Hi
All,
A
relatively urgent set(s) of matters/issues have arisen over the past weeks and
required some actions and processes to be conducted, so as to avoid access to
some of our most prized flying sites being compromised. This post hopefully will bring you up to
speed as to those matters, and also as to some of the proposed coming steps
that are to be conducted within the next 30 days.
Kindly
peruse and comment upon the document/content below titled 'Declaration of Fact and Intent, as soon as conveniently possible. This is
a chance for you to participate and influence our collective way forward, so
please spend a bit of time on letting us have your thoughts.
Here is the document/content referred to in the above then:
DECLARATION
OF FACT AND INTENT
by the
BROADER
GARDEN ROUTE PARAGLIDING COMMUNITY
12 September 2011.
PREAMBLE:
The need for
this document and its’ underlying processes were occasioned by a number of
factors, which culminated in the risk of
a variety of sanctions being applied by the APEX bodies (SAHPA, RAASA, CAA et
al) relevant to the sport of paragliding in the Garden Route, including closing
down of some of our most valued and prized launch sites.
The compilation
hereof was done through both formal and informal processes, the point being
that inputs were received from as a wide collective of individuals and
organizations forming part of the broader Garden Route paragliding community as
feasibly possible, under the circumstances.
CRISIS STATEMENT AND AVERMENTS:
A. It
is averred that the sport of paragliding has been or is being brought into
disrepute by actions or failure to act by members or bodies, read clubs and
committees, of the broader Garden Route paragliding community.
B. Questions
have also been raised and formally recorded regarding the active management of
the sport in the region and particularly the capacity to deal with safety
matters, site management and relationship management with relevant stakeholders
such as landowners, local authorities, and the like.
C. There
is unfortunately also a body of accusations and rumours being bandied about,
disregarded in the remainder of this document, which should be dismissed with
the disdain they deserve and suffice it to say that these are pertinent to
individuals who have been flying as rogue pilots and do not form part of the
membership or responsible club structures of the broader Garden Route
paragliding community. The individuals and their actions are thus not attributable
to us, they do not fall under our responsibility, nor jurisdiction.
Accordingly, their actions and status stand to be addressed in civil and
criminal law procedures by the offended and/or responsible parties.
PERTINENT MATTERS OF CONCERNS TO BE RESPONDED TO:
1. Recent
accidents and related required processes or procedures – Sedgeview, Wilderness,
others;
2. Landowner
relationships and concerns – various;
3. Lack
of due process being followed in various instances;
4. The
absence of the required bodies/fora and/or related processes with the required
support or legitimacy to rightfully represent the broader Garden Route
paragliding community.
FACTS RECORDED IN RESPONSE TO AVERMENTS AND CONCERNS:
The items below
are recorded as matters of fact and are open to verification by reference to
documents circulated to the bodies referred to in the above, the broader
membership of the Garden Route paragliding community and that have also been
published and made available for public perusal and comment on www.gardenrouteparaglding.blogspot.com.
In addition to
the items as listed below, regard in conjunction should be given to the Matters
of Intent as recorded further down herein. The specific items we wish to record
are:
A. All
reasonable requirements of due process have been complied with in respect of
matters pertaining to dealing with concerns raised by landowners and the
essential capacity is in place to deal with these matters expediently and
diligently in future, as will be borne out by the process conducted thus far
and those that will be concluded shortly in respect of the Martin matter in
Wilderness;
B. Reporting
procedures and other formalities in respect of accidents and incidents, also re
general safety matters, have been subject to broader processes aimed at a
positive reconstruction of the broader Garden Route paragliding community. In
short, alternative and less formal or structured procedures were followed by
necessity in the recent past, than which is the norm. It is recorded that as of
date hereof, there are no matters outstanding per our knowledge and if there
should be, that these would be able to be adequately addressed by the bodies
that will emanate from our reconstruction-in-process, as referred to in the
above and in more specific terms, below;
C. Substantial
compliance with the reasonable requirements of due process and democracy have
been complied with in respect of the reconstruction of the broader Garden Route
paragliding community and we are now able to move forward with the processes
and formalities that would be required, and within the timeframes recorded in
the Matters of Intent, as below.
MATTERS OF INTENT RECORDED:
A. The
capacities and structures established during the course of dealing as a
collective and paragliding community at large, with the Martin (Wilderness)
matter, will be further packaged and then employed to liaise constructively and
on an on-going basis with the complete stakeholder community pertinent to
launch and/or landing sites;
B. The
responses and inputs received thus far regarding the recent
accidents/incidents/concerns will be collated and presented as part of an
information package, during the public meeting and workshop referred to in the below. Per example, the
inputs received from Deon Borrett and others in response to the Wilderness
incidents, could be work-shopped to become part of local operating procedures.
C. Within
the next thirty days from date hereof, the public meeting aimed at the
reconstruction or affirmation of current structures of the broader Garden Route
paragliding community will be held, which will serve to address the comprehensive
body of matters touched on in the above. As a minimum resolutions will be
passed as to the representative structure(s) of leisure pilots, commercial
operators, safety and conduct committees, general launch/landing site
management protocols and systems, constitutions and Manuals of Operations, etc.
A vast body of research and international precedents have been assembled over
the preceding few months and this is available to all concerned, to assist with
these processes.
RECORDING OF PROCESS – THIS DOCUMENT
This document
has been compiled, mostly as mere narrator of inputs received, by Cobus
Potgieter and in response to specific requests by Wayne Heuer, Chairperson of
SAHPA, to facilitate in respect of the Martins matter and matters subsequently
arising from the recent events in Wilderness and elsewhere in our region.
It accordingly
has no official standing until such time as having been perused and or
commented upon by a substantial part of the broader Garden Route paragliding
community and we thus have distributed this, as a bare minimum, to the members
who became involved and participated in the processes followed and capacities established
in respect of the Martin matter. It is recorded that these were deemed, without
fail, as legitimate and credible by the community at large and also the
relevant APEX structures. It will also be published for community perusal and
comment on www.gardenrouteparagliding.blogspot.com , as from 13 September 2011.
Distribution has
been completed and comments will be collated and or adjustments made as they
are received, and the final version will be confirmed by Cobus Potgieter as
such, per e-mail.
END
