POINT DEVELOPMENTS

Despite our Chairman and Secretary attending numerous meetings and engaging in discussions for close to a year with the chairmen of the other watersports clubs and being assured that our club will be accommodated fairly in the new development, when it came to put pen to paper, we have hit a little snag. Both the Durban Ski Boat Club (DSBC) and Durban Undersea Club (DUC) are now refusing to accept our club as an equal party and be represented on the board of Point Watersports (PWC) along with the rest of the clubs. We find this totally unacceptable and although we are disappointed, we are not surprised. Fortunately the new management of Point Yacht Club (PYC) do not share these views, and are therefore supporting our club on this issue. We are truly grateful for their change of stance. It is quite sad and rather unfortunate that DUC and DSBC are acting in this fashion, considering the part we played and the sacrifices we made in saving the very beach upon which their clubs are situated and whose members are still able to enjoy. This is also something they do not even acknowledge. No big deal for us, really.

The new PYC Chairman, Craig Millar, was also unhappy with the way that Point Watersports had been set up and sought legal advice to rectify the matter. The legal advice obtained from Michael Jackson of Cox Yeats (our lawyer during our legal struggle) stated that the Memorandum of Incorporation set up by PWC was in fact unlawful for various reasons. First one being that all the clubs would lose their sense of identity with all being part of one huge watersports club. Another was that it did not take into account certain terms of the agreement reached between the Save Vetch’s Association, the Durban Paddle Ski Club and the developers in November 2012. This opinion was sent to PWC, which seems to have caused a stir.

When we reached the agreement with SVA and the developers in 2012, we included certain clauses specifically to avoid the very same problems we are now encountering. Firstly, it clearly stated that all clubs shall function individually, deciding on their own futures by retaining their identities under the “umbrella” body of PWC and secondly, there would also be a flexible fee structure to match the individual needs of each sport. Thirdly, our club was to be accommodated as the fourth club, under the same terms and conditions as the other three clubs within the development. These terms were never even considered by PWC as they believed they were not obliged to include. But that is about to change. A legal letter has been sent to all the clubs and their attorneys, stating these anomalies and strongly suggesting a new Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI) be established, which will include all these points and meets the approval of all the clubs. Currently we are in the process of drawing up the new MOI of Point Watersports.

A further point of concern is that negotiations with the developers regarding the clubs’ requirements, have been taking place for a while now with only certain members of PWC, mainly DUC and DSBC attending. This issue is also being addressed. A legal letter was sent last week from our club and PYC to the developers and the other clubs informing them of the current situation and requesting them to ensure that all future negotiations include representatives of all the four clubs.

As far as the actual development goes, we have not seen too much action despite being told earlier this year that construction was to have commenced in June. We do know that the Department of Environmental Affairs is still busy trying to address several appeals. How long that will take or whether there will be further legal action, is anybody’s guess. The situation is constantly changing and we hope to have more news at the AGM on 17 August. Considering how far we have come, we continue to feel confident that our club will be fairly and reasonably accommodated in whatever development may eventually take place. It is a pity however, that legal intervention is once again necessary to achieve such a simple end, but if that’s what it takes; then so be it.