Even though in the past there was evidence of dumping, Mother Nature was slowly absorbing it.
Taking a ride through the veld last week revealed there has been a lot of dumping taking place over the last few weeks. This area is relatively active with cyclists and people fishing. I often see people walking their dogs, and pass the odd motocross rider too.
This area is awesome for bird life, and I am sure plays an important role in some level of conservation. Now that spring has arrived, there is actually so much happening in terms of wild life one could spend a good few hours exploring it all.
To this I add that I am now also noticing an increase in squatter activity between the small tree forests in that area.
Once again, this starts out as small sporadic “campers” only to become problematic as it then grows to become a community. After which the land is lost to informal settlements which will never be removed due to politics.
For now, the small amount of squatter activity is mainly the guys who work on the areas on rubbish days, taking their collection to this area to sort it out for the recycling purpose. This is now also contributing to the dumping mess which has become a known problem.
It is an area that holds more value to the people who frequent it for recreation than one could imagine. This land does belong to authorities, but forms a part of the community in so many ways.
To stand by and allow it to slip into the hands of informal settlement would be a loss to the community of Brackendowns, Brackenhurst and Alberton itself.
Hopefully this area and all the other surrounding areas which are struggling from the same problem could become protected from the same tragedy, only to contribute to the recreational and conservation community later on.
A concerned resident
