Glenwood community outraged by plans to rent park for parking lot
Councillor Mmabatho Tembe said work has ceased on a parking lot in Meyrick Bennett Park.
GLENWOOD residents took to social media to voice their objections last week when builders moved onto Meyrick Bennett Park on JB Marks Road and proceeded to prepare the ground for 90 demarcated parking bays to accommodate staff parking for Netcare St Augustine’s Hospital while work on upgrades to the hospital are underway.
Tree branches were cut back, a fence was erected, a security hut was installed in a section of the park and white lines demarcating parking bays were painted on the grass.
One resident, who asked not to be named, met with Berea Mail on site on Thursday and explained that the community had received no prior notice of the plans, and was not consulted on the matter.
“I woke up one morning and saw them cutting the grass and was pleased they were fixing it up. Then I noticed white lines being drawn on the ground. I contacted Councillor Mmabatho Tembe and she said she hadn’t been told about it. She came back to me to say she had received a response from the Parks Department to say St Augustine’s would be using the park for staff cars for a period of a year and that there were to be 60 bays,” he said.
When Berea Mail visited the site, workers were in the process of erecting a fence around the parking area, more than 90 demarcated parking bays were counted.
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“It’s insanity that the municipality would allow this and that part of the park is being fenced off. St Augustine’s is not a community hospital, it is a business and there should have been community consultation on the matter.”
“This is a well used park, kids play here and a soccer team uses this piece of land. This will take the recreational value away from the park.”
“This is a prime piece of land and it is unbelievable that this can be done. Meyrick Bennett left this land in trust and I’m sure he didn’t envision it being used as a parking lot,” he said, adding “this will set a precedent for the future when the parking lot at the hospital is open, as people would rather park for free in the park than pay to park at the hospital.”
On Monday, Councillor Tembe visited the site where contractors informed her that work on the site had been halted.
“When I heard about this last week, the manager of Parks said an agreement had been reached between the hospital and the municipality and a lease agreement was currently being drafted by Real Estate. As a councillor I should’ve been consulted. I am glad work has ceased for now, as it seems procedure has not been followed,” she said.
St Augustine’s GM, Heinrich Venter responds
NETCARE St Augustine’s Hospital is responding to a growing demand from the Durban community for world-class healthcare services through expanding and upgrading certain of the facilities at the hospital. In order to meet future demands, the planned upgrades will include the development of a new covered parking garage which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2019.
To make it easier for our patients to find parking in and around the hospital premises during the construction, we are at present in negotiations with the municipality to make use of part of Meyrick Bennett Park for staff parking while construction of the parking garage is underway.
A final decision regarding our rental of the park still needs to be taken by the municipality. Our negotiations with the municipality include that the park be returned to the community in its current condition once it is no longer in use by the hospital. We realise that the construction work may cause some disruption to the community in the immediate vicinity. We wish to assure our patients and their loved ones, visitors and the community that we will do our utmost to minimise disruption during the upgrades process.
Our new and upgraded facilities will enable us to enhance our service to the communities that we serve in the greater Durban area.
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