I’d like to introduce a BHAG. A BHAG is a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal”, something that will stretch us as a group, and there’s no better time to push for a BHAG than now, with 1st Claremont probably as strong as it has been in decades.
You can see that current strength in our numbers (our 2024 census was 116, our biggest yet), in our finances (as we rebuild our reserves after a successful roof replacement project in 2023), in the outreach by our adult leaders (who give back beyond our group by staffing many of the training courses and events in our region) and of course in the achievements of our Meerkats, Cubs and Scouts and the excellent programmes that we run for them.
The Big, Hairy Audacious Goal is to own our hall and grounds. We have leased this property from the City since at least 1916, first as a campsite, then we built our first hall here in 1926 (a corrugated iron barn where the Padel courts are now), and finally we raised funds and built our current hall here in 1940.
But times change and we can’t assume that a leased property like ours will always be available for Scouting…
- Recently, 1st Durbanville Scouts nearly lost their leased hall plus decades of investment in their property when a City number cruncher decided that selling it to a developer was more lucrative than a Scout group. The decision was only reversed after significant backlash from the Scout community.
- Just down the road, 6th Rondebosch faced uncertainty last year when their hall was taken over by the sports club next door. So far they still have a hall, as tenants of the sports club, but being a tenant of a private organisation is even more risky than being a tenant of the City.
- And in 2023, we were told the City would like to take away a large area in the middle of the 1st Claremont grounds to build a cellphone mast. We campaigned against it and we think that proposal has gone away, but we can’t be sure.
The solution is to raise money and purchase the property from the City to secure its use for another century and beyond. This sounds impossibly expensive, but it can be done without having to raise the cost of an equivalent residential or commercial property in upper Claremont. The valuation can be reduced significantly because it is zoned as a community facility. It can also be subject to a “reversionary clause” which would mean that the Scout group could purchase it relatively cheaply, but without the right to sell it or use it for purposes other than Scouting, otherwise the land would revert to the City.
Scouts South Africa is exploring the options for purchasing our hall and other halls in Cape Town, but funding will have to come from our 1st Claremont community. This is why we are building up our funds through donations and fundraising, and we deeply appreciate your support in doing this.
Watch this space!
Ian Webb
Scout Group Leader
