19 December 2024
Dear Members,
We would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy holiday season!
While reflecting on the year, you might find it of interest that the Plett Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association has been keeping municipal authorities on their toes for 65 years now, looking after the interests of Plettenberg Bay ratepayers and residents.
The people and personalities that have served the organisation with distinction should receive the accolades for its successes:
Robbie Hutchinson, a long-time resident of Plett from the 1960s and brother to Tony, a former Chairman of the Plett Ratepayers’ Association (RA), recalls that his parents first joined the RA in “about” 1959. Robbie joined the RA in 1964, and now, at age 87 and a resident at Formosa Garden Village, he is probably our longest serving member.
It was his brother Tony Hutchinson who transformed the RA into a force to be reckoned with in the 90s when he became chairman. Tony, says his wife Irene, had a driving commitment to the community and became involved with almost all the committees at the time: the bowling club, the Van Plettenberg Historical Society, the Angling Club – and Ratepayers. “He put his heart and soul into everything he did and was super efficient,” says Irene.
The function of the early Ratepayers’ Association was to appoint councillors, as
municipal elections only started in 1996. The role of the council was to approve the town’s budget and provide oversight over its expenditure. At that time there were only seven councillors in Plett, compared with 13 today. Paul Scheepers, who served on the council for many years before coming mayor in 1992, vividly recalls the day he presented the budget to the Ratepayers in 1983 for their approval.
Paul, an accomplished architect, designed the municipal building in Sewell Street, Plettenberg Bay.
Past chairmen of Plett Ratepayers:
With the passage of time memories of names have faded, but one of the earliest known RA chairmen of the Plett Ratepayers’ Association was Tony Hutchinson. The exact years are not known, but thought to be between 1995 to 1997.
Together with Ed Braby, of Brabys directory fame, they started the first regular newsletter for the RA.
Mossie Mostert then became chairman and he was succeeded by Peter Erasmus, a retired lawyer from Johannesburg who worked for Anglo American. He served around 1997 to 2000.
The next chairman was Peter Gardner who served from approximately 2001 to 2005. Mr. Gardner worked as head of Anglo American’s property division, and also served as a City Councillor and mayor of Sandton, before retiring to Plett. He was featured in a New York Times article about the political transformation in 1994. Peter passed away in 2012 after having made a valuable contribution to improving both Sandton’s and Plett’s municipal governance.
Neville Petersen, who served from 2005 – 2009 and 2011-2018, succeeded Peter. Neville was CEO of several international companies. During his tenure he realised that RAs needed to take a more active role to ensure good governance. He instituted a more vigorous oversight role and stressed accountability of councillors and municipal officials.
During a short sabbatical by Neville, Christo Vlok served as chairman in 2009 – 2011. Christo, a roads engineer by profession, was very hands-on in the municipality and visited its offices and workshops daily. Christo’s love of Plett was shown by him personally pruning and tidying up Signal Hill viewpoint on a regular basis.
When Neville retired Peter Gaylard took over the helm from 2018 until February 2023. Peter observed that the town’s government was becoming dysfunctional and took the necessary steps to build rapidly on the foundation laid by his predecessor Neville Petersen. Peter, a retired engineer and UCT professor,
brought top-class civil engineers and technologists into the RA as EXCO members and/or advisors – Bill Alexander, Peter Pyke, Ken Goodenough and Stuart Comline, to name a few. Oliver Rissik, another highly-experienced engineer and past chairman of the Forest Town Ratepayers’ Association served on its EXCO for many years.
The RA’s engineers’ contribution of analysing Plett’s infrastructure, service delivery capacity and capability amid Plett’s rapidly expanding population growth has been invaluable. They provide reports to Bitou Council, giving advice and sharing their expertise. Peter Gaylard was also a strong proponent of the principles of good governance: openness, responsiveness and accountability. Peter sadly passed away in February 2024.
It was under Neville’s and Peter’s leadership that Martin Brassey SC agreed to advise and give legal counsel to the Plett RA. Martin has been in practise since1973 and has an exceptional level of experience and success at the Bar. Martin devotes time to providing the RA with valuable legal and strategic advice.
When Peter Gaylard retired as chairman in February 2023, Steve Pattinson was elected chairman. Steve is a young, dynamic, solution-oriented leader, with an international consulting background. Under his leadership, the Plett RA formed, and he now leads as chairman, an alliance with 30 Ratepayers’ Associations in the Western Cape – the Garden Route Ratepayers’ Alliance. The aim of the alliance is to achieve more support from province, other organisations and to share information and best practices.
Steve has a conciliatory management style with a long-term strategic focus. He has been instrumental in ensuring the future of Plett’s airport and engages with the council and municipality’s top leadership structures regularly.
You will hear more about our year’s activities in our year-end reports which will be distributed in January. Our AGM will be held in March, date to follow, and we hope you will be able to join us.
Thank you for all your valuable support and we wish you a relaxing holiday season.
Kind regards,
Executive Committee
Plett Ratepayers Association
