Big money, flimsy plan.
No debates, no discussion, no workshops.
No detail.
I don't know how I should feel about this Thesen Islands Parkland Facility Upgrades document. One moment I am exasperated - another year on and once again I am again reading a plan that has no substance, no beef. Then I am irritated - 12 years after I wrote about the HOA wanting to carve the Parkland into stands, here I am again writing about another Parkland plan.
And then I hit indignation - the HOA thinks I will vote to spend R38 million of our money based on 5-page document. This is up for vote at the AGM on 19 December, 2025.
A largely different version of the layout plan was presented at an Information Sharing Meeting on 24 July 2025. One takeaway from that meeting was that the 2 vocal protesters against losing the trailer park to the new clubhouse were successful as the new plan keeps the trailer park. The "Do away with the trailer park" lobby doesn't have a voice at the HOA apparently. Other lobbies, though, clearly do. Because what is back, wrapped in shiny R38 million paper, is the padel court. Up from last year's outdoor R1,200,000 version to an astronomical R7,619,046.56 for an indoor version. Chew on that.
Does anyone else think that maybe, as we face running out of water in days - think water harvesting - and are hooked into an increasingly disfunctional Knysna Municipality, we should not be looking at spending R38 million on "nice to haves" right now? I don't think we should be.
Our Municipality operates a sewer system where sewerage is often running down the streets and struggles to collect the rubbish on schedule. Our Municipality is dependent on the Knysna Infrastructure Group (KIG) for maintainance services, engineering services buying pumps, fixing burst pipes and a lot more. KIG is funded by ratepayers, myself included, as well as the HOA.
Maybe we should be a bit cautious here? We may be having to come up with big money in the near future to keep Thesen Islands running. We live in a nice bubble here, but an unpleasant reality could be smashing down on us any day soon.
The Money - R38,1118,629 (estimate only, not final cost)
Point 1 Here is how the R38 million was arrived at. Survey takers (more on who they may be later) were presented with a list of "nice to haves" and asked to choose one or everything, but no cost estimates were provided. It was essentially a catalogue with no prices. Everything appears free. Then all those items are added up and the total became the proposed spend. You either take everything or you take nothing. And "everything" is R38 million.
The HOA can’t verify who filled in the survey, completing the survey more than once is possible. And given the simple errors in the survey itself, I’m not confident about their abilities to run it accurately. Yes, it’s more work to verify respondents - but earning R38 million is also work.
Point 3 The HOA wants to implement the R38 million of upgrades. They are clear about this. They say so - see below. So everything they do, and say, is slanted to achieving this goal. And sent to every member. There no options for a smaller version of upgrades, no counter arguments about the value of the open spaces.
This is the same playbook the HOA used when the trustees wanted to increase bulk. No counter arguments presented, while the HOA came up with 3 different aguments for increase in bulk. You can read that whole unpleasant saga right here.
It is not right that this blog is the only way a counter argument is given to a few members. My mailing list is now even smaller than it was in the bulk fight. So few people get to read this.
The Survey is Flawed
From the document High Level Budget for the Thesen Islands Parkland Facilities Upgrades
The following facility upgrade proposal is based on the results of the Member Survey done in April 2025
This survey was fundamentally flawed.
If you answered “No” to:
“Would you like to see further sports facilities developed?”
…you were still forced to select at least one new facility in the very next question.
Forced choices = skewed results. You can’t claim democratic support when everyone had to tick at least one box.
I met, then wrote afterwards, to Boet Grobler, the General Manager, on 24 May, 2025, about this, as well as my other concern. Some members see the Parkland as a green refuge, while other see it as prime development land or vacant land. A balanced survey should reflect both viewpoints. This one didn’t.
I asked that the survey be withdrawn before it become a bone of contention.
The reply I received included phrases like the survey was to “invigorate discussion” and “a large amount of work, debates and workshops will still be part of the process.”
Except — to my knowledge — none of those things ever happened.
Yet the HOA proudly states:
“68% supported upgrading the clubhouse and 72% supported new facilities.”
Of course they did — everyone was forced to choose something, even those who said “No” to new development. That’s not consultation; that’s box-ticking theatre.
