1st of April 2011

At a number of Board meetings and at informal discussions with fellow residents the question of a Garlington newsletter has invariably arisen. The difficulty of course is that few of us have the time to give it a try and what follows is my attempt. I make no undertaking to do the newsletter regularly and hope that my attempt will spur fellow residents into getting involved and taking the task forward. PUTTING PEOPLE BACK IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT. At our informal residents meeting last year various issues and ideas were raised and discussed in what was seen as a constructive and hopefully embryonic meeting. We hope to have our next meeting soon so that further ideas can be discussed and a sense of community can be engendered. Please could you let Larika know if you are keen to meet so that we can arrange a date and venue. With 50 houses on the estate I believe that we have a great platform to build on the momentum created to put people back in the urban environment. I quote below from a book on sustainable neighborhoods called Superbia (page 22 to 24) which supports the ethos established by Guy Smith in the designing and conceiving of our Estate.

“I was amazed when my neighbor waved to me,” one of Dave’s suburban friends confided to him. ‘She’s lived a few houses down for three or four years now, and she’s never waved before.” She still hasn’t.

As it turns out, she wasn’t waving, she was just reaching for the garage door opener on the sun visor.

What the two neighbors know about each other is still limited to superficial things like the appearance of their front lawns. Despite the fact they live only four large shade trees apart. They don’t even know each other’s names.

There are many things the two neighbors have in common, and many of the daily challenges they face individually might be easier and more fun if they did know each other. Although they don’t yet realize it, they work in the same suburban office park (a 35-minute commute). They both enjoy growing flowers and vegetables, and they’re both interested in amateur theater. One has a young child who sometimes needs a baby –sitter, while the other’s kids are grown up and live hundreds of miles away. In other words, one has a need that the other could very effectively fill. But they have no idea about these mutual interests because they've never spoken.

Up and down the street there are hundreds of potential links between people — links that could reduce time, human energy, and money spent by individuals on tight schedules and equally tight budgets. But few of these connections are being made, partly because the collective lifestyle — the neighborhood culture – doesn’t encourage it or empower it. “It’s just not the way we do it: "we value our privacy”. We say, a privacy created by hedges and fences, gates, walls, security locks, surveillance cameras, and burglar alarms. When we add the 8 or 10 million living in gated communities, the 12 million or so in elaborately secured apartment buildings. 2 million in prison, and uncountable millions of deadbolt and security alarm fanatics, a significant percentage of America is now living behind bars. Is this a reasonable way to create community?

When minor challenges or major emergencies come up, each person’s options are narrower than they might be if the neighborhood culture were richer. If a tool is needed, each household immediately sends a designated shopper to the megahardware store, even if the next-door neighbor already has the tool. When a water pipe breaks or a tree needs trimming, a panel truck appears magically on each driveway, even if someone on the block is a plumber or knows how to trim trees.

Some household budgets are stretched several zeros beyond the comfort zone, while in other households it’s not money but a shortage of time that creates stress. In either case, the support and cooperation of neighbors can help. For example, three-quarters of all jobs are found by networking, not by studying the wanted ads. Neighbors can help us find work, and when we need emergency help getting the backyard cleaned up for a wedding or family reunion, wouldn’t it be great if we could hire the teenagers who live next door?

The first barrier to creating a living community is the lack of a vibrant neighborhood culture in which everyone knows each other. The second barrier is the physical design of a typical neighborhood. Wide streets prescribed by codes, privacy fences, bland garage door facades, and the lack of public open space all tend to isolate neighbors rather than bring them together.

Suburban streets are typically a neighborhood’s largest public area, but they often divide rather than unite a neighborhood. Studies have shown that the speed and volume of street traffic often determine how many people we know on the other side of the street. Sociologist Donald Appleyard discovered that on a street with light traffic (2.000 vehicles a day), residents had, on average, 3 friends and 6.3 acquaintances in the neighborhood, as compared to the street with heavy traffic (16 000 vehicles a day), where residents had 0.9 friends (what kind of a friend is that?) and 3.1 acquaintances.

Linkages with people on the other side of the street were understandably reduced, but Appleyard found out that relationships on the same side of the street also failed to mature. “Home territory,” including perceived public space, was dramatically reduced on the street with heavy traffic, whose residents retreated inside. However,as we show in Chapter 7, there are effective techniques we can use to reduce traffic speeds and volumes and reclaim the street as public space".

