Community spirit shines as residents clean up neglected park
A precinct group inspired positivity in Nieuw Muckleneuk by tackling overgrown vegetation and rubble.
A run-down park in Nieuw Muckleneuk has been revived by passionate residents who are committed to improving their neighbourhood.
Volunteers from the South of Middle (SoM) Precinct rolled up their sleeves to clear piles of rubbish, cut back overgrown trees and clean the derelict tennis court in a bid to restore the public space to its former glory.
Briony Allen, a member of the SoM Precinct group, described the clean-up as a ‘resounding success’.
“It was very successful. We had some trees cut down, they cleaned the old tennis court, and we had a lot of the rubbish removed. It was a good morning,” Allen said.
She explained that the park was chosen as the focus for the initiative because of its prominence in the neighbourhood.
Allen said they were obviously trying to clean up the area of Nieuw Muckleneuk, for which they now have a City Improvement District (CID) registered.
“The park is quite a big part of our area, and it is unfortunately quite run down. We thought it would be a good place to start.
“It’s also accessible for people, and I think it makes a big difference when people drive past an area like that and they see it is all clean and tidy. That’s why we started with the park.”
The clean-up attracted a healthy turnout of volunteers, despite being planned at short notice, and even drew support from residents who could not attend.
“The response was amazing. On our SoM Precinct community group chat, people were very thankful and impressed,” said Allen.
She said they actually had a lot of people make donations that helped cover the cost of the rubble removal and the equipment.
“The community were very, very thankful, and a lot of them came out to help,” she said, adding that one of the residents even came out to set up a little coffee stand for volunteers.
Volunteers tackle piles of rubbish and overgrown vegetation during a community-led clean-up in Nieuw Muckleneuk.
Volunteers tackle piles of rubbish and overgrown vegetation during a community-led clean-up in Nieuw Muckleneuk.
The success of the initiative has already sparked talk of future projects.
Allen said there’s just a lot of positivity now from people who want to do things in the area.
“Obviously, people always talk about change, and it’s easy to talk about it. However, to actually come out and make change, to give your time or give a donation, is where the difference really starts to happen.”
She added that people almost get more excited about doing other projects in the future, whether it’s donating money to fix the potholes or the streetlights.
The SoM Precinct CID has already undertaken a pothole repair initiative in partnership with the metro and an approved contractor.
“We’ve just finished fixing a whole lot of potholes in the area,” Allen said.
“It’s very expensive to do, but it shows what we can achieve as a community when people work together.”
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