September Newsletter – Working together to make our neighbourhood better

There is something special about living in our part of Johannesburg. Our beautiful parks, the Spruit and the people who call this neighbourhood home all contribute to making it a wonderful place to live.

Keeping it that way takes effort. Behind the scenes, CRA volunteers are working throughout the year to maintain our public spaces, protect the character of our neighbourhood, address service delivery problems and represent residents on matters that affect our community. Some of that work is immediately visible, such as cleaner parks, repaired fencing and maintained green spaces. Other work involves months of meetings, research, objections and follow-ups with the City.

We want to share some of what we’ve achieved, update you on the issues we’re tackling and, importantly, highlight some exciting opportunities to bring our community together. We have two exciting community events coming up, and we’d love you to be part of them.

🎃 Halloween – Trunk or Treat

Please join us on Saturday, 31 October 2026, from 4pm on the grassy area behind Cnr Café and Vice Coffee. Volunteers will be decorating tables (or vehicles) and handing out sweets.

We’d love residents and local businesses to get involved in making the event a success. So, if you want to participate or help out, then please complete our Halloween Participation Form

We look forward to seeing plenty of spooky costumes and familiar faces!

🎄 Christmas Picnic at Hamilton Park

Please save the date for Thursday, 3 December 2026. The CRA and PRABOA are planning a Christmas picnic at Hamilton Park, bringing residents and local businesses together for a relaxed early-evening celebration. Further details to come soon.

We’re looking forward to an evening featuring:

Christmas carols and festive cheer
Local food and drinks
A selection of Christmas gift stalls
A community picnic with friends and neighbours
Proceeds from the event will support the ongoing maintenance of Hamilton Park, helping us continue improving this much-loved community space.

Volunteers: We’re looking for people and businesses who would like to help make this first festive event at Hamilton Park a success. There are sponsorship opportunities which range from Bronze to Platinum packages, offering brand exposure while supporting community projects.

We also welcome donations, raffle prizes, in-kind contributions, volunteers and offers of services or assistance on the day. Please complete this Christmas Picnic Registration Form with your details (by 2nd November).

Making a visible difference in Delta Park and the Spruit

Our parks and green spaces are among our neighbourhood’s greatest assets, and maintaining them is one of the most practical ways the CRA makes a difference. Since October 2023, more than 15 four-ton truckloads of rubbish have been removed from the Delta Park and Braamfontein Spruit areas, in addition to the regular smaller collections. This represents an enormous amount of work by volunteers and community partners. We have also supported fencing repairs, clearing and maintenance work to help keep these spaces safer, cleaner and more enjoyable for everyone.

A community maintenance worker is currently funded for three days each week. Lombard Insurance funds two days of work along the Spruit, while the CRA funds an additional day dedicated to parks, traffic islands and other green spaces. These are tangible improvements that benefit everyone who lives in or visits our neighbourhood.

Friends of Delta

Friends of Delta now falls under the CRA and benefits from CRA administrative and financial support, with contributions specifically designated for the park kept ring-fenced. This arrangement helps strengthen the ongoing work of protecting and maintaining parts of Delta Park and the Braamfontein Spruit, while ensuring that designated contributions remain ring-fenced for their intended purpose.

You can see more about Friends of Delta and the huge amount of work they do by visiting our website: https://cra.org.za/friends-of-delta/

If you would like to join the Friends of Delta WhatsApp Group, please click HERE

Looking ahead: Waterfall Park

There are also exciting plans for Waterfall Park in Craighall. Residents have proposed a range of improvements, including children’s play facilities, a bike and scooter learning track, picnic facilities, landscaping and roadside safety fencing. The community is willing to help raise funds and bring these improvements to life. The project is currently awaiting a suitable agreement with City Parks. After receiving a draft agreement containing provisions the CRA could not responsibly accept, we submitted a simpler alternative in early October. Although progress has been quite a bit slower than we would have liked, we remain committed to helping residents turn these ideas into reality.

Protecting the character of our neighbourhood

One of the CRA’s most important responsibilities, under our Urban Development and Town Planning portfolio, is monitoring proposed developments and ensuring that residents have a voice in decisions affecting their homes and neighbourhood.

Development is a necessary part of a growing city. Our role is not to oppose development for the sake of it, but to advocate for development that is appropriate, lawful and supported by the infrastructure needed to accommodate it. Here are three significant matters we are currently addressing.

