The NKRA is grateful for the support provided in the 4th Street park by our park sponsors RUSSELL FISHER PROPERTIES and VISION TACTICAL SECURITY and the KILLARNEY MALL, and for the street cleaning services provided by RCS SECURITY SERVICES.

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NEWSLETTER – JULY 2014

Spring Day Event:
The NKRA is holding a Spring Day event in the 4th Street Park on 28 September. At this stage the event will be based around:
• Jumping Castle for children;
• Food vendors;
• Local musicians giving recitals.
Daventry Court will be officially unveiling their new heritage plaque on the same day.
We invite all residents please to join in by making suggestions and contributing ideas, so as to make this a successful community event.

Park Revitalisation project:
The main NKRA project of the year will be to try to persuade City Parks to invest in improving the park. Ideally we would like to have some of the proposed improvements completed by our Spring Day event, so that we can “unveil” them on the day.
Suggestions received thus far include:
• Colourful flowers/shrubs at each gate,
• Children’s playground equipment;
• Netball hoop;
• Trim Park exercise equipment.
Once again, please would all residents offer their ideas and suggestions?

Improving 2nd Street:
Our project to beautify the intersection of 2nd Street and 2nd Ave is now well underway. Brenthurst Court have chopped out the unattractive concrete from their pavement at that intersection, and have put up a clear-vu fence at that corner so as to allow the public to see the garden that will soon be planted there. The general plan is for a mix of small trees or flowering shrubs with a lot of ground-cover in between, preferably plants that produce colourful flowers. If you are willing to donate or finance plants or shrubs, please step forward. Some buildings have already pledged various items, but additional plants will always be useful and much appreciated.

Pigeons in 2nd Street:
There is a large flock of pigeons resident in 2nd Street cnr 2nd Ave, who remain there because people choose to feed them at that spot. This is not in the best interests of the birds, as they are roosting on window ledges and sometimes get run over by cars. We are trying to move the pigeons up to the park, where they will have a more natural environment of trees and grass. We request that all those people who feed these birds’ please help us to move that flock by progressively putting out food closer and closer to the park. It will be a slow process, but it is in the birds’ best interests in the long run.

Cleaning up in Killarney:
In the past month a huge clean-up operation was undertaken in the problematic parking lot in 7th Street opposite Castlerosse, as well as on the embankment of the motorway immediately adjacent to that parking lot. A huge amount of rubbish was removed – the skip was piled high. The project was undertaken by Dean Dada of Risk Control Services, who also provides security services in the area. The cost of the clean-up was sponsored by a resident of Santa Margharita, to whom we are deeply grateful. Many thanks also to those other residents and buildings that are now all helping to keep that problem area clean on an on-going basis.
We need to move some dustbins into that area – if you have a bakkie and are willing to help out, please could you get in touch with us?

Recycling project:
Recycling is a simple, cheap and easy way for all of us to make a meaningful contribution toward protecting the environment.
We have managed to find a small self-employed recycling entrepreneur who is willing to collect all types of recyclable material without charge. His name is Klaas, and he is already collecting material from several buildings in our area. You can contact Klaas directly on 072 152 9462 or on 073 477 2689 to set up a collection program for your building.
In addition, the Mondi paper company operates a paper-recycling project called the “Ronnie-Bag” or “Orange-Bin” project. They only collect paper and cardboard, no plastic or glass etc. If you want to participate in this project, please contact Adele at athompson@mpact.co.za

Potholes and man-hole covers:
Please report all potholes on 0860 562 874. You can use the same number to report stolen manhole covers, blocked storm-water drains as well as damaged traffic lights. Please ensure you get a reference number, and keep those reference numbers, as they are invaluable when following up on poor service delivery. The more people that report a problem, the faster it gets addressed.

Street-lights and security:
Lighting is one of the best ways to deter car thieves and burglars. The street lights are often unreliable, or might perhaps be shrouded in tree foliage, so we recommend that buildings install LED floodlights of their own to light up high-risk shadowy areas. LED floodlights use up to 80% less energy than incandescent bulbs, and they apparently last between 20,000 to 50,000 hours.

Membership drive:
The NKRA is a voluntary association of the residential buildings in the suburbs of Killarney and Riviera. In addition to representing the suburb in discussions with the SAPS and the municipality, we also run projects from time to time, including sweeping the streets and fixing things. These projects cost money, and so we appeal to buildings to support us with voluntary membership subscriptions. Please let us know if your building would be willing to contribute?