Fairland residents would like to fence off Market Street park to stave off abuse of facility
The park is currently only used by homeless men and people who illegally gamble, drink and use the park as a toilet.
Some residents in Fairland are looking at fencing off Market Street park which is adjacent to the temporarily closed Pikitup municipal dump.
They claimed the park had over the past few years become a filthy and dangerous place for community members to enjoy due to the mess displaced people and other users of the park leave behind.
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“The idea has been looked at before but funds were not available to erect a fence. Perhaps this is something the community would like to look into again. It would be lovely if the park was open to anyone to use during the day but at 6pm if the area could be locked. This would prevent the abuse of alcohol, illegal gambling and other unsavoury acts from happing through the evenings,” said Craig Webber, a resident.
The cost of the fencing is estimated at R1 million, a sum that would need to be raised from homeowners and local businesses.
Lara McCann lives nearby and is also a member of the hugely successful Community Cleaners group who spends their weekends cleaning public shared spaces. “I feel overwhelmed at the moment by the filth, faeces and disgusting behaviour I see every weekend, often in places we have recently cleaned. I don’t know why people have to leave public areas in such a revolting state,” said McCann.
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When asked about the adopt-a-park initiative, Jenny Moodley of Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo said, “The initiative is predominantly aimed at boosting security, building ownership to contain littering and vandalism and promoting healthy lifestyles by encouraging community-based activations in the park.”
She added an application to go ahead with the initiative would need to be endorsed by the ward councillor and prove it would not promote the exclusive use of the area. If successful, the City would continue to manage the day-to-day maintenance of the park.
“Over time it has become evident that in facilities such as The Wilds or Rose Park in Lenasia or James and Ethel Gray Park in Melrose, the initiative has brought communities together to solve their service delivery concerns, safety concerns and tackled other social issues,” said Moodley.
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