8 North Road: Almost 400 residents submitted objections

A proposed development at 8 North Road seeks approval for an eight-storey development containing up to 800 dwellings. The CRA identified the application through the town planning Gazette monitoring service we fund, examined the proposal and helped residents understand the objection process. The result was almost 400 community objections. This level of participation demonstrates how strongly residents care about the future of their neighbourhood. Our concerns include the proposed scale of the development, its impact on surrounding roads and whether existing municipal infrastructure can support it. We have requested written responses to our outstanding questions and asked the developer to consider revisions that address community concerns. The CRA will continue representing residents through the planning process.

Montrose Avenue: Ensuring planning rules are respected

The CRA continues to engage with the City regarding restaurant and commercial operations at 9 Montrose Avenue, where the existing Residential 2 zoning does not authorise those uses. Our work has included examining planning documentation, engaging with the property representatives and following up on municipal enforcement. We have also submitted an objection to further applications involving 7 and 9 Montrose Avenue, which seek additional commercial rights and consolidation of the properties. More than 50 residents opposed the earlier application. Our objective is straightforward: planning rules should be applied consistently, and proposed changes should be properly assessed with the interests of surrounding residents taken into account.

Wildside: Supporting affected neighbours

The CRA has been working alongside affected residents, legal advisers and planning professionals to address concerns relating to Wildside on Burnside Avenue. These include noise, traffic, parking and compliance with applicable land-use permissions. A consent-use application was withdrawn following a substantial community response that included 167 objections. Although this was an important development, residents continue to report disturbances, and further enforcement remains necessary. We continue engaging with the relevant authorities to seek a lasting resolution that respects neighbouring residents while supporting businesses that operate within the law. Our involvement in the re-established Parkview Liquor Forum also provides another opportunity to address licensing and compliance matters constructively.

Holding City service providers accountable

While community volunteers can achieve a great deal, maintaining essential infrastructure and enforcing municipal regulations remain the responsibility of the City. The CRA plays an important role in identifying problems, coordinating residents’ concerns and ensuring that matters are followed through.

Burst pipes, sewerage problems, street lights and incomplete reinstatements continue to affect parts of our neighbourhood. Through our involvement with JoburgCAN, WaterCAN and other Region B residents’ associations, we have been raising these concerns directly with Johannesburg Water. Our focus includes recurring pipe bursts on Richmond Avenue, reinstatements on Jan Smuts Avenue and many others within the suburb, sewerage infrastructure in Delta Park and sewage entering the Braamfontein Spruit.

Following a meeting with Johannesburg Water’s regional management at the end of September, officials conducted a site visit to Delta Park in early October. This engagement is a positive step, and we are continuing to seek clear maintenance plans, practical solutions and realistic completion dates.

Johannesburg Water has also communicated a three-day escalation threshold for outstanding reinstatements and committed to same-day attention where excavations obstruct driveways. We will continue following up to ensure these commitments translate into improvements on the ground.

Delta Park security

The CRA has been seeking clarification from City Parks regarding the performance, supervision and responsibilities of its appointed security provider at Delta Park, Lemur Security. Our enquiries focus on ensuring that guards are properly equipped, supervised and able to respond appropriately to incidents. Despite repeated requests, substantive findings from the City’s investigation have not yet been provided.

We are now working with JoburgCAN to explore a formal access-to-information request for the relevant records (PAIA request). Our objective is to help ensure that residents and park users can have confidence in the security arrangements for this important public space.

Protecting the Spruit near Rattray Weir

Volunteers have invested considerable time and resources in restoring and maintaining the Spruit corridor. We are therefore concerned about reports of tree cutting, fires and environmental damage near Rattray Weir and Conrad Drive. The CRA has documented these concerns and is working with the relevant municipal departments, the ward councillor and JoburgCAN to pursue a coordinated response.

The CRA has documented these concerns and is working with the relevant municipal departments, the ward councillor, JoburgCAN, Parkview SAPS, the CPF and CRUM to pursue a coordinated response. We believe any intervention needs to address environmental protection, public safety and the circumstances of people living in the area in a lawful and humane manner.

