Ward 10’s Crouch is proactive
Ward 10 has been classified as fully established and will allow for Rick Crouch to focus on creating a safer community in upper Highway.
NO stranger to the role of councillor, Rick Crouch has again taken up the role for the newly reshuffled Ward 10 and hopes to create a safer more family-friendly area for residents. Rick, as he is affectionately known by voters, has been a councillor in the Highway area since August 2010.
Before he took up a post in the area he was a councillor in Umkomaas and was later moved up to Botha’s Hill as a PR councillor. It was only in 2011 that he ran and took up the role of ward councillor for Ward 10. He initially applied to take up the position back then because he lived in the area and wanted to keep the area functioning well, ensure good service delivery and keep it clean.
He kept those ideals with him as entered the councillor role.
“Being proactive is in my nature. So If I am driving around and I see something I don’t like, I report it,” said Rick.
He also stressed the need to be on good terms with officials in the municipality. “We cannot instruct any municipal official to do anything. You can only ask them to do it.” His plans for the ward are a little different as his area, which includes Kloof, Winston Park, Everton and Gillitts, is classified as a maintenance ward as it is fully established.
“With regards to the budget there is almost nothing,” he said. “I will fight for things to get done if they need to be done,” he stressed.
His main focus at the moment is crime and law enforcement as well as general upkeep in the area such as removing illegal posters.
His hopes are to receive enough funding to transform the Winston Park Sports Field into a family-friendly park, a project which he said he has attempted to implement for years but has received much resistance from the municipality.
He sits on the security and emergency services committee and one of his goals during his time as Ward 10 councillor is to upgrade the Gillitts Metro Police station and install a few remote speed cameras.
“I feel that the officers or anyone that works in a job needs to be in a comfortable place to work,” said the father of two.
His favourite part of the role is helping a resident solve an as-yet unsolvable issue.
“I like it when people come to me with a serious issue and I am able to resolve it with them when no one else has been able to help them. They have reached a dead end and no one wants to or can’t help. I put myself in the shoes of the resident and ask myself, what kind of help would I want?”
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