontations have been frequent.   Removal of dog poo is also an issue.

v            Vagrancy has been a regular problem, and we keep having to have people removed.   If only the vagrants would not make such an appalling mess, we could perhaps turn a blind eye.

v            Vandalism is also a constant problem.   A number of our notices have been vandalised, and considerable damage was done to the uprights of the walkway a few weeks ago.

Finally, the fishing has become a serious difficulty.   Many of the fishermen are responsible, and greatly enjoy fishing in the upper pan.   But there are the irresponsible ones, particularly unsupervised young, and great damage has been done to the bird life by broken lines and hooks.   We shall be debating this later in the meeting.

The Gordon’s and Rotary camps both have new supervisors who have been most enthusiastic in helping us to develop our dream, which is a source to sea trail along the Els River.   There has been marvellous clearing in both camps.   We celebrated World Wetland Day this year with a walk along the river from the old mill in the Navy ground down to the Viper lounge in the Glencairn Strip which was much enjoyed and built up a healthy thirst!   Several people responded from Fish Hoek and further away thanks to coverage in the Press.

The ‘Glencairn Strip’ as we call it, has come to life in a big way this last year.  GEESE have received great kindness from the Viper Lounge, a favourite of all and not just the motor bike fraternity, as well as from the Glen Pub and the Bay Café which operate in the old hotel.   Their support is greatly appreciated.

The City have created a programme of removal of alien vegetation under the supervision of Louise Stafford.   It is understood that it is being financed largely out of a donation in memory of the late Kader Asmal.   The programme has started in the Glencairn wetland, and Louise and her team have done a wonderful job in removing our aliens especially the lantana.

   

      For this coming year, apart from the fishing problem, we are going to have to take advice about the proliferation of the Phragmites reed on the northern side of the upper pan.   The Typha is also a problem but water levels and wind both play a part in controlling it naturally.   Maybe it is a case of ‘wait and see!’

   

To end on a positive note, we will be working on producing a simple guide to birds, plants, reptiles and other things that can be found in the wetland — photographs with date & position of anything found would be most welcome!

Rupert Bromley – March 2012.