Delta Park’s trail and MTB bike jump line to be removed or a fine will be incurred
Removing the jump line will cripple the budget of the non-profit organisation.
The Environment and Infrastructure Department (EISD) of the City of Johannesburg has ordered the removal of an extensive bike jump line and section of trail from Delta Park
This is worth hundreds of thousands of rands and doing so will cripple the budget of Jozi Trails and mean they could no longer afford to sponsor patrols of security guards and conduct other projects to maintain the trails in the park and spruit.
So says the general manager of Jozi Trails, David Kramer, and project head, Albert van Urk when they met Randburg Sun on site.
“This area used to be full of blackjacks and unmaintained bush,” Van Urk pointed to the land where now several jumps run to meet another 500m stretch of pathway.
“Then we made a great trail here and it is a premium location among mountain bikers, they come from across the country to ride it. Now they want us to ‘return the area to its former state’. Does that mean we must replant all the blackjacks and alien trees that were here? There were displaced people living here, should we find them and bring them back?”
This was said in jest but underlines the frustrations of those in the non-profit organisation that has for years done much for the care and maintenance of the park and others in Joburg.
In fact, 750 people have responded on the group’s Facebook page showing support for the trail, and asked the department to change its mind
It all started when the group organised for 300 cubic metres of soil to be delivered to the park to repair trails.
But the supplier took advantage of the non-profit group and dumped 6 000 cubic metres of soil in the park before they were stopped.
After doing extensive repairs to trails, the group apparently acquired verbal permission from Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) to construct this new trail and jump line, so there would not be too much excess soil to be removed.
As it was, about half the soil had to be removed.
Then in May, the EISD “received complaints from the public regarding the illegal dumping of a large volume of soil in Delta Park,” explained City spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane.
“Officials undertook a site visit and confirmed contraventions in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, Act 107 of 1998 as amended and in terms of the National Water Act, Act 36 of 1998 (as amended), given that the sand was dumped on a wetland.”
A meeting between City officials and representatives of JCPZ and Jozi Trails followed and Modingoane said concerns were raised about “the wetland, biodiversity, impacts etc”.
“During the meeting, clear instructions were given to the representatives of Jozi Trails to remove both the main sand stockpile as well as all other imported soil dumped on walking paths and cycle trails. The representatives acknowledged the mistake that had occurred and committed to rectifying the matter. Subsequently, further site meetings were held and correspondence with instructions was sent to Jozi Trails that the soil must be removed off-site.”
In June the matter had been escalated to the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD) for investigation and prosecution, and another instruction was made to Jozi Trails to remove the soil and “rehabilitate the site”.
They were also asked to provide a plan for the removal of the soil.
Van Urk said removal and rehabilitation will cost between R500 000 and R1million, while the group, which is funded by the community and sponsorships only budgets about R1 million per year on direct maintenance and another million on services such as the patrolling of guards in the parks.
The pair also explained that since the City officials had visited the site, they had spent much money fixing up the trail, as it did not look perfect right after so much soil was placed, and that was when the representatives visited the site.
City Parks and Zoo spokesperson, Jenny Moodley would not comment on the matter as it is between the departments and Jozi Trails.
Likewise, Ward 117 councillor Tim Truluck did not wish to speak much on the matter but did say if there was non-compliance it could lead to a R15 million fine.
Questions were sent to GDARD and their comments will be published when they are made.
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