Lahee Park on a downward slide

LAHEE Park in Pinetown was once a thriving hub of sporting activity and entertainment for children, but in recent years the grounds have seen a decline in conditions and the withdrawal of many of the sporting clubs.

Vandalism, safety issues, littering and misuse of the park have seen a large number of sporting clubs move to alternative premises. The rugby club has vacated the premises and the rugby fields, and the lower hockey field is now being used by soccer clubs.

Steven Duckworth from Manors Neighbourhood Watch said, “We patrol the park regularly. We noticed how bad the rubbish was when we were searching for a suspect who had robbed a woman in Park View Drive. The litter situation is totally out of control, and is much worse at month-ends when people drink, urinate and even have sex in public. This makes a total mockery of the recent announcements by authorities to fine such offenders, as nothing whatsoever seems to be done in Lahee Park and surrounding areas.”

He added, “There are very few rubbish bins in Lahee Park, exacerbating the problem, and there are no public toilets either. If these two issues could be tackled by the authorities, it may help to improve conditions in the park.”

Tim O’Brien, manager for the Lahee Park BMX Club, said they had also had negative experiences at the facilities and now have to have their own security guard on site.

The rugby club recently moved out of the Lahee Park grounds and soccer moved in. We have practice sessions on weekends, and the rubbish is hectic.

“People park in front of the BMX clubhouse and open their car boots and start drinking, leaving all their beer cans and bottles right there in the parking lot. Most times it is up to my BMX security guard to clean up after them. It is unacceptable, and nothing is being done.”

Ward 18 Councillor, Bruce Sutcliffe, said that one of the biggest problems was that Lahee Park is classified under eThekwini Muncipality Stadiums and not the eThekwini Muncipality Parks, so the budget for cleaning and maintaining the area has to come out of the stadiums budget which is almost non-existent.

“I am currently looking into the possibility of the creation of a trust to maintain the park as it appears that the city has no interest in spending any money on security or upkeep. I will be having discussions with the Estates Department regarding the legal situation relating to the park and once finalised, will then look at the possibility of setting up a trust with private investment in the park.” .

He said the best case scenario would be if the grounds could be fenced off with only one entrance/exit for vehicles and one entrance and one exit through the park for pedestrians, who often use the park as a shortcut.

A visit to the children’s playground area revealed overflowing dustbins, litter all over the floor and benches, broken glass bottles at the foot of one of the slides and broken playground equipment. The park also seemed to be a hang out for teenagers and young adults, who were in more abundance than the children. A weekend visit also showed an adult man asleep at the top of one of slide, with alcohol bottles visible next to him.

Attempts to get a response from the eThekwini Municipality Stadiums Department were unavailable at the time of going to print, as an employee from the department said that he was not allowed to talk to the media and a statement would have to be released by the Ethekwini Municipality spokesman, which would take time.