“Community ready for park’s reopening” – Hart
“The community is champing at the bit to come to the park where they can take walks, have picnics and enjoy themselves.”
To get Horwood’s Farm reopened for the community, Ward 18 Clr Heather Hart submitted a petition on behalf of residents to the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE).
Hart said the petition was started after she was approached by community members who wanted the park reopened.
She said the petition would be submitted at the October 21 CoE council meeting.
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“The community is champing at the bit to come to the park where they can take walks, have picnics and enjoy themselves,” said Hart.
“Although there are a few snags that still need to be addressed, overall the park is ready for occupation. Phase three is expected to take another year.”
The project to upgrade the park started in 2018 but the park was closed to the public at the end of 2019.
In August Hart told the NEWS that the project was planned for two years but took longer due to the Covid-19 lockdown and additional work added to phase two, which lasted until the end of 2020.
At the end of 2020 phase three of the park started, however, remains uncompleted due to budget cutbacks and further Covid-19 lockdowns.
Hart said although some members of the community have criticised phase three of the project for the destruction of vegetation and affecting the birdlife of the park, she assured the community that the park’s reed and water birds have returned despite ongoing construction.
“Unfortunately, trees needed to be removed, a lot of the trees that were removed were invasive,” explained Hart.
“As heartsore as we all were to see the trees go sometimes, we have to say goodbye to the old.”
Hart said overall the community has given nothing but compliments about the project.
“People are very interested in making use of the park once again.”
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