A much-needed revamp in on the cards for the park in Charles Henwood Road, Mayville, thanks to a partnership between developers, the Parks Department and local NPO, the Leisure and Recreation Association of South Africa (LARASA).
Earlier this year ,Berea Mail reported that the park was being used by contractors working on Capital Hospital, to store building equipment, and local residents claimed that they had not been consulted and complained that the park was a mess of rubble and building equipment.
At the time, a spokesperson for the developers, Conforth Investments (Pty) Ltd, committed to restore and improve the park at its cost on completion of construction work at the hospital.
In April, a meeting was held between the developers, Parks Department representatives Garth Kloppenborg and Jennifer Rampersad and Maliga Naidoo from LARASA who is facilitating the project, to discuss the way forward.
This was followed by a further meeting last week where plans for the park revamp were discussed.
Speaking at the meeting, Naidoo said they had come a long way since the first meeting when the park was overrun with weeds and rodents.
The Parks Department had assisted in cleaning up the park and rotten and invasive trees had been removed, as well as the mounds of building rubble.
“LARASA wanted to be involved in developing the park together with the community so a community forum was formed to liaise with residents to develop the park. We wanted their input to put together a design in terms of what a park should be,” she said.
Together with architectural students from UKZN, plans have been drawn up for the layout of the park, which includes four zones to cater for all age groups.
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“The emphasis is on healthy living and exercise. We have designed a trail on the outside of the park where people can walk, run or jog, as well as exercise stations. There will be an amphitheatre on the natural incline of the park for seating and a possible market zone which can be used as a community meeting spot, and there is talk of putting in a large chess board. In one area there will be a herb garden, with a few quiet spaces where people can sit and read or relax, and there will be a children’s play area,” she said.
Naidoo added that they were trying to make the park as inclusive as possible and said the playground would also be accessible for children with disabilities.
She said these concepts would, in principle, be incorporated in the plans for the park, but the final design may be influenced by the existing trees.
“Martin Prange, from Engineering and Landscapes from the City will assist in getting a survey completed and all the elements plotted. We should have a more realistic plan in about a month’s time,” she said.
Naidoo said the aim was to meet the needs of the community. “The global trend is 10 minutes to have a full park experience,” she said.
Adding to this, Jennifer Rampersad from Parks said there would be no ablution facilities as there was no need to spend hours in the space.
“There will be no fence or gates, this will be an open park for residents to enjoy,” she said.
Interested parties can contact Maliga on academyofleisuresciences@iafrica.com.
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