Edenvale residents rally to restore neglected Isandovale Park
"We’ve had enough of not having a safe, usable space for children to play, people to walk their dogs, or just for the community to get together," said Trevor Clark.
The Edenvale community joined forces to clean up and revitalise Isandovale Park on June 21.
The initiative was spearheaded by residents and supported by local businesses and organisations such as Mamba Security, Essentially Edenvale, Trash Panda and Tech Xperience, among others.
Organiser Trevor Clark said the park had been left unattended for several years.
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“This is our main park, and it’s been overgrown and neglected for years. We’ve had enough of not having a safe, usable space for children to play, people to walk their dogs, or just for the community to get together.”
Clark said the goal of the day was to get the park “back to a manageable point” so that it could be more easily maintained in future.
“We just want to see more maintenance and care. The community can’t always be expected to dig into their own pockets. The municipality needs to ensure that when something needs doing, it’s done,” he added.
Lisa Atkins of Essentially Edenvale helped coordinate the clean-up day with municipal partners, including the grass-cutting contractor appointed by the City of Ekurhuleni.
“We planned this together, and I made sure the Ekurhuleni contractor included this park on their list today. We wanted to combine efforts and get the most impact,” said Atkins.
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“It’s a huge space, so we needed all hands on deck – from Essentially Edenvale volunteers, residents, and even Alderman Heather Hart, who came out to clean gutters, remove weeds and engage with the community.”
The day’s work involved grass cutting, refuse removal, tree felling and clearing roadside gutters.
There are also plans to install jungle gyms and benches to make it a family-friendly, usable space.
Isandovale residents Michael and Kerry Hay, who were among those who raised concerns about the state of the park, expressed their gratitude to all who made the day possible.
“We made noise about the park because we wanted it to be functional – a place for community activities, children, dog walking, even markets. It’s wonderful to see how the community responded.”
