Plans formulated to reopen Panorama garden site

Suburbs evolve but basic needs supersede convenience.

Pikitup and ward governance held an initial engagement session with community members regarding the reopening of the Panorama Garden Site. The agricultural waste disposal site has been closed for two years after the site was overrun with problems affecting the residents in the surrounding area. The Panorama Garden Site is the area at the bottom of Pranticole Road and is not to be confused with the compost site adjacent to Phil Allen Avenue which was the source of two toxic fires in 2019 and 2020.

The Panorama Garden Site was established around 1990 but as the area has grown, several residential developments have been built on neighbouring stands. Two developments on Pranticole Road were built at the turn of the millennium and others further along the road were completed several years later. In the last decade, a tug of war has intensified between residents wishing to have the site permanently closed and the council wanting to provide adequate waste removal facilities.

Pikitup began a renovation of the site in 2018 which took a year to complete. At that time, the plan was to use the Panorama site for residential garden refuse only, with the compost site next door servicing bulk drops. Amid safety concerns, the site was closed in March 2021 giving residents a lengthy but temporary reprieve.

Panorama Garden Site is still a vital Pikitup asset

No date has been set for the reopening and the Thursday, May 18 meeting was simply to address the intention to reopen the site. Rumours had been circulating suggesting a July 1 reopening but Pikitup Roodepoort Depot Manager, Stella Wilson, stressed this was not the case. The site would only reopen once the budget was made available in the City of Johannesburg’s upcoming financial year.

Currently, residents must take their garden waste either to Victory Park in Randburg or the Penny Road site in Wilfordon, the other side of the Roodepoort CBD. Wilson explained that the entity persists with the Panorama site because acquiring land and permits for new sites is an incredibly difficult task in a densely populated city. The permits and zoning for the Panorama site are already in place making it a key asset for Pikitup.

To get the site ready, several issues would need to be addressed, beginning with the repair of broken containers. The boundary wall in the bottom corner of the facility has been broken leaving several precast slabs needing to be replaced. The neatly bricked yard and the sorting centre in the top corner are ready for use but the biggest challenge to reopening the site is human, not structural.

Residents concerned about the influx of opportunistic displaced persons

The Panorama Garden Site has been an unsightly sore festering on the doorstep of resident’s properties and when in use, the traffic becomes congested on the already narrow road. Two residential complexes have entrances less than 100 metres from the site and the queue of vehicles dropping off garden refuse forces residents to jostle for positions to get in and out of their homes. Said queue can often reach Jim Fouche Road, adding congestion to an already troublesome intersection.

An operating garden site brings a hoard of displaced people and vagrants posing as volunteer assistants. These beggars looking for bargains in the trash take shelter in the surrounding fields and residents have reported a spike in crime, drunk men fighting in the fields, and general loitering. One resident noted how delivery drivers were afraid to deliver to the complexes for fear of being mugged and while police would often respond to calls, residents say that response dwindled over time.

The compost site next door is home to what residents estimate to be roughly 300 people, mainly waste pickers. A tap near the broken boundary partition as well as the stream separating the sites serves as a water source for the informal camp. Residents of a complex bordering the field that separates them from the garden site erected a fence to block access to the compost site but the fence was swiftly dismantled.

A lone security guard and his canine companion are said to be stationed 24 hours a day but even when not in official use, residents say several men still use the Panorama site to sleep and sort plastic. This results in the burning of debris and the accompanying air and noise pollution. Residents fear for their safety and believe the unattractive surroundings will harm their property values.

Progress and improvements already identified by Pikitup

Experiencing heavy pushback from attendees voicing their concerns, Wilson was adamant that for the site to reopen, all the necessary boxes would need to be ticked. Operationally, the site would have three compactors and even though all refuse is removed the same day, Wilson wished to see staggered shifts of refuse removal to negate any downtime usually experienced in the afternoons.

Private security with armed response have been employed and regular raids on informal camps, such as the ones conducted by authorities in early April, act as a deterrent to any criminality. Ensuring that members of the public utilise the site more responsibly, streamlined rules around usage, a tonnage cap and no longer allowing people to dump furniture and old appliances will come into effect, as these are all magnets for vagrants.

An informal spaza shop had been set up at the site but this will no longer be allowed, nor will leaving behind casual workers after dumping a load at what is a self-help facility. To enforce this, Pikitup is currently formulating a service-level agreement as well as a memorandum of understanding with the City of Johannesburg’s by-law enforcement departments. The site is to have a greater focus on recycling and is proposed to include a programme to educate the informal recyclers.

Resolutions noted for feedback

The residents of Pranticole Road would prefer the garden site to be permanently closed or redeveloped but Pikitup is committed to reopening the site under the correct circumstances. Ward 89 councillor, Leah Knott, compiled a list of suggestions that residents would consider prerequisites to any reopening. At the top of the list were strict access control and a traffic management plan with possible traffic calming measures on Jim Fouche Road.

Additionally, residents wanted more security personnel on-site as a solitary guard was easily intimidated, overpowered, or corrupted. Residents wished to rebuild the fence to limit foot traffic through the fields and the locking of the tap to prevent ad hoc usage by those living in the fields. Residents wanted to know what recourse they would have should the municipal entity renege on their promises, with a reporting structure to be communicated at a later date.

The disposal of garden waste is necessary for all homeowners beautifying their lawns and hedges but what of those caught at the sharp end? The dumping sites were established before developers chose to erect homes nearby but some would argue a readjusting of priorities should always be a door left open.