Residents petition council over closure of park
Danville residents have signed a petition to request council to find an alternative piece of land for a housing development. The current land is the last remaining park in Danville.
Andrew Ngozo
Residents of Danville have petitioned the Tshwane metro to scrap its plan to build houses on the last remaining park in the area.
The petition was handed to the metro’s council speaker last week.
Ward councillor Danie Swanepoel said: “Essentially, the residents are petitioning the metro not to close the park on Van Jaarsveld Street but to find an alternative piece of land for the construction of the houses. They argue that the park is the last green belt in the area and are afraid their children would be left with no safe play area should the construction go ahead.”
He said it was now up to council to make a decision in collaboration with the developers of the land. “For now the residents are merely happy that the park on erf 1442 is still standing,” he said adding that as of February, no work had started on the park save for the bollards that were placed around the park to prevent cars from entering the park.
Residents expressed mixed feelings about the park. Theresa Motobe said: “What I fail to understand is why no work has commenced on the site when approval was given to build houses in November last year. Let them just keep the park open but something ought to be done about its cleanliness.”
Another resident who requested to remain anonymous said the “feet-dragging regarding the development was a positive sign”.
“The fact that no work has started is good because it may mean the proposed development may not take place at all. We need a recreational facility of some kind in our area and this is the last such in Danville. Doing away with it would be an injustice,” he said.
The metro had not responded to an enquiry at the time of going to print.
Also read:
New houses for Danville’s park
Residents ‘up in arms’ over park closure
New houses for Danville’s park
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