No ‘concrete’ action in Park Road
For months residents along Park Road in Durban North have had to endure the danger of rotten falling trees as well as encroaching weeds and illegal dumping.
RESIDENTS along Park Road in Durban North are fed up. They say the area in which they live is not maintained by the Parks Department in recent years.
During the last few months, three holes along the concrete fence, which borders the Blackburn Road soccer field, have particularly earned the ire of home owners. Two massive holes were created when one of the rotting ring-barked trees on the property of the sports facility collapsed in September last year.
The massive tree smashed into the concrete fence and ripped through the electric cables, causing the streetlight pole to fall and crash into the same concrete fence several metres down the road.
Shaun Ryley, Durban North councillor, subsequently facilitated a programme in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality’s Parks Department to monitor and remove any trees deemed potentially dangerous.
He also spent countless hours following up with the department on the repair process regarding the broken fence. However, no concrete action has been taken to date.
Ryley confirmed that an insurance claim had been lodged on 11 September and a further claim in November after another similar incident. He said the cost of the repair had been quoted (R12 000) in December, and that a requisition had been filed for the repairing of the fence on 12 February.
“I have received numerous complaints regarding the issue, and have been dealing with Mbali Khoza of the Parks Department, but she has since left. I have made the assumption that any projects and issues raised with her will need to brought up again with her replacement,” he said.
After taking this view Ryley arranged for yet another site visit with Parks Department officials on Thursday, 26 March to reiterate the problem at hand. “I made it clear that the ring-barked trees that are still standing need to be cut down as a matter of urgency before they cause further damage,” he said.
While some residents have raised the issue purely based on the aesthetic implications of the holes, others have argued that the foot traffic has increased in the area – fuelling the potential for criminal activities. The growth of weeds has also reached shocking proportions on either side of the fence, and illegal dumping has increased in the vicinity of the holes.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said that he was ‘disgusted’ by the state of the road. “No one has been taking responsibility for the repairs and maintenance of the road. Every year it gets worse and worse.”
Arge Nienhuser, another Park Road resident, said, “The trees should have been cut down four or five months after they were ring barked and not left for more than a year to collapse on their own, wrecking infrastructure.
This is simply poor management. The road looks unattractive, which is unacceptable. I pay my rates and expect the department to conduct the service,” he said.
Nienhuser also told the Northglen News that the gate leading into the soccer field had been broken in 2007. He reported the issue to the municipality as soon as he noticed the broken gate. When he followed up six months later, he was told by a municipal official that the issue was still pending with insurance.
“At that point I knew that nothing was ever going to be done about it. I just reached a point where I gave up,” said the frustrated resident.
l Residents can report illegal dumping by contacting the municipality on 031 311 8804.
