Fences are designed to either keep something in or keep it out.
This is not the case with many sports grounds across Newcastle, where disrepair or general decay of fencing has left pitches and fields exposed to all elements.
Chief among these are the Arbor Park and Paradise C grounds.
In 2016, the municipality removed large sections of dilapidated steel mesh fencing at the Arbor Park Grounds, and replaced this with a concrete boundary.
A large section parallel to Elm Street was excluded from this process.
Parts of this fence now hangs limply from support posts, in particular near the jukskei pitches close to the intersection of Elm and Oak streets.
One local hockey player commented the fence helped maintain the fields, but it: “…Doesn’t stop how people abuse the clubs and grass by doing their own thing.”
The player called for tighter, stricter security measures such as permits for sportspeople legitimately using the grounds.
She also claimed the hockey pitch was damaged by other sporting codes.
“They ruined our goal boxes and left the floodlights on. If the municipality had a system it would prevent all this from happening.”
Natural causes accounted for fencing around the Paradise C Grounds.
Following the severe flooding of the Ncandu River in the beginning of the year, waters laden with debris knocked down the fences along Jenkyn and Sutherland streets.
This resulted in the grounds becoming a thoroughfare for pedestrians.
By the end of May, the municipality had partially replaced fencing at the C Grounds although gates and some areas remain unsecure.
A number of questions were directed to the municipality in late May.
These questions dealt with provision in the Budget for fencing maintenance, projected time frames for repairs and security at the grounds.
Director of Parks, Recreation and Cemeteries, Vish Govender responded as such:
“We are currently busy with an insurance claim. It must be noted that we do budget for routine maintenance however a clear distinction must be made between capital and operational expenditure, hence at times we cannot use operation funding for capital expenditure.”
