Neighbourhood forum champions clean up project
Tired of the ‘eye –sore’ appearance and neglect of their community, residents of Cinnamon Crescent and Cibotium met to form a forum
ILLEGAL dumping on vacant plots and in public open spaces, overgrown verges and the poor state of the Brackenham streets has prompted residents of Cibotium Street to spearhead a project to beautify their streets.
Tired of the ‘eye –sore’ appearance and neglect of their community, residents of Cinnamon Crescent and Cibotium met to form a forum, Cibcin Neighbourhood Forum and immediately got down to work, clearing overgrown bushes and illegal dumping spots.
Residents pooled their own funds to cover the cost to cut grass at vacant plots and public open spaces in their street as well as collected and disposed of illegally dumped garden refuse along the school fence in Cinnamon Crescent.
‘When guests come to your home to visit, they see your capital investment being devalued by the poor state of the area.
‘We must protect our investment, as neighbours we are responding to this matter and want all the residents to come on board,’ said community member, Crocus Moodley.
The project aims to maintain a neat, tidy and attractive appearance from the road leading into the properties.
To deter criminal activity at the public open spaces and at the vacant plots, which are along the greenbelt, the forum will request boulders to be erected at these thoroughfares.
The forum is a group of rate payers who want to work with the municipality and have taken the first step to accept responsibility to maintain the outskirts of their properties and vacant plots nearby.
Passionate about beautifying their street, residents are encouraging others to follow suit.
‘Rate payers have to take ownership and maintenance is key to maintaining your asset.
‘Infrastructure maintenance saves you money, it is cheaper to maintain than to rebuild.
‘We have arranged for signboards to be erected to deter illegal dumping as well,’ said resident,Vernon Pillay.
The neighbourhood is also looking at promoting crime prevention and they have engaged with local security companies to increase patrols in their area.
