Sun Valley’s tree fuels fires
MIDRAND - Last year, to commemorate Arbor Week, Sun Valley residents were given 600 trees to tend by Johannesburg City Parks and the Department of Forestry.
The residents took on the challenge and went a step further by launching a Sidewalk Improvement Competition to encourage residents to improve the area outside their own yards.
The trees were planted as part of the continuous greening project that was started last year. However, the good story told of Sun Valley residents’ drive to revamp their sidewalks has taken a bit of a sour turn.
According to Andrew Dicks of the Sun Valley Residents’ Association, most of the upright supports of 200 newly-planted trees have been stolen.
He alleged the stakes were removed to be used as firewood by frequenters of the nearby Blue Hills Equestrian Estate.
“They are the only people in the area who burn a fire each night and [the stakes] are the only ones available within the Blue Hills Equestrian Estate area,” said Dicks. “I only have one report stating that some guys were seen walking along and picking up the stakes at will.”
Anne Vincent of Century Property Development conceded that there had been sub-contractors informally living on the estate, “The wall is finished and they will soon move away. But, the critical thing to note is that the people living there have plenty of firewood because the people doing the landscaping clearing alien trees, have left a lot of wood for them to use. It is then extremely unlikely for anyone in this group of people to have taken the stakes.”
As a solution to the immediate problem, Dicks said, “We are going to use baling twine to tether the trees if we cannot find another suitable stake that will not be stolen. We are very grateful to Joseph Ndou, Vuyokazi Nkomo and Thomas Mudau [of City Parks],” he said.
To date, 800 trees have been planted and all were donated by City Parks and the Department of Forestry. And with Arbor Week a few months away, Dicks hopes there will be more to come.
