Mike Rosholt urges community members to be active

Parkhurst Resident and Business Owners Association (Praboa) chairperson, Mike Rosholt, writes:

Dear Parkhurst resident and business owner,

The past few years have been rough for this city we call home and increasingly for our dear suburb, Parkhurst.

The lockdowns and Covid restrictions forced many of us into survival mode and severely impacted the connections we previously enjoyed with our friends, families, and neighbours. Praboa, being composed of fellow Parkhurst residents, was no exception. The opportunities to engage and work with residents as well as to communicate more meaningfully were severely curtailed. To the point where many have asked whether Praboa was still active at all.

We would like to assure our members and residents that Praboa is very much alive and now that Covid appears to be firmly in our rear-view mirror, we’re ramping up our scope of activities significantly.

The current state of our city requires an active citizenry, willing to get involved in their suburbs’ many social, service and infrastructure-related issues. The days of paying rates and hoping to get attention from a hugely overstretched and financially burdened City administration are over, at least for now.

Active residents associations supported by a majority of residents offer the best hope of achieving these changes, on a sustainable basis. That is the value that Praboa offers – an umbrella under which residents can organise, plan, and execute while engaging with relevant City authorities and other stakeholders.

The current aims of Praboa are many, but can be summarised thus:

• Praboa aims to provide a link between the ratepayers, residents, and businesses of Parkhurst to the local authorities and public bodies.
• Praboa aims to encourage and maintain a predominantly residential environment that is safe, secure, clean and in keeping with the wishes of the Parkhurst community.
• Praboa maintains oversight over Public Space Security to minimise the risks to and increase the safety of the community at large.
• SafeParks is the community safety initiative and the SafeParks committee works closely with 24/7, the appointed security provider.

Praboa is increasingly becoming actively involved in Urban Management with regard to our creaking electricity and water infrastructure, as well as the state of our roads. This involves safeguarding and securing critical City infrastructure such as substations and park gates, and checking the credentials of contractors working on critical City infrastructure.

To get involved via the relevant subcommittee follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/103jX1ozK9rfgE_qDZqrNk1XJKwc1hbmmdbLpfDKW3tI/viewform?edit_requested=true

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