FOLLOWING complaints about the state of Meyrick Bennett Park in Glenwood, ward councillor Mmabatho Tembe has assured concerned residents that the municipality has plans in place to work on issues.
A meeting was held between residents and Councillor Tembe, where residents highlighted their plights about the park, adding that in the last 48 months they had experienced an increased rate of crime in the area and were very concerned about the extremely poor care of Meyrick Bennett Park, which is completely abandoned and used by criminals to access their houses and by vagrants as a dormitory and toilet.
At the meeting, residents stated they wanted a new fence on the perimeter of the park erected and that the concrete fence in the park, on the side of Meyrick Avenue, needed attention as it was falling apart, creating hazards for people. They said that the open excavation on the pavement in JB Marks Road, alongside Meyrick Bennett Park, which had been there for more than 18 months, was extremely dangerous and had been used as a waste dump.
Other issues highlighted were that the street lights in JB Marks Road had not been working since August 2019 from St Augustine’s Hospital to the corner of Meyrick Avenue, and general maintenance of the park following recent work where the park was used by a construction company as a construction camp.
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Commenting on the complaints, Tembe said she had been in touch with the various municipal departments and that the Parks district manager had requested a new Clearvu new fence be installed, however they were waiting on a response regarding this. She said the concrete fence in the park is being replaced by a retaining wall, and work is currently underway.
“Last week, Parks met with the contractor that used the park and they took them through all the damage that they had caused. They have made the decision that contractors will not be allowed to use parks as their sites in future, as they never keep to their word to reinstate the parks, and the department is left with a mess to fix and a mountain of complaints,” said Tembe.
She said regarding the open trench in JB Marks Road, the Roads Department had yet again revisited the site which was dug up by the Electricity Department.
“The Electricity Department will remove their rubble and Roads will then pave and reinstate. This issue has been escalated to relevant departments for resolution and I will follow up each week until it is done,” she said. Tembe added that the non-functional street lights in JB Marks Road have been escalated to Electricity Faults for fixing, however this will take some time.
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