Townsend Park is Ballito’s main green lung, and it is there that the community comes together.
From dog walking to sport, young scouts and cubs, potjie competitions and family picnics, Townsend Park is vital to the well-being of the Ballito community.
As such, it is understandable that there has been an outcry over the municipality’s announcement that it is still prepared to sell a third of Townsend Park (4 000sqm) to the Zululand Islamic Society (first announced in 2019).
This is not the first time the park has been a source of contention.
In 2013 the municipality proposed building a large community hall where the current Scout Hall stands, and the reaction was much the same as it is today.
There was a massive outcry and protest – a petition against the hall was signed by 1 362 residents.
In 2019 a second petition reached 2 518 signatures.
Let me reiterate, the outcry is not over the proposed mosque but over the land in question. The community has made it clear that a more suitable site needs to be found.
This is the site of a beautiful forest filled with indigenous trees and home to bush babies, monkeys and many bird species.
Longtime Ballito resident Alan Hudson, since deceased, lived in one of the houses bordering the forest and for many years was the unofficial custodian of the park.
He ploughed much of his own money and time into improving the forest. I tracked down an interview that former Courier journalist Shannon Hopkins did with Alan in 2013.
He shared with her how after a drought in about 1994, conservationists noticed that the lack of undergrowth around the trees at the park had resulted in many of them dying.
It was then that Alan, along with a municipal officer at the time, Norman Knutsen, worked to promote the growth of groundcover plants to lock in moisture and help seed re-germination.
The result is a forest known as the ‘Butterfly Park’ where you can follow winding pathways and listen to the resident monkeys chattering in the trees above you.
If you are lucky you may spot one of the resident bush babies, the mating pair of Spotted Eagle-Owls and even the occasional blue duiker. In summer the butterflies are wild!
Most of the trees were labelled at the time, making a walk through the park quite educational.
The area has huge potential to be made even more of an asset to the community. If wooden walkways were added (similar to Waterberry’s forest) and educational posters displayed, it could become a delightful tourist attraction.
I hope that council will hear Ballito residents on this important issue and help preserve and protect a much loved and enjoyed community green space.
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