Stronger together: The value of community partnerships

Many of the issues affecting our neighbourhood are not unique to our area. That’s why the CRA works closely with neighbouring residents’ associations, including Parkview, Greenside, Dunkeld and Parkhurst, as well as organisations such as JoburgCAN and WaterCAN. By sharing knowledge, coordinating our efforts and engaging collectively with the authorities, we can often achieve more than any individual association could accomplish alone.

We are also assisting residents in other parts of Johannesburg who want to establish their own residents’ associations. This spirit of cooperation strengthens communities across the city and helps build a more effective voice for residents.

Building a stronger CRA

At our AGM on 10 September, we reflected on the progress made over the past year and the work still ahead. The AGM also confirmed our replacement Constitution and serving committee, while work continues on our public-benefit application. These governance initiatives may not be as visible as a cleaner park or repaired fence, but they are important to building an effective, sustainable association that can continue serving the community for years to come. We are grateful to everyone who volunteers, contributes financially, shares information or helps us address neighbourhood issues.

Every contribution makes a difference. View the 2026 AGM slides here

Your vote, your community, your future

Local government decisions affect the services we receive, the condition of our roads and parks, the maintenance of infrastructure and the enforcement of planning regulations. In the 2021 local government elections, voter turnout in Johannesburg’s Ward 90 was 53.17%, meaning nearly half of registered voters did not participate. As the next local government elections approach, we encourage every eligible resident to check their voter registration and take part. The CRA is strictly non-partisan. We do not support any political party. We do, however, believe that active citizenship, informed voting and holding elected representatives accountable are essential to building better communities. Whatever the outcome of an election, the CRA will continue representing residents’ interests.

Why your CRA membership matters

There are approximately 2,500 households in our community, but our last reported membership figure was just 337 individual paying members. In addition some of the complexes in our area have signed up on behalf of their residents. That means a relatively small number of households are helping fund work that benefits the entire neighbourhood.

Your membership helps make possible:

The maintenance and improvement of parks and public spaces
Monitoring of town planning applications and support for residents
Professional advice and representation where necessary
Follow-up on municipal infrastructure and service delivery issues
Community initiatives and stronger neighbourhood partnerships

Much of this work is undertaken by volunteers who give generously of their time and expertise.

But maintaining the capacity to do it properly requires financial support. If you are already a member, thank you. If you haven’t yet joined, we’d love to have you on board.

And if you know a neighbour, complex or local business that benefits from the CRA’s work, please encourage them to become a member too.

Local Business Spotlight – The Human Hub

Local businesses are an important part of what makes our neighbourhood special. We are grateful to the businesses that contribute to the CRA and help make our work possible. You can see some of our local business members here: https://cra.org.za/local-business/

This month, we’re pleased to introduce The Human Hub, a health, rehabilitation and human performance centre based in Craighall Park. The Human Hub brings together a team of healthcare and movement professionals who work collaboratively to help people recover from injuries, improve their strength and mobility, and maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.

Their team currently includes biokineticists, a physiotherapist, a clinical psychologist and a sports scientist, with Pilates classes (floor and Reformer) also available.

Their approach goes beyond injury recovery. Whether you’re recovering from surgery, training for a sporting event or simply wanting to move better and stay active as you get older, The Human Hub offers support for different stages of your health and fitness journey.

The Human Hub is also looking to expand its team and welcomes enquiries from GPs, massage therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, chiropractors and other healthcare practitioners interested in joining the centre.

We’re delighted to have The Human Hub as part of our local business community.

Find out more:

📍 Craighall Park, Johannesburg
📞 076 364 2767
📸 Instagram: @human_hub_wellness
🌐 Visit The Human Hub website

If you own a local business and would like to become a CRA business member, please visit www.cra.org.za/join and then send us a mail with your details so that we can add you to our website directory.

A community worth caring for

Our neighbourhood isn’t without its challenges, and there will always be issues that require attention, persistence and sometimes difficult conversations. But there is also an enormous amount to celebrate. We have residents who give up their weekends to clean the Spruit, volunteers who work behind the scenes to protect our neighbourhood, businesses that support community projects and neighbours who come together when something needs to be done. That is what makes a strong community. The CRA is here to help bring those efforts together, represent residents and keep building on the things that make our neighbourhood a great place to live.

Thank you for being part of it.

We hope to see you at our Halloween celebration on 31 October and our Christmas Picnic on 3 December!