Securing the Killarney highway embankment

The dismembered body of a woman was found dumped in this area on 14 April, however according to Ward 73 councillor Marcelle Ravid, the embankment along 7th Street has long been troublesome for the local community.

It is either used by large groups of vagrants at night or is utilised by other members of the public to discard their excess rubble or foliage, which then sometimes rolls down the embankment and onto the M1 highway.

Ravid said more needs to be done to secure the area. On 14 May, she met with representatives from the agency and Hillbrow police to survey the embankment.

Ravid noted that in the past, steel palisade fencing had been put up blocking access from 7th Street onto the embankment however, the fence was prone to persistent theft and was frequently dismantled.

As a result, the City resorted to installing concrete palisade fencing, but unfortunately the cement pillars were also often broken down by vagrants at night obliging the agency to return frequently to re-install it.

Ravid hopes that the new plan of placing barbed wire fencing would be more effective, JRA officials noted that this proposed barbed wire fencing was more difficult to cut through and expects that it will be more of a deterrent to people wanting to gain access to the embankment.

Officials from the JRA also showed areas along the embankment where holes had been dug up and speculated that this was done with the intention of stealing the copper cables which run underground.

Ravid expressed her gratitude to the JRA for embarking on this new course of action and acknowledged that it was costly to the City to constantly maintain the embankment area along the M1 highway in Killarney.

What else do you think can be done to secure public spaces? Let Rosebank Killarney Gazette know by leaving a comment below.