Delta Park is a public place and we all have equal right to use it

Rui Ganho writes:

[In response to the article Delta Park Trampled in Randburg Sun week ending 31 October]

So I am fairly certain I will never make Shirley Tebbutt’s Christmas card list as I am an avid parkrun participant, a dog owner that frequents parks with my dogs, and to top it off, I ride a mountain bike. I guess I hit the Trifecta on that one?

I need to make it clear that I am not affiliated to parkrun and most certainly do not speak on their behalf, but I do enjoy the privilege of taking part in parkruns all over the country – it really is an amazing movement. I can agree that parkrunners should try some of the alternative venues around our city as we are very fortunate to have a number of runs within close proximity of Delta.

Runners are only doing themselves a disservice by not exploring the options available to them.

First off, regardless of our differences in opinion, I think Ms Tebbutt and the volunteers that keep Delta park in the state it is, need to be commended.

It is one of our favourite places to visit and for this I say thank you.

Similarly, all visitors to the park should do their bit to be considerate to the environment as well as to the other users of the park, but I think the word PARK needs to be emphasised here.

This is a public PARK that is run by City of JHB who, in turn, are funded by everyone’s tax money, and as the article states it is OUR lovely park and everyone has equal right to use it.

I believe there are valid points raised on damage caused by runners or cyclists or dogs but let us put into context the damages referred to in the article.

Using some basic arithmetic, we can put some numbers to the statements and get a clear picture of what we are discussing.

Delta Park is said to cover 1 080 000 square metres.

Parkrun is run along the same 5 000m course every Saturday morning, starting at 8am and almost all the participants are done by 9am.

For simplicity sake, if we gave the runners a generous 3m wide span of destruction over the 5 000m, the total area affected by parkrun would be 15 000 square metres which accounts for roughly 1 per cent of Delta park.

Taking the time factor into consideration, 1 hour is roughly 4 per cent of the day, Saturday accounts for 14 per cent of the week.

Again for simplicity sake, assuming 52 Saturdays a year, a simple calculation, parkrun takes place for roughly 0.6 per cent of the year. Taking the two results together, 1 per cent of Delta Park is trampled by parkrun for roughly 0.6 per cent of the year. I am inclined to say this is a fairly small number, the question is – does that equate to overuse? Rather than trying to keep the runners away, why not try work on solutions together with the large audience provided by parkrun?

Maybe we should work on getting people to use the alternative entrances and better utilise the limited parking spaces to alleviate congestion? If we are concerned about a specific section of the run getting damaged due to overuse, would getting the runners to alternate sections of the run by a few metres not aid the ecological recovery?

Regarding the valid concerns about the spirocerca lupi, why not try inform dog owners that monthly de-wormer containing Milbemycin oxime or cattle de-wormer Doramectin can curb the spread of the parasite considerably while still encouraging them to dispose of any pet mishaps?

Given the number of participants and people using the park, could this not be used to appeal to the council to improve parking facilities which benefit the park in the long run?

Perhaps an option would be to apply to have a dedicated runners’ path paved around the park?

Attempts to limit specific groups access to the park is not going to achieve anything. Let us rather focus on solutions that work for everyone rather than a select few.

I have spoken to some of my fellow parkrunners, many of whom are willing to assist Ms Tebbutt in her efforts at Delta Park.

And based on the number of participants every week, I am sure there are many more out there that would be willing to help. I implore her to rather engage with the audience afforded by parkrun rather than attempt to drive them away.