Muckleneuk Commons becoming a reality
The Muckleneuk Commons park construction is expected to be complete by December.
The adopt-a-spot programme which started in Muckleneuk a few months ago is encouraging a cleaner, safer and user-friendly park.
The programme – Muckleneuk Commons – is meant to encourage social responsibility, address environmental injustice and taking ownership of the environment. It is a collective effort of residents coming together to beautify a space that over a year ago was just rubble and rubbish.
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Ward 59 councillor Shaun Wilkinson commended the residents of the area for taking a stand to change their environment. He said the area had been a haven for prostitution and illegal dumping, which was rife in the ward.
Wilkinson said the community was given an opportunity to bring forward ideas that it wanted to be implemented in the park. He said it decided on a communal garden comprising of succulent indigenous plants, a mosaic water feature, lamps and a paved pathway for people passing by or jogging past.
Wilkinson said the community had identified traffic congestion as a problem and there were plans to build a traffic calming circle to alleviate the problem.
Resident and programme champion Willem van Zyl said the community wanted to demonstrate that when they got together they could do something positive to uplift themselves.
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“One of the stated objectives of this programme was to create something that will draw people off the street into a comfortable and well-serviced area,” said Van Zyl.
He said a work party was in place but still invited residents to come work on the park. He said the community working together had resulted in various people and businesses donating indigenous plants, bricks, creating artwork and benches for the park.
He said the support for the initiative had been helpful and Telkom, near the park, had also given the residents water rights to ensure there would be irrigation for the plants in the park. He said the plan was to complete the Muckleneuk Commons for the use of residents for different purposes in December.
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