Toti must cherish Hutchison Park asset

“The Toti public needs to appreciate what a gem it has in Hutchison Park.”

That’s the opinion of Amanzimtoti Sports Centre (ASC) chairman, Craig Chamier.

The ASC is the umbrella body representing the various sports and recreational clubs operating out of Hutchison Park. The affiliates are Amanzimtoti Tennis Club, Amanzimtoti Squash Club, Amanzimtoti Rugby Club, Amanzimtoti Bowling Club, Amanzimtoti Cycling Club, Amanzimtoti Cricket Club, Amanzimtoti Athletics Club, Cardinals Baseball Club, Toti United Football Club, Toti Conservancy and Umbogintwini Dog Club.

The ASC is in partnership with the eThekwini Municipality’s parks deptartment, so the park is effectively being managed as a public private initiative.

“Since 2009 we have been the custodians of the park,” said ASC chairman, Craig. “That was the same year the two Toti cricket clubs amalgamated.

There have been many passionate people who came before us who were instrumental in fighting and succeeded in stopping large retail development in Hutchison Park.

Also in the prior years we all remember fondly the late Bruce Lithgow stepping in and establishing Lords and Legends when the sporting community was facing a number of challenges.

If Hutchison Park wasn’t here, Toti would be more the poorer for it,” said Craig.

October 2010 marked the start of a new chapter for the ASC. It was granted a short-term lease of the buildings situated on the Toti Oval, which also houses Lords and Legends that became the sub tenants.

“Despite ticking all the boxes and jumping through all the hoops to secure a long-term lease in 2010, no long term lease is currently in place. This is a problem facing many other sporting bodies in the municipality,” said Craig. Currently it is on a month-to-month basis.

“Despite this the passion still burns in many to make the park one we are all proud of. Our primary function is to provide the best possible facilities, in a clean and safe environment for our affiliates, so that they can go about their tasks of sport and sports development.

Coupled to this is the need to create this same environment for the general public to enjoy their social and recreational activities.”

All funds generated are re-invested back into the park with the intention of creating a sustainable model.

“We have ongoing communication with all the relevant law enforcement bodies, however due to the park being zoned ‘public open space’ this is a challenging area to operate in. Be that as it may, bylaws still need to be adhered to.

The Community Crime Prevention Organisation (CCPO), which we are a member of, has its administration office based at the park and we also have a partnership in place with Blue Security with respect to buildings and assets.”

There are a number of CCPO emergency signs up in the park. Should the need arise, phone 083-393-5066.

Permission to hold an event on the park’s fields must be obtained through the municipal permit system. The affiliates have first rights to use of the fields with an annual permit system in place.

However all requests by the community for use of the fields can be directed to Gugu Khanyeza at Gugu.Khanyeza@durban.gov.za and ASC secretary, Cathy Colley at Colleycathy@gmail.com, who work hand-in-hand to see if the requests can be accommodated on an ad hoc basis.