From the Estate Manager

We experienced very late rains this year and no sooner had they stopped when the "South Easter" wind arrived, drying out our West Coast world fairly quickly. The gardens on the Estate will require more watering, and with this in mind I want to remind you all that you may only water before 10 am and after 5 pm, as there are still official water restrictions in place. The prescribed plants in the Landscaping guideline are hardy and suited to the sand veld fynbos area we live in, and a good watering once a week is sufficient, especially when done in the evenings when it is cooler.

The new security gate and automated booms at Ellefsen will be completed before the start of the Festive Season, not only to provide the necessary security for the new Golf Suites that will shortly be fully operational, but also for the new town houses and the first freestanding home now under construction

  

in that area. A second quad bike patrol was introduced on 1 December this year, and the old quad bike upgraded and replaced with a new one, which will mean that the Northern and Southern Estate areas will not share but will have their own dedicated patrols. This will also enable armed response to operate more randomly and to address the many daily security procedures and give more personal service to our residents. ADT have circulated pamphlets giving residents tips on Estate living and highlighting "how a resident can be a partner" in ensuring personal safety within the LCE security framework.

Following a recently completed comprehensive security audit it has come to our attention that there are domestic staff that have not been registered with the LCEOA (refer to section 5.1 of the House Rules). With effect from 15 January 2009 domestic staff that have not been registered will be denied access to the Estate. For a nominal fee security identification tags will be issued, and in this regard I will contact the residents that have already registered their domestic staff. Recently we have been experiencing much confusion at the entrances with regard to the movement of unannounced deliveries, and for security reasons we ask residents to advise and make arrangements with Security (022 - 772 0255) when expecting deliveries. If no arrangements have been made and if it requires the security patrol officer to escort the delivery to a residence then a fee of R50 will be charged to the owner.

There is a list of vendors for residential services available from the LCEOA office, which covers Plumbers, Electricians, Cleaning and Garden services, etc, and a new Residential Services Code of Conduct is currently being finalised to ensure a regulated quality standard of services to residents. After the accreditation process in terms of this Code of Conduct is completed the final list of accredited vendors will be distributed to owners.

I would like to remind owners and residents that there are strict rules governing the activities of estate and letting agents, especially from a security point of view. For those of you that do not have a copy, one may be obtained from the LCEOA office.

With the festive season just around the corner I would like to ask all owners, residents and visitors to be careful on the Estate’s roads – and to watch out for children, pedestrians, golfers and wildlife. Please also remember that all construction sites are out of bounds.