The committee members of the Dome Guides Association and representatives of Ngwathe Municipality, Ngwathe Tourism Forum, the Wildlife Conservation Trust and Park Run held an onsite inspection at Grewer Ave, Parys, at 10:00 on Wednesday, 11 May.
The reason was to determine how best to discourage members of the public from using the public open (park) areas along the river as a drive-through and parking area.
In the past, the Ngwathe Municipality erected notice boards and a cement barrier in the form of waist-high poles. The signs and some of the poles have since been removed and broken to make a way for the vehicles to get through.
In the process, most of the lawn has been destroyed and all kinds of new roads have been created, causing both a security and safety risk for pedestrians who use the park area.
This is also a popular launching site for adventure operators who require easy access to the river and parking for some of their clients.
A safe, clean river and riverbank are important for the tourism industry in Parys, as well as the parkrun, as the general public make use of these facilities.
The following commitments and proposals were made to address the parking and access issues at these areas:
The Ngwathe Municipality undertook to do maintenance like cutting the grass and emptying the rubbish bins more regularly.
For the time being, three new notice boards will be put up to inform the public that it is a no parking zone for all vehicles, including quad bikes.
In the near future, the barrier poles will be moved further away from the pavement to create angle parking, thereby addressing the need for parking close to the river. A dedicated parking bay with locked dropdown poles will be created for the municipality and adventure operators. These operators will therefore be required to register with the municipality to gain access to this dedicated off-load area.
The stakeholders will regularly remind the public via the media and Facebook to keep its parks and the trail alongside the river safe and clean and to be proud of their town.
