Projects on the go at Golden Harvest Park
RANDBURG – Bridges, firefighting teams and toilet facilities are just some of the projects on the go at Randburg's green lung.
Golden Harvest Park has seen much activity lately with several brave projects being started or reaching conclusion.
Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo has planted grass on the soccer field that was once all but dust. The entity also installed outdoor gym equipment in the park.
The Friends of Golden Harvest Park (FoGHP) community group has partnered with City Parks and park manager Mike Masie on the following projects:
•Taking down the old, dilapidated mayoral lapa and building an amphitheatre in its place
• Building a new bridge across the river after the old bridge was destroyed • Mapping sewer systems in the park to reduce environmental impact when there is a leak
• Forming a firefighting task force, and
• Renovating the current toilet facilities while plans for a second ablution block are in the pipeline for the next budget period.
“The amphitheatre will ensure talks and events can be held while noise will be kept to a minimum,” explained the community group’s chairperson, Dirk Engelbrecht.
“Our motto is ‘To get support for the park people want’, which means improving on the park we have.” When there were heavy rains and a dam wall broke last year, the group’s brand new bridge was destroyed. Rubble from this wreck stands, as one is not allowed to move it without the City’s permission.
FoGHP’s head of conservation is an environmental civil engineer and will meet their own landscape architect and environmental planner to assess the situation and plan the way forward for a new bridge. Very little crime has been reported in the park in the last year, compared with other parks in Joburg that in fact saw an increase in crime since lockdown. Golden Harvest Park was declared a green lung for Randburg in 1972.
This means the ecosystem within the large park provides much-needed habitats for wildlife and much of the oxygen for the developed surrounding neighbourhoods. It also serves recreational and educational purposes in a very urban area.
Details: Friends of Golden Harvest Park pr@foghp.org.za; membership@foghp.org.za
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