Residents give park revamp palns a green light
SANDRINGHAM - Sandringham residents raised concern over City Parks’ proposal to revamp Dan Pienaar Park which had been under-utilised for some years, but ultimately gave it the go ahead.
Concern was expressed by some residents that the project should not proceed until the adjacent Sandringham Bowling Club had been revamped. The club’s premises had deteriorated and had become dysfunctional.
However, Ward 72 councillor, Steven Kruger stated that the bowling club fell under Johannesburg Property Company and not City Parks. According to Kruger, the property company was inefficient when dealing with properties in its portfolio. Kruger said, “If we tried to combine the two issues, the park would not get upgraded. The Sandringham Bowling Club is definitely an eyesore.”
However, overall consensus was reached on several issues. One of the agreements was that bollards would be placed around the perimeter of the park to stop cars driving into the green lung area. Some residents would have preferred a fence, but this would have been too expensive.
Kruger told residents that a major upgrade would take place in the south-east corner of the park, the corner of Athlone Avenue and Alexandria Street. He said, “This section will be fenced off and will include a children’s play area with the play structures on a master fibre surface. There will also be an outdoor gym linked by a 200m running track on a paved surface.” Kruger said the idea of including floodlights for this section, possibly using the existing streetlight poles would also be investigated. Concerns were expressed regarding the on-going maintenance of the area and possible vandalism, and some residents offered to get involved in maintenance.
The restoration of the dam could not be covered by the present budget, as it would require extensive studies first. Some of the residents were also not in favour of a dam. However, it was agreed that a request would be put to City Parks to arrange studies to investigate the feasibility of this idea. In addition Kruger said, “The majority of the park on the wetland portion will not be upgraded at this stage and will be left as a nature area. However, extra benches will be placed around the park.”
He said the proposal will be submitted to City Parks for approval, and if everything went to plan the project should commence early in 2015.
