Locals join hands for a clean-up

The Birchleigh CPF rolled up its sleeves with community members to clean their area on Saturday.

The areas cleaned included the Birchleigh train station, Silverleaf Road and Essenwood Street.

Nathan Brooke, the CPF chairperson for sector one, said the clean-up was a chance for the CPF and residents to show pride in their community and make a difference.

Brooke said the CPF tried to relay the message of taking ownership of the area.

“We are trying to encourage our community to roll up their sleeves and get more involved rather than purely relying on our government.”

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According to Brooke, the CPF members try to host a clean-up twice a year. But given how impactful this is to the community, they will try to host them more often, he said.

“We focused on a few problem areas that were not attended to. If left unattended, these areas can lead to a few other issues, including safety risks for residents.

“These clean-ups provide an opportunity for the community and CPF to tackle these areas and, in doing so, hopefully prevent further issues,” said Brooke.

While in attendance, the Kempton Express saw several residents donate tools, plastic bags and refreshments to the clean-up.

Geneve Christopher, a CPF volunteer patroller, said the idea of a clean-up came after discovering several dumping hotspots in their areas.

The illegal dumping and general littering around certain areas led them to start the initiative.

“There are several hotspots throughout our suburb where illegal dumping is rife, including close to the substation on Springbok Street and several parts of Essenwood Avenue.

“There are also many illegal posters pinned up around the area.

“The CPF thought it would be a nice partnership with our community to take to the streets to clean up our environment, and residents were invited,” said Christopher.

She said this wasn’t the first time the group had hosted clean-up operations, and a group of residents regularly cleaned up.

“We will do another follow-up on December 2. We aim to do this more regularly and consistently.

“We all want to be proud of where we live. We need to curb the illegal dumping and take back our streets,” said Christopher.

“Our waste collection schedule has been good, and the waste department also supports our clean-ups by giving us skips and collecting bags for us the day after the clean-up,” she added.

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CPF member Tshepo Phaho said, “Clean-ups can improve the appearance of our neighbourhood by making it less attractive to criminals.

“As residents come together to reclaim abandoned public spaces like parks and playgrounds and remove trash from trash from the street, the neighbourhood becomes more appealing to the community and less attractive to criminals.”

Ward 15 Clr Amanda Davison applauded the clean-up initiative.

“Illegal dumping hotspots are being reported to the call centre, the Kempton waste depot and the EMPD.

“I implore the environment and waste department and depot to do service point audits to ensure every property has enough wheelie bins,” said Davison.

“Sadly, residents who do not have bins contribute to the illegal dumping in open spaces.”

She thanked the Kempton waste depot for assisting with skip availability.

Besides a few delays, Davison said daily round collections have been running well in Ward 15, and she hopes this will continue during the festive season.