Tag Archive for: greening

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Wynberg Improvement District 2023 Roundup

It’s been another year of successes and tackling challenges head-on for the Wynberg Improvement District. As part of our renewed commitment to public safety and urban cleaning and management, we persist in leading the way toward the continuous improvement of Wynberg as a thriving residential and business hub.

Our CID team has increased their presence on the ground, resulting in improved statistics across the board for 2023. We’ve driven more kilometres in our patrol vehicles, engaged with more members of the public and attended to more service requests and urban defects than ever before. We’ll continue with this increased presence in the community in 2024 and the years beyond.

This year, with 51 CIDs now in operation in the City of Cape Town, the new CID by-law and policy has come into effect. Geocentric, who has now been working with city improvement district initiatives for more than 2 decades, is proud to be responsible for over 25% of the total CIDs in operation. 

In addition to taking care of the public’s safety and urban cleaning, our CID placed a focus on greening areas across Wynberg in 2023. These urban beautification projects will be continued throughout 2024, in line with the goal of continuously upgrading our community. 

2023 Wynberg Improvement District Stats

“Despite the challenges of a struggling economy, ongoing load shedding and higher fuel prices, the aim of the WID remained focussed on delivering top-up services to the public spaces of Wynberg throughout the year,” says Gene Lohrentz of Geocentric Urban Management, tasked with the delivery of our City Improvement District services.

The WID Board and Geocentric management team is committed to finding innovative, efficient and cost-effective ways to continue delivering on the vision for a safer, cleaner, well-maintained and vibrant community.  We look forward to more opportunities to make a tangible difference in 2024.

Safety Tips for the Holiday Season

As the festive season approaches, it is essential to prioritise safety at this time, as crime, accidents and fire hazards are usually on the rise during the holiday period.

Being mindful of potential risks and hazards can help safeguard you, your business and your property – from road safety considerations to vigilance against petty crimes in crowded business premises to more serious crimes such as hijacking and robbery. 

Along with keeping your personal safety in mind, if you are a business owner, it is imperative to be vigilant and proactive in implementing strategies that protect your assets, property and staff during the busiest time of year. 


Prevention is better than cure. That’s why we urge property and business owners to make every effort to prepare their properties, businesses, staff and themselves against opportunists and criminals with our safety tips below:

Emergency Numbers

Quick access to relevant emergency numbers can be the difference between life and death. We have compiled a comprehensive list for you to save and share for easy access to these numbers.

Once again, our 24-hour security control room is always available for your public safety emergencies.

Proposed changes to the M3

Comment on the amended road plans to improve traffic flow along the M3 in Newlands by 13 December.

The City of Cape Town’s Urban Mobility Directorate has drafted a number of proposed changes to the intersections along the M3 in Newlands to improve traffic flow along this important road link between the Southern Peninsula and the Cape Town CBD.

They plan to alleviate the bottlenecks along the M3 between Upper Hillwood Road and Newlands Avenue, and assist with the free flow of traffic along this section of the M3, by:

  • Removing two signalised intersections
  • Implementing three median closures and a road closure, among others
  • Reinstating a signalised pedestrian crossing at Upper Hillwood Road in Bishopscourt
  • Constructing a third southbound lane between Rhodes Avenue and Upper Hillwood Road, including upgrades to the side roads

Access more details on the proposed upgrades and submit your comment online at the link.

Whatsapp group info 

If you’re interested in staying informed about our initiatives, as well as the newest developments in your improvement district, you can become a member of our WID business WhatsApp group by:

• Sending a WhatsApp message to 081 869 8911.

• You will need to include your Name and Surname or the name of your business

• You will need to include your street address, which should be within the boundary of the CID

• We will add you to the relevant CID Community Group

Rules and regulations for communicating will be stipulated in the group.

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Spring cleaning and greening for Wynberg Improvement District

potted garden in Wynberg Improvement District

As we move into Spring, we review our initiatives to landscape, green and keep clean the Wynberg CBD to improve the urban environment for residents, businesses and visitors to the area.

We also remind you to save the date for our upcoming AGM on 16 October at 10am. Venue to be confirmed. Subscribe to our newsletter in the footer below for updates.

Greening the Wynberg area

The Wynberg Improvement District seeks to create an inviting urban environment for all of the people living, shopping, working and visiting the Wynberg CBD. For this reason, the WID explored different ways to improve the landscaping and greening of the Wynberg urban environment.

Over the last two years, the WID placed tree cages around all the newly planted trees close to the library and Magistrates Court. In addition, the area was made more user friendly with the addition of wooden benches for seating and more plants to beautify the urban environment.

As part of our latest project, we have placed large pots along the wider sidewalks in Main Road, planted with plants to further green and enhance the urban landscape. Fortunately the WID also acquired a water trailer this year to assist with the watering of plants in pots throughout the area.

Wynberg subways now reopened

The safe movement of pedestrians is very important to the WID management. The Wynberg CBD is a highly congested area where pedestrians, buses, taxis, commercial vehicles, and cars often compete to cross the same area.  In addition, the railway line dissects the greater Wynberg area even though people still need to move from one side of the line to the other. Until the COVID pandemic, this movement was facilitated in part by several subways facilitating movement underneath the railway line and linking both sides of Wynberg for pedestrian use.

After some months of planning, these subways are now once again being reopened in a partnership between the City of Cape Town and the WID.  After cleaning and repainting the subways, the WID will assist the City in monitoring these areas and will lock the subways at 19:00 each night and open the subways at 07:00 on weekdays.

The subways will remain closed on weekends.

Wynberg ID water trailer

The Wynberg ID is constantly exploring ways in which to improve the urban environment.  One of the most frustrating aspects is the tendency for people to use secluded corners and sheltered alleyways to urinate. This creates a very unhygienic and negative bad-smelling impression of our walkways and sidewalks.

Similarly, acts of illegal dumping often contain household waste with leaking content.

Both issues needed serious action from the WID. Although, in partnership with the City’s sanitation teams, they provide water spraying activities in the WID area, they cannot get to all the places needing this attention.

The WID commissioned the fabrication of a 1500-litre water trailer this year and equipped it with a high-pressure pump and hose system.  This new addition to our arsenal of tools allows the WID team to hose down and clean small areas and sidewalks with the high-pressure water.

In addition, the high-pressure water trailer provides the opportunity to clean some of the green public litter bins in the area.  The water trailer can also be deployed to water some of the potted plants that we have placed in the WID to beautify the area. 

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