In a collective effort, Nelson Mandela Bay Ward 1 residents and businesses recently collaborated on a complete makeover of Kelly’s Vlei in Buffelsfontein Road.
The refurbishment of the playground not only ensures that children in the area have a safe space to play, and beautiful surroundings, but the dangers that were lurking around the park have been eradicated.
Ward 1 representative, Denton van Vuuren, said that prior to cleaning the park, there was bush everywhere.
“There were tons and tons of bush. Inside the bushes themselves, you would see all kinds of things that had been left in there. Most of these were items that were left there from break-ins. Clearing up we saw drug needles, alcohol bottles, computers and all other kinds of stuff.
“We realised quite quickly that there were a lot of things happening in here and by cleaning this up properly, we could restore it to what it was and not have vagrants come here to sleep and guys breaking into the area leaving stuff here,” he explained.
Stephen Moore, from Citywide Security, that was also involved with the renovation of the park, said it had been in a terrible state for approximately a decade.
Apart from the bush, the grass was approximately knee-length; most of the playground equipment was out of order and it was a hideout spot for criminals, making safety a major issue.
The refurbishment saw the whole vlei cleared of all bush; the broken playground equipment was restored, grass cut, equipment given a fresh coat of paint and a new jungle gym built from scratch.
Moore said that as a security company, they have had a few run-ins with criminals in the area who, when chased, would run straight to this area to hide.
He explained that having done projects with Louis du Plooy from Glendore Sand and Stone, they put their heads together to work on this park, along with residents.
“I thought that he [Du Plooy] was just going to mow the lawn a little bit and chop a bush back here and there, but then he came in with an excavator and it has been a great help,” Moore said.
“From a security perspective it is very important for the community of Mount Pleasant and surrounding areas. Glendore Sand and Stone put a huge effort into this, and they have removed over 800 tons of rubbish from the dam. It is at times like these when businesses and the community have got to put their hands together.
“Unfortunately we live in a city and country that is badly broken. We all know that it’s broken. There’s no money for this so private partnerships are putting their money, minds, ideas and efforts into it and this is what we now have: a beautifully reinstated vlei.”
Du Plooy said that he is happy to be a part of this project,
“I also want to thank Citywide Security for working with, and supporting us,” he said.
Van Vuuren added that this is hopefully the first of many similar projects to follow within the ward.
“The Ward 1 committee is obviously looking after these areas, and we are looking at mini projects within the different areas. We are very grateful for what Glendore Sand and Stone and Citywide Security have done. We also have Lovemore Lake that we would like to get cleaned up because it has the same issues with crime and guys hiding in the bushes that we had here.
“We can see that this is a recipe that works well, so within this ward we want to do something in every area,” Van Vuuren said.
Following the refurbishment, members of the community, including the mayor, Retief Odendaal, planted trees at the park at the weekend.
