Page 4 - Irene Farm Village Issue 10 2021

Estate News

Dear Residents

It was during early winter of 2021 that the
Ashy Flycatcher pair made their annual
return to our house. One morning we
noticed them busy building their nest
at the very same spot under the pergola
overhang, then after that they became
silent. Late in August, the twin chicks of
the Flycatcher parents announced their
presence with the mother and father
flying up and down the whole day to
feed their newborns. It is a pleasure and a
At van Niekerk
privilege to share this unique experience
we encountered with the Flycatcher family
in my penultimate article for The Villager.
Due to the new developments along
Nelanga Street between Phases one During the rerouting of the walking
and two, the walking trail has been trail, we were privileged to have spotted
rerouted. However, the distance has three Steen buck pairs in the open
been kept at four kilometres, with the veld. They appeared to be in very good
distance-markers moved to indicate condition, full of energy, and the females
the exact distance covered on the are most probably pregnant. The old
route. The trail now crosses Royal Doorningkloof farm, upon which the
Oak Street at two different spots and Irene Farm Villages was developed, is the
winds through the whole open veld natural habitat of the Steen buck – and
area of the estate. the Duiker, which has also been spotted
lately. One cannot over-emphasise our
duty as a community to preserve this
special part of the fauna in our estate.
Security is one of the fundamental
pillars upon which the estate as a
community is built and managed.
In the past four years, extensive and
necessary changes were made to the
infrastructure of the existing security
systems in the estate, which include
the CCTV thermal monitoring of the
perimeter; the vehicle boom and spike
barriers; licence plate recognition
cameras; the biometric access, and
scanning of visitors and contractors;
the smart phone application to provide
access codes for visitors; and blue-tooth
smart access for residents at the vehicle
access lanes. With the implementation
of these new systems came many
challenges, and the suppliers had to
make several development changes
to suit the requirements of Irene Farm
Villages. The Security Sub-committee
of the Home Owners Association, which

2 • Issue 10 2021 • The Villager