Randpark Ridge residents sign petition for groundwater study and upgrades
Ward councillors meet residents to garner signatures for petition around stormwater system upgrades.
Residents had a chance to meet their ward councillor, sign a petition and check they are correctly registered to vote, at a community event in Randpark Ridge.
The informal meeting at SPAR Randpark Ridge on September 29 also allowed community members to speak with Ward 98 councillor Beverley Jacobs and Ward 134 councillor Devon Steenkamp about issues in the suburbs of Randpark, Randpark Ridge, Sundowner, Boskruin, North Riding, Windsor and surrounding areas.
The main objective of the day, however, was to collect signatures that Steenkamp aims to submit to the city’s petition unit. This is for a case study to be done on groundwater as it affects roads in the ward, and for upgrades to the stormwater system to prevent sinkholes and potholes.
Steenkamp has collected about 300 online and physical signatures.
Several roads and driveways have been damaged by water seeping up through the ground in the past few years, and Sundowner appears to be the worst-hit suburb.
Enormous potholes form and fill up with dank water infested by algae, and sinkholes have even formed in some places – the ground moving when any weight is placed on it.
“Recently the situation of groundwater rising and causing havoc for property owners as well as road infrastructure has gotten worse,” Steenkamp said. “Minor attempts have been made by Joburg Roads Agency in the past but it is not solving the issue of diverting the water away from infrastructure.”
He said many site visits have been held by the agency and the Environment and Infrastructure Services Department but these have not yet led to permanent solutions. It is only in the case of Wilgeboom Avenue, Boskruin – and this is just outside the ward – that the roads agency told this publication in May that the road would be redesigned to fix the groundwater issue and the sinkhole that developed as a result.
“Some of the affected streets in Ward 134 are Taurus Road, Apiesdoring Street, Scorpio Avenue, Olievenhout Avenue, Bouvet Avenue, Cycad Street and Waboom Street.”
Related Article:
Petition for case study on groundwater in Sundowner, Randpark Ridge and surrounds
