Community upliftment project targets Whynotte Park

A COLLABORATIVE project between various role-players to uplift Whynotte Park on Umhlanga Rocks Drive is well underway.

Spearheaded by local businesses, the community, Enviro Fixers Durban North and Ward 36 councillor Shontel de Boer, the plan involves the cleaning and greening of the park.

In recent years, the park has become the site of an informal taxi rank and illegal dumping has seen an increase in vandalism and drinking in public.

Work has already begun to remove the 400 wooden posts across the park that were rotting or damaged.

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Durban North resident and Enviro Fixers Durban North, Ellysa Entwistle, said plans are also in place to rehabilitate the children’s playground which has been vandalised in recent years.

“We’ve already begun replacing the wooden bollards and installing new posts. We’ve also put in new posts for a cordoned-off area to prevent any illegal parking on the grass as there had been before. As Enviro Fixers, we’ve approached businesses along Umhlanga Rocks Drive to motivate for a security guard to be placed at the park to stop any loitering or any infringements on the by-laws.

“This project involves various role-players, but credit has to go to our ward councillor, Shontel De Boer. All her hard work to stop the taxis from using the parking lot near the Durban North Pool (which is in the park) as an informal rank must be recognised. That was really one of our stumbling blocks with rehabilitating the park, and she helped get the ball rolling. We also had help from Marshall Security’s Smile and Wave group who helped clean up the area; in all, more than 100 bags were collected,” she said.

Entwistle added that the vision for the park was to make it a safe, clean, green space for the community and all those who use it.

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“Eventually, we would like to tar the parking lot near the pool to make it easier for residents to park. We also want people from all walks of life, from the dog walkers to the residents and those using the park on a daily basis, to feel safe in this space,” she said.

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