Grassy Park residents voice concerns over the future of the Gilray campsite

The future of the Gilray campsite was called into question by over 80 residents who attended a community meeting at the League of Friends of the Blind (LOFOB) building on Tuesday, July 22.

The meeting was organised by the Special Action Committee(SAC) Education group and was attended by representatives of the Lotus Ottery Grassy Park Rate Payers Association (LOGRA), the Western Cape Scouts, Subcouncil 18 chairperson, Kevin Southgate, and members of the Grassy Park community.

The municipal property between Klip Road, Victoria Road, and Prince George Drive has been leased to the scouting movement since the 1950s. Although the lease with the Western Cape Scouts expired in March 2023, the organisation has continued leasing the site on a month-to-month basis. (“City plans to turn Gilray campsite into graveyard,” Southern Mail, July 2024)

In recent years, it has been a derelict site where the building structures and toilets have been vandalised, the fence has been broken, fires have broken out on the site, and alleged criminal activities have taken place on that property.

Chairperson of LOGRA, Carlo Daniels, said it was sad that there has been a decline in the site over the years. “Blaming the City or the lease agreement won't repair what has been broken,” he said.

Regional Commissioner of the Western Cape Scouts, Nimmy Abrahams, who attended the meeting, said that currently there is no scout activity taking place at that site. Mr Abrahams said his organisation was leasing the property on a month-to-month basis from 2023, though at the end of November 2024, they gave notice that they wanted to end the agreement. Mr Abrahams said by the end of April, they handed the keys back to the city. “It was not feasible to maintain the property, we have seen the facilities vandalised regularly, we would have it repaired only for it to be vandalised again,” he said.

Mr Abrahams said the toilets got vandalised and there were two cases of arson on the site. “We were not prepared to tolerate repeat vandalism,” he said. He said they reached a mutual agreement to end their lease at the end of November 2024.

SAC Education committee member, Terrence Smith, said his organisation called for this meeting as they saw the decline in this historic and iconic landmark at the entrance to Grassy Park. “As active citizens, we could not stand by and wait for the City to decide what to do with it. There are so many rumours going around in the community that the City is going to use the land for low-cost housing, that it already has a developer for the land, that it was signed off in 2017 already,” he said.

Mr Smith said they were concerned that the City was selling off or curtailing various sports and recreational facilities, such as the Velodrome, sections of the Athlone Stadium and now possibly Gilray as well.

Mr Smith said their organisation and Athletics for Community Transformation (ACT), saw the need to call the community together to get a steering committee from which would include interested community members, to pool all the ideas raised at the meeting and to come up with a viable proposal for the use of Gilray. “Many ideas were raised; besides the in and outdoor sports as alternatives to soccer only, a swimming pool, a Khoi-San Cultural centre, business ideas, Grassy Park Museum, Life Skills and Rehabilitation Centre, Entrepreneurship and Youth Development and Skills Centre focusing on the Green Economy and Gardening/Agriculture,” he said.

Mr Daniels said one of the proposals he made was to build an indoor and outdoor sports facility, as he has seen the impact it has on youth from countries like the United Kingdom and America during the time he was playing professional football there in the early 2000s. “Building a facility of this nature will have a lasting impact, not only on the residents of Grassy Park, but also on those in the surrounding areas,” he said. Mr Daniels said their main focus areas would be youth in schools, universities, and institutions of learning. 

Subcouncil 18 chairperson, Mr Southgate, was answering questions by the public at this meeting, though he asked the Southern Mail to send him media questions, which were referred to the City of Cape Town.

City spokesperson, Luthando Tyhalibongo confirmed that the Scouts had vacated the property. Mr Tyhalibongo said that the city had previously made applications for the possible development of a cemetery on that site, though after receiving negative feedback from the subcouncil meeting, they decided not to expand the cemetery into the Gilray camping site.

Mr Tyhalibongo said that the future use of the property was currently under review.

“This process includes consultations with various City departments to determine whether the property is required for operational purposes,” he said.

Currently, the City’s Property Transactions Department is managing the site, and night and day shift guards are deployed to the site.

However, when responding to media questions about whether the site can be used for recreation, Mr Tyhalibongo said there are already well-established facilities in close proximity, including a major sports complex and the Grassy Park Civic Centre, which are equipped to support a wide range of community needs. “For this reason, we are advised that the department is not currently considering an additional standalone indoor facility on the Gilray site,” he said.