A little despondent

Last Thursday the windmill in Pioneer Park took its first spin in quite a while – thanks to conscientious business owners rather than the metro’s initiative – but few would even have noticed this tiny ray of hope amidst the decay into which our town is being allowed to fall.

It’s a step in the right direction, but only one.

While the windmill turns, other areas in Springs are being sorely neglected or the negative impact of age, time and, in some cases, theft and neglect are taking hold.

The war memorial – which should be a place of pride to honour fallen soldiers – has, like so many other monuments in SA, fallen into a foul state thanks mostly to thieves. Why should they go out and find honest work when the memorial was there ripe for the plucking? Where once there was beauty, not there is definitely only despair and proof that nothing is safe if it’s a choice between an honest day’s work and a quick crime spree.

The only solution the metro can see is to fence it off to prevent any further damage to this once beautiful monument. It’s a great analogy for everything in SA – the honest must be put behind high fences, lock and key while thieves and other criminals are given carte blanche to do as they will.

However, thieves cannot be blamed for all the town’s troubles.

PAM Brink Stadium has been a thorn in the side of every resident for some time. Hopes ran high that the metro would heed their calls to restore it to a usable, safe facility. These calls have fallen on deaf ears and instead giving the stadium the much needed attention it requires to ensure it would return to its glory days of actually serving some sort of useful purpose, they have turned their backs on Springs once more.

These hopes were dashed last week when the metro decided the stadium would not be renovated – too much money is needed for the task. What they plan to do with the space remains to be seen but you can bet that nothing of benefit to the tax paying citizens will be happening there in the near future.