I think that we need to concentrate on what we can, collectively and individually, do on our plots and in public spaces, to make our home estate a better place.

Already the trees lining the roads have become sources of shade on hot days and it takes little imagination to think what it will look like in a few years time. Photographs from Superbia at page 43 illustrate the need for the earliest establishment of trees on the estate.

I hope that we can all carefully think about what contribution we can make and roll up our sleeves and get involved. I touch on items of interest as follows:

WATER SUPPLY

The installation of the water system is progressing nicely with the reservoir and pump house already constructed. The electrical link is in, with the pumps to be installed by the end of March 2011. This system will result in a reliable water supply with a borehole.

SPEEDING

Regretfully continued speeding on the estate has resulted in folk calling for speed humps. Guy thought to combine the need for speed humps, with pedestrian crossings, and the first raised pedestrian crossings have been installed at the park intersections. We appeal to all residents to drive considerately and to obey the traffic rules and especially the 40kph per hour speed limit. Please ask and remind your visitors and contractors to do likewise.

BUILDING CLAUSE

The building clause has been discussed and debated both by the Garlington Development Trust Trustees and the Homeowners Board. We will receive a circular specifically relating to the proposal shortly.

PLANTING

The summer season has kept Jerry very busy trying to keep things neat and trim. We thank Jerry for his continued efforts and dedication. With summer it is always difficult to get more planting done but we are happy to report that we have engaged Gary Cox to assist with the laying out of trees and plants in two water courses which we want to rehabilitate. Planting of over two hundred trees took place recently. A colour copy of the Association's well thought out landscape master plan for the estate isavailable for inspection at Larika's office. Should you wish to do so we are keen for members to adopt common areas to plant out and look after in accordance with the plan.

BLOG

We would like to have an electronic notice board/blog set up in the near future so that residents can communicate easily and securely learn about each other. Victor Helberg has kindly offered to assist.

SECURITY

We have recently received some constructive concerns relating to the security on the estate and have also been chasing the service provider to improve security. As it stands now the Board is reviewing the service provider contracts. As security is a
primary concern we may have to change service providers but are mindful of the fact that this may have a cost implication for residents.

HOME OWNERSWORKSHOP

We have budgeted for the construction of a Homeowners office and workshop/shed to house and maintain our equipment. Preparation of the site will start shortly with the ordering of the steel structure to follow. Once the Garlington Architectural
Review Committee has finalised the aesthetics of the plans, the manufacture of the steel sheds will commence.

ELECTRICITY

With regards to the electricity we continued to be detrimentally effected by the poor municipal supply and Eskom outages. The electrical system was approved and signed over to the Msunduzi Municipality's electricity department who is responsible
for the maintenance and the upkeep of the system. Regretfully the problems lie outside the estate and we will continue to try and keep you updated regularly regarding power outages.

BIRD HIDE

Bob Millar has taken the initiative with regard to the bird hide and assisted Jerry with the planting of some 80 trees near the waterfall. We are waiting a final design and price whereafter we can raise the budget for its construction.

OLD STABLE LANDSCAPE PLAN

Guy has asked Gary Cox to prepare a detailed planting and landscape plan for the old stable site. When I met with Gary and Guy I was very impressed by the vision and the amount of effort and thought which had gone into the design. For those interested in the proposed plan please have a look at the plan in Larika's office and let us have your comments. The pavilion/structure which we would like to erect in this area will be for the Homeowners and Guy was thinking along the lines of having an architectural design competition to enable us to select the best concept for the site.

CO-OPERATION

In a last quote from Superbia (page 26) which I think is very pertinent it was stated:"in one 2002 experiment, psychiatric and behavioral researches at Emory University MRI's on volunteers discovered that when pairs of participants behave cooperatively, regions of the brain known as reward circuits showed elevated readings. It was more beneficial, individually and socially, to trust and cooperate with one's partner than to betray her. Other research reveals that in a closely knit community, levels of serotonin are higher, so the neighborhood is collectively more optimistic and energetic. We have been so busy competing in the work place, cocooning at home, and commuting between the two that we have forgotten the basic biological truth : Humans have survived as a species because we're COOPERATIVE by nature……………... In a healthy community, young and old know and relate to each other. Educator Richard Kordesh observes that the bond between ages builds an attachment to history in the young and renews in the old the attachment to the future."

We all look forward to enjoying a great living on the estate and to having the support and cooperation of the Garlington Community.

Rob Stuart-Hill
Board Member
Garlington Homeowners Association