Cheltondale Park, stretching between Orchards Road and African Street, is on the schedule this year. Its upgrade will incorporate a jogging and cycling track, seating for picnic areas, and planting of vegetation to improve the wetland habitat for birds. According to Norwood Orchards Residents Association chair, Brett MacDougall, proposed changes were largely well-received by residents.
However, conservation experts have raised concerns about an underground canal that replaced the natural waterway running through Cheltondale Park several decades ago. The underground stream is part of a network of Jukskei River tributaries that surfaces at Norwood Mall to meet the Sandspruit River. Ideally, it seems, the stream should be re-exposed to sunlight, and reinstated as a natural, meandering waterway to allow natural ecosystems to flourish, and mitigate erosion resulting from the rapid flow of storm water through the artificial channel.
Budget constraints, however, do not allow for such extensive landscape remodelling. Moreover, according to Orange Grove Residents Association chairperson, Roger Chadwick, who is involved in plans to upgrade Paterson Park and possibly reinstate its water feature, any plan to restore the open stream must be considered in relation to the waterways of the entire area.
“I firmly believe that no substantive decisions can be made until there is a comprehensive hydrology report and recommendations,” he said.
Meanwhile, MacDougall is frustrated that large sums of money have been allocated to a functional park that experiences few problems with vagrancy or informal recycling operations. It is the public space nearby on Erf 197 that requires – and continues to lack – attention, he said.
“We appreciate any investment in our facilities, but if the City of Johannesburg was really interested in pedestrian mobility, it would make sense to construct a raised pedestrian crossing connecting the two public open spaces, [providing] easy pedestrian access from the Louis Botha Corridor of Freedom through to The Avenue. Sadly our engagement to achieve this has not elicited a positive response from the City,” he said.