Back to the Money - We Pay Individually, But Spend Collectively
 |
| Pricing approved by HOA |
The Real Amount We Spend: R7,864,177.45
And the number of people who supposedly want it? 134.
Assume all 134 are actual property owners (a heroic assumption):
134 of 569 homeowners is 23.5% (The HOA says 569 properties)
So 23.5% of homeowners get the R7.86 million pool they want.
The other 76.5% of us pay for it anyway. And some of those 134 may not have even wanted it — they simply had to pick something to proceed with the survey.
And remember: These are estimates. As anyone who’s built a house knows, estimates are like toddlers — they grow unexpectedly.
If the HOA comes back in a year asking for another R10,000, will anyone be surprised? If the 15% levy increase gets extended yet again because the Capital Maintenance Reserve Fund has had to be tapped, don't be shocked.
No information is given on running costs. Heating a pool? Air-conditioning and lighting a padel warehouse? Maintenance? Staff? Lifeguards? Electricity?
Where is everything put on the Parkland?
The map provided shows the layout of the new facilities but it is still not easy to see exactly where everything is planned, like the padel warehouse, in relation to the current Parkland.
The Indoor Padel Court - Version 2
Information provided: Even less than last year.
Consultation: Zero.
Acoustic impact assessment: None.
Visual impact assessment: None.
By the way, the Padel courts at Knysna Hollow were shut down less than a week ago by the Knysna Municipality on the grounds of "noise nuisance". A noise nuisance, I read online, is any sound that disturbs or impairs the convenience or peace of any person. It is assessed based on reasonableness, considering factors like time, duration, and locality. It took a long struggle, well over a year I think, by the neighbours to achieve this shutdown.
Last year the HOA pulled the proposal because it was going to be voted down, largely due to, unsurprisingly, no consultation.
This year? The same lack of consultation, but with a bigger price tag.
I looked up indoor padel courts online. An 8-metre roof is needed for proper play. That is the height of a double story house. The footprint is 14m × 24m — 336 m². That’s the size of nine double garages stacked together. Here this is where I got the information My example is the smallest shed, the court itself is 20m x 10m.
They look like a warehouse in the Industrial Area, but the pictures aren't identified by size. It seems to be next to the Bird Reserve. Imagine that.
The HOA’s stated reason for the upgrades: keeping up with “premium estates”
The HOA claims we must upgrade to “stay abreast with neighbouring premium estates.”
It is to keep up with neighboring estates! I don't know about you, but I can't even keep up with my neighbours - they keep buying bigger boats and cars. Now I must fund upgrades to keep up with Fancourt? And other "premium" estates!
Maybe we could save money by simply being an estate? No premium needed. Stay humble.
The HOA even writes: "To stay abreast with other premium estates, we need constant upliftment." That "constant upliftment" really worrries me - I'm googling Fancourt to see what we'll have to buy next year.
Here is what the HOA said in full: "Live, eat, work, stay, play" was the Thesen Islands promise* at the start of the development nearly 25 years ago. Since taking over from the developer in 2008 only a few minor facilities have been added for the benefit of Members. To stay abreast with other premium estates, we need constant upliftment." *It was not.
Thesen Islands is a place to live, not a corporate competitor.
And by the way, property prices have already jumped — from R8.7m in 2024 to R12.2m in 2025. Without an indoor padel warehouse.
What Was the Actual Thesen Islands Promise?
The original brochure highlights the 11-hectare Parkland and Bird Reserve, celebrating natural habitat, open space, and environmental harmony.
Many of us bought here for those very features.
As I wrote in July 2024, Don't Bring the Big City with You
"Value the Open Space.
The constancy of the HOA eyeing the open space of our Parkland as wasted space. Either an opportunity to make money, cutting it up to sell plots or use it for cellphone towers, or the latest, to build a Padel court(s) using a special levy, meaning we dig into our pockets.
I walk at Steenbok Park on Leisure Island. A few weeks ago, when I was walking there, I thought “In all the years I have been getting their "Friends" newsletters, I have never read of a scheme by LIRA’s Board to build on, cut up, sell off parts or their park!”
In the 20 years I have lived on Thesen Islands, the Parkland has been under attack by the HOA many times."
It is now 22 years. And here we are again.
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. — Epictetus
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