To the relevant municipal departments

Driving out of town heading towards RTI, I noticed a heck of a lot of litter strewn along the nature reserve fence. Then I turned towards our once aerodrome and saw the litter covering that entire area. Driving further towards the town’s rubbish dump, I was bombarded by the mass of litter all over the place.

I do realise we have experienced some strong winds but this dump should be controlled and managed to prevent all this litter from polluting our environment. Litter is a huge problem and it causes many diseases and attracts rats. It also looks absolutely disgusting!
Could we not invest in more refuse trucks? There is a huge area to clean up now.

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Also the rubbish dump needs to be burnt and buried more often. I am certain you are not lacking staff members to clear the litter. I pity them doing this job but we, as the population, need to respect the cleaners and make use of the bins provided. Reading through the bylaws, many points were raised about what is expected by us, the public. Let me start by saying, before you can expect us to take note, could we ask you to take care of what you need to. I have already noted the rubbish dump.

Then there are the recreation parks, old and new. They are good to socialise and have fun but when the people vacate, their litter lies all over the place. In all public areas there are many overgrown trees, grass, weeds. The gutters, which should be free of litter, grass and weeds, are not. So when it rains, the water will find its own path.

The pavements are unwalkable. More often, we are forced to walk in the road. This is very dangerous for the motorist because they have to monitor the traffic as well as pedestrians. So many manholes are open, missing their covers and also rivers of sewerage flowing out of them, polluting our environment. Conducting business on or in one’s own property and not in the streets.

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Well, just take a drive around town, and I mean, drive with your eyes open and pay attention. Hitting potholes and reporting within 42-hours and also making sure one has before and after photos. How is it possible to have ‘before accident’ photos? Do you know when you are going to have an accident to best prepare yourself with photos?

If I was investigating that accident, it would make me very suspicious. Drinking, urinating, having sex, etc. in public is done very casually and disrespectfully. Are there going to be enough authoritative people with eyes watching for this and dealing with these acts?

What a peaceful town this will be, no more cars revving, blasting their hooters, racing in the streets, people spitting, screaming and fighting in a public area. This all falls under the nuisance by-law. Heaven on earth, people living in harmony, loving and respecting one another.

Estcourt we can do this, keep the bylaws and stay out of trouble. Restricted areas with appropriate signage, clearly noted that signs are ignored. In Connor Street, no trucks are allowed to stop but they don’t care, they stop. There is a section of Albert Street that heavies are not allowed to go down nor stop on the one side, again the signage is ignored. What about trucks in residential areas dropping oil and diesel, is that not environmental pollution?

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There are empty houses that people have just vandalised and taken occupation of. This is posing to be a huge problem. Advertising being placed everywhere and anywhere, on electrical boxes, on walls of bridges and around pillars. Who is the person that one needs to communicate this with? Firstly to request permission, then to bring it to that person’s attention that advertising hasn’t been removed 14 days after the event.

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Will you have control of what gets displayed and where? If it wasn’t passed through council, will you get them to immediately remove it? The one place that we witness is along the bridge over the railway line (top end of Connor Street). May I ask, is there no way of removing livestock off public roads?

Hospital Hill and beyond is very dangerous. Is there a contact number of a person to call to remove these animals? Could I request that you publish the names and all telephone numbers of all the staff holding relevant positions, for the public to communicate with?
We need to communicate with, for example, the person dealing with illegal refuse dumping. We need to be directed to that person holding that position.

Angela Keyter

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