Scene Six: Two Rivers Urban Park Steering Committee Meeting

Backstory:
The land encompassed in Two Rivers Urban Park (TRUP) has multiple stakeholders including both the Provincial Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town municipality. TRUP is seeking to open forms of communication between interested stakeholders, especially MGV which was previously underrepresented. These meetings are a time where many of these stakeholders are present to discuss concerns and propose ideas for the park. Megan, member of the TRUP committee, asked us if we would like to present our project at this meeting. This meeting would serve as a good opportunity for us to expose our project to multiple stakeholders at once and receive feedback at once.

Cast of Characters:
There were attendees from multiple government departments and other organisations. Among the people we had previously met were; our sponsor, Crispin Barrett, TRUP committee members including Megan Lukas and chairwoman, Liz McDaid, and city official, Rosemary Rau. Other notable attendees were city councilman, Brian Watkyns, Cape Town 2014 Design representative Richard Perez, Provincial representative, Francois Joubert, Valkenberg Hospital representative, Dr. Ludwig Martin, and meeting facilitator, Belinda Walker.

Setting:
The TRUP Steering Committee meeting was held upstairs in the 44 Wale Street city building upstairs in a large conference room. We were among the first to arrive so we sat in chairs along the wall and away from the large table. When there were still seats available around the table once everyone had arrived, we were invited to join everyone else at the table. We all sat randomly dispersed, listening to each others’ presentations and discussing and addressing concerns.

Scene:
As we walked into the 12th floor boardroom in the 44 Wale Street city building we were met by city and provincial officials, as well as representatives from other key TRUP stakeholders . After a brief discussion and deciding who would write the minutes, the meeting began with presentations from the various stakeholder representatives. A key takeaway from the other stakeholder presentations was that non-motorised transport was of importance to them, which was a great segue into our presentation and furthers the case for a pathway. The goal of our presentation was to highlight the need for a pathway along the Black River, as well as present suggested plans for the pathway, walking tours, and destinations. Many people seemed quite pleased with the idea of a formalized pathway within Two Rivers Urban Park. Through maps and pictures the committee developed a good understanding of our project and suggested plans for the pathway. An important critique that we received was that we were not involving all of the leaders within Maitland Garden Village with the project. It was not until recently that we had learned that a couple of other organisations within Maitland Garden Village desire to be involved with the pathway planning.

Reflection and Learning:
From our presentation we learned that the idea of non-motorised transport options in and around the Two Rivers Urban Park boundaries is quite welcomed and something that other stakeholders have been looking into as well. It was also clear that we were not involving all of the leaders within Maitland Garden Village due to a lack of communication. Up until recently we were not aware of the level of involvement that the Residents’ Association and Soccer Club have within the village, and they were not organisations that we were put into contact with in regards to our project. It became clear though that including them along with the Green Light Project leaders with the pathway planning is important. Furthermore, understanding the village’s multiple lines of leadership and each of their roles in the pathway planning will help foster cooperation and allow for the project to move forward after we leave.

Plans for future scenes

  • Contact the ward councillor for a meeting regarding Maitland Garden Village leadership
  •  Begin working with other organizations within the village in regards to the pathway

To view the presentation from this meeting, click here [PDF, 6075 KB]