KIngswood HOA

Among the many issues that take up the working day of Kingswood CEO Willem Jacobs and his team are three important projects in various stages of development and implementation.

These revolve around security upgrades at the estate, the Community Centre/ Clubhouse Project, and ongoing activities at the burgeoning Phase 4.

Security a priority

Willem is happy to report that the rollout of new security measures at Kingswood Golf Estate is going according to plan, with an army of expert service providers and the project manager contributing towards the timeous implementation of all items on an extensive to-do list.

Among these is JP Fencing, tasked with the fortification of the perimeter fence to COC level – bother spots that will in due course be equipped with extra cameras and technology. As mentioned in the March edition by KGE trustee Gerrit ‘Fielies’ Nieuwoudt, chairman of the subcommittee for security, it’s a mammoth task to secure the nearly 14km of perimeter fencing, access gates and other points of entry, but with these improvements made, Kingswood’s first line of defence will be much more secure.

JP Fencing has already upgraded 3.4km of perimeter fence and is expected to complete the fence upgrade by September this year. The technology incorporated into the upgrade will make the perimeter even less susceptible to intrusion through the fence.

Also involved is the Cape Town-based company ZA Projects, which boasts a collective knowledge of 20+ years’ of experience in managing electronic safety and security projects throughout South Africa, and Scholtz Consulting Project Management, introduced in the previous edition of The BUZZard.
ZA Projects is responsible for the implementation of the access control upgrade measures at all the entrance gates to the estate.

To recap, or for those who have missed it: a consultation session with the Scholtz Consulting Project Management team took place on 16 March to further
discuss how best to use the allocated security budget over the next five years; during a HOA trustees’ meeting on 22 March, Phase 1 of the five-phased security project was unanimously approved.

The main objectives of the initial stage included the above-mentioned perimeter fence upgrade, off-site monitoring of security cameras and perimeter alarms, and sharpening up of access control at all gates, with different access technology employed for homeowners, contractors, delivery companies and visiting golfers.

Among the exciting security additions to look forward to, thanks to the input of ZA Projects, count-tightened access control, turnstiles for contractors, gardeners and domestic employees, as well as smartphone proximity readers for homeowners at all access gates.

Willem says that information regarding these advanced technological add-ons has already been distributed among homeowners, and that healthy correspondence ensued in some cases. ‘We are always happy to receive feedback from homeowners, and really take these queries and suggestions to heart.’

He says that ‘one homeowner was doubtful about the proximity reader technology, as it didn’t work seamlessly at the Gauteng estate where she had previously resided’. Willem, however, reassures Kingswood residents that every precaution will be taken to avoid glitches in terms of access while new security apparatus and procedures are being implemented. ‘There will undoubtedly be growing pains, as is the case with the implementation of any new technology, but our project manager assured us that a dedicated team would be on hand at all access points when the new access-control measures are first implemented to ensure that any problem is dealt with immediately,’ says Willem.

What’s cooking at the Community Centre/Clubhouse?

The CEO happily reports that the site development plan (SDP) was submitted and subsequently approved by the George Municipality. We’re on the eve of handing in the detailed layout plans for the community centre / clubhouse project to the planning department of the Municipality. At the time of his chat with The BUZZard, Willem said that in the immediate pipeline was a site meeting with many of the contractors involved (this happened on 7 July) to make final arrangements for collaboration between everyone involved in the facility’s construction. Interested parties were due to receive tender documents by mid-July, and Willem said at the time he was cautiously optimistic that a ground-breaking ceremony could happen as early as mid-/end August

‘Tenders are due at the end of July, and we’re having our last talks with the banks for all finance issues to be in place. It took an immense amount of planning and hard work behind the scenes to get where we are today,’ he said, adding that the granular costing model used allowed one to calculate every cent spent, down to the last screw used.

Project managers in this instance are Pro QS, who work closely with all engineers – electrical, mechanical and civil – involved, as well as the architects and top George interior and architecture design house, Inovision.

Phase 4 is SOLD OUT!

It’s official: there are no more plots or properties available in Phase 4 of Kingswood Golf Estate, with all sales having been concluded and the area being a veritable hive of construction activities. Conditions, due to the above-average rainfall since May this year, have been extremely challenging for the building contractors and massive rain delays have been experienced. Interesting stats about the progress include:
Completed houses – 19
Houses under construction – 32