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In an attempt to control crime and keep locals safe, residents of one of Plettenberg Bay's sought-after areas have submitted an application to implement an access control system in their neighbourhood.
Over the past year the Solar Beach area has been plagued by crime and according to local homeowners' association chairman Jan Minnie this surge includes 20 incidents of theft from vehicles parked inside the owners' properties, eight cases of theft from vehicles parked on the pavement and 15 break-ins while the owners had been home.
In eight cases the perpetrators used vehicles to access the neighbourhood, eight gained access from across the wetland area and a further eight by using the beach boardwalk.
To address the crime in the area residents have formed a neighbourhood watch, but to bolster these efforts residents are now proposing access control after sunset as Solar Beach only has one public access road and three pedestrian accesses.
This will entail the implantation of an electrical and computerised "boom gate" on the corner of Grisnez and Capricorn Drives. This, if accepted, will be closed after sunset and each resident will be supplied with a remote control to open the gate.
Together with the proposed access control, residents are also investigating the feasibility of installing CCTV cameras for the public and beach access points.
"About 90% of residents are in favour [of these measures]. Our proposal is specifically sensitive to people who want to access the beach for walks or taking their dogs for walks. Therefore the area will only be closed at sunset and opened again at sunrise," Minnie said.
"Anyone who absolutely has to access the beach after dark can do so using the Rothersands entrance. During the day all normal activity such as municipal metre reading and refuse collection is possible without any hindrance as the gates will be open."
Similar pedestrian access gates have also been proposed at the public beach access areas.
Visitors to the neighbourhood will be able to press a button of the resident they are visiting- enabling the homeowner to open the gate via his or her cellphone.
Residents have already established a non-profit organisation and the costs for the project will be financed by the residents themselves.
Minnie said the proposal had already been advertised.
Municipal spokesman Kholiswa Masiza said the public had until August 20 to submit comment on the proposal. "The application and any comments received will then be addressed in a report to be submitted to mayoral committee for a decision."
She added that security issues and theft was leading to more and more requests for similar proposals.
