NEWSLETTER – DECEMBER 2014

Killarney-Riviera Spring Festival:
The Killarney-Riviera Spring Day Festival in the 4th Street Park on 28 September was a big success. The event included a jumping castle for children, a big range of food and drink vendors, various other stalls and live music.
A new jacaranda tree was planted to replace the lost tree in the avenue, and I am happy to say it is growing nicely. Thank you to Mira for providing the tree, Dean for digging the big hole and Kayte for actually planting it – a real team effort!
Christina Court was voted the winner of the Pam Golding Killarney-Riviera Verge Competition, for the building with the best pavement in the area. This was no surprise, as their pavement is looking especially great this year – well done to them.
Daventry Court also unveiled their new heritage plaque on the day, adding further to our growing collection of recognised heritage buildings.
Many thanks to our various sponsors, including Kayte Denham and her team from PGP who did most of the organising and funding, and to Dean Dada of RCS Security and Trish Terry of Lew Geffen Sotheby’s who arranged the jumping castle. It was a great day out in the fresh air, and we look forward to doing it again next year.

Park Revitalisation project:
As part of the Spring Day theme, we planted a bed of purple vygies around our Centenary Plaque and the Centenary Tree. We selected purple flowers to match the jacarandas, and they are really flourishing! Thank you to all who made donations toward this project.
The City Parks Department has again promised us some playground equipment in the park but have not given any firm commitments. We have therefore done some research and have found that we can purchase a custom-made apparatus that meets all our needs, for around R60,000, which is not currently affordable. If anybody knows a place that sells ready-made outdoor playground equipment, please do let us know.
We have established a community task-group (chaired by resident architect Edna Peres) to research various ideas to improve Killarney and Riviera, The main ideas thus far are to have a coffee-bar-on-wheels to sell coffee and muffins in the park on weekends, to have aerobics, yoga and tai chi classes in the park, and to have a regular Killarney-Riviera Walking Club for those people who prefer to exercise in groups – dogs welcome. Other ideas are still being researched, but meanwhile, please let us know if you would be interested in any of the above.

Street Repairs:
We still have a lot of open manholes in the area, due to a rash of thefts by scrap-metal criminals. Please report all open manholes and other road damage to 0860 562 874, and please keep the reference number for follow-up.
The municipality has told us that the cabling of the traffic lights at the corner of Rivera Road and Main Road will be replaced early next year, which will hopefully solve the current problem.
We are also suffering from a lot of water leaks at present. The water pipes in the area are old and rusted, and a lot of expensive clean water is lost through these leaks. If you notice a water leak like the one in the photo below, please would you report it on 011 375 5555, and please again keep the reference number.

Fibre-optic Internet:
A company called VUMA are researching the viability of installing an open-access network of fibre-optic cables to all the buildings in Killarney-Riviera. They will provide the network to each building for free, but if you want the service, you would pay a once-off installation and connection fee of R2500, and thereafter you will be charged a monthly fee depending on your package – starting at R399 per month for 4 Mbps.
Early next year we will arrange a public meeting to enable the community to talk directly to the service-providers. If you are interested you can get more info at info@vumatel.com.

Improving our streets:
Many thanks to the trustees and caretaker of Killarney Park in 5th Street, who have followed the excellent example of Brenthurst Court and have put time, effort and money into beautifying a pavement in 5th Street. These contributions make all the difference in the world.
Please can we also ask all buildings to help to manage the weeds that flourish on pavements, gutters and traffic islands during the rainy-season – it only takes a few hours per month to make a huge difference to the surrounding area.

Recycling project:
We have several recycling service providers active in Killarney-Riviera at present. Both Klaas (072 152 9462 or 073 477 2689) and Denise (061 452 9770) collect all recyclable materials, and Denise will provide you with dedicated wheelie-bins for your internal collection points. You can also use the paper-only “Ronnie-Bag” project from Mpact at athompson@mpact.co.za, who are very reliable and who will also provide a bright orange wheelie-bin for this purpose.
Please join a project if you haven’t already done so – every little bit helps.