Ward 69 residents create a community garden

The community of ward 69 have taken it upon itself to keep its environment clean and healthy by creating a new community garden.

Ward councillor Cindy Bilson said this was a great initiative from the community for making sure that their living environment was clean and healthy.

“We are super proud of ourselves for achieving this, it shows that we are very serious about taking care of our environment because if we don’t take care of it, it will perish,” Bilson added.

She said that they have managed to plant 42 trees in the bike park and were now busy with the garden on the corner of Estcourt Avenue and Goshawk Street.

Bilson revealed the community garden was the brainchild of the community members with the assistance of the Hoërskool Zwartkop.

The city’s Department of Agriculture provided the community with the trees and pledged more at a later stage.

The councillor urged the community to arrive in their numbers for the cutting of branches and grass in the area.

One of the residents Marike van Rensburg, expressed her gratitude to community members who dedicated their time to making sure the project is a success.

“I saw some irises were donated from a neighbouring garden. Thank you to all involved,” Van Rensburg said.

Meanwhile, MMC Katlego Mathebe told Rekord that her department was running a series of educational awareness campaigns to discourage people from illegal dumping.

Mathebe said one of the ways to achieve that was through the City’s initiative, Adopt-a-Spot.

“The Adopt-a-Spot is an initiative by the Tshwane metro that enables industry, companies and residents to adopt an open space belonging to the City at no cost. The overall vision of the programme is a cleaner environment for Tshwane residents as this contributes towards environmental awareness,” she said.

“Moreover, landscaping companies can showcase their work and play a role to mitigate climate change. This initiative also builds on corporate responsibility and attracts investments and skills transfers.

“The development of aesthetically pleasing, healthy and safe public landscapes, open spaces and recreational parks will ultimately benefit all members of the community. We are also providing fruit trees and other indigenous plants to residents and public formations as part of our greening initiatives,” the MMC added.

Mathebe encouraged residents to adopt a spot as a way of keeping the city free from litter.

“We encourage households to apply for the City’s waste management services 240l bins, especially those with backyard dwellers. Moreover, businesses and other establishments are advised to apply for the bulk waste management service. This helps the City to manage waste in an effective way and curb illegal dumping.”

She said the City will assist with seedlings and any sorts of environmental support needed to ensure that these kinds of initiatives are sustainable and keep the city clean.

ALSO READ: Two suspected pangolin poachers arrested in Silverton last week

Do you have more information about the story?

Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.

For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East

For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram