‘Take ownership of your suburb’ – Cllr Gavin Hegter

Ward 64 Councillor, Gavin Hegter met with the SUN journalist on Thursday, 6 April to urge residents to take ownership of their area and to report illegal dumping and overgrown verges, “Don’t just sit back and do nothing. Sometimes it comes down to taking pride and ownership of your street, you can’t sit around waiting for service delivery. The city is under resourced and their workers have low morale. Be more pro-active when identifying faults and report it to the relevant departments. Illegal dumping must be reported directly to me with vehicle registration numbers and any other evidence you have.”

“It’s the only  way we can reclaim our area,” he said.

The Sun has published letters received from frustrated and concerned residents of Woodlands, Yellowwood Park and Montclair residents about illegal dumping and the general state of the area.

READ:

Disgraceful Bluff verges in disarray

Who did it and who fixes it?

An anonymous letter by ‘Disturbed’ condemns those concerned readers complaining about the issues in the areas and asked if they have made a difference. “We as residents are fighting for service delivery from the municipality. I have arranged for ‘no dumping’ signage and I was the reason why some of the trees around Halifax Road and surrounding areas were cut. I make sure the verge of the pavement by my property is clean and there is no litter,” said the writer.

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“We have heard concerns and frustrations from residents about the poor conditions of the area. Yes, the area has become trash and there’s dumping taking place everywhere. We have changed Woodlands to another township. I fail to see why people would want to buy properties in the suburb and still behave like they’re in townships. People in Woodlands now have taverns, tuckshops, sit on the road, play loud music, dump anywhere and allow children to play soccer on the roads. Good people, let us stop this. It’s not doing any good for some of us who have invested in property.”

He said, residents will have no claim over the municipality if they cleaned the area. While he agrees that residents have the right to demand the services that they are entitled to, “I also think we need to move away from the attitude of ‘I pay so they must do it’. Yes, the municipality has an obligation to you but we also need to take pride in our area and do our bit to maintain the standards. It is our responsibility to report illegal dumping that costs us, as ratepayers, millions to clear every year. We need to take ownership of our verges so that the parks department can use their resources to maintain communal areas. We need to become a community that stands together to uphold the standards that we demand,” he added.

WATCH: Cllr Gavin Hegter wants residents to be part of solution.

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