Norwood Orchards Residents’ Association (Nora) said the greatest challenge that the neighbourhood faces is the maintenance of its public spaces.
Chairman of Nora, Brett McDougall said, “This has led us to encourage residents to actively maintain their verges and to be involved in our regular clean-ups of the parks.
“It is not true to say that we only arrange clean-ups once a year, though. In 2015, we arranged three in February, [three in] July, and then again in September. We appreciate the support that we did receive on these days, but the participation rate in our neighbourhood is dismally low, despite over 1 000 e-mail addresses and more than 2 000 Facebook users receiving our calls for support.”
McDougall stated that with regards to Norwood Park, the association has engaged with Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) over the past two years to better maintain the park and to deal with the high levels of vagrants in the neighbourhood.
McDougall added, “JCPZ is responsible for enforcing bylaws in our parks and, therefore, should not allow public consumption of alcohol, littering, defecation, urination and informal trading in our parks.”
He further encouraged residents to become more involved in the association’s initiatives, to assist the association in holding the City of Johannesburg accountable, and to do whatever they can where they live and work to keep pavements and parks clean, and to encourage others to do the same.
Ward 73 councillor Mia Snyman added that on 10 February, she went on a tour around the ward with the regional operations manager of the City of Johannesburg, Nathan Moodaley, and showed him all the concerns the ward faces.
Snyman said, “The City is aware of the dumping and they assured me that they will take special care in terms of getting Norwood cleaned up.
“Residents also need to take responsibility to dispose of their litter and refuse properly. Residents can also help by reporting illegal dumping to 0860 JOBURG.”
