NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2011

NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2011

SPRING HAS SPRUNG
Congratulations to Earls’ Court, whose 2nd Ave garden is setting new benchmarks for beauty. Thanks also for having a palisade boundary fence, which allows us all to share that beauty.

NEW TREES PROMISED
One of the greatest joys of living in the green, leafy suburbs is that they are green and leafy. This is due to the foresight of those nameless City officials many decades ago, who planted large numbers of shade trees in the suburbs even though they knew these trees would only reach maturity long after they had themselves passed on. As a result Johannesburg is today an “urban forest”, and looking out over the northern suburbs in summer, you can barely see any buildings through the dense green canopy.
Several generations of Johannesburg citizens have benefitted from this farsighted gift, but now it seems that many of these trees are starting to reach the end of their own life-spans. The NKRA has therefore requested City Parks to plant replacement trees on our pavements and in our park, so that when the present trees reach their end, others will already be rising among them to carry on their legacy.
Fortunately City Parks is in the process of planting thousands of new trees in public places throughout Johannesburg, and they are very supportive of our request. City Parks have committed to supply stinkwood trees, which are indigenous, attractive to birds, fast-growing and paving-friendly. However other suitable indigenous species might also be considered. We thank Mr Raymond Zuma and his team for their favourable response so far, and we hope to see new trees appearing on the pavements of Killarney and Riviera before the end of the year.

CAR CRIME NOT YET BEATEN
The theft of vehicles and theft out of vehicles continue to be our most serious crime issues. The SAPS advise the following: ensure there is good lighting where cars are parked, ensure your guards are alert to loiterers in those areas, don’t leave valuables in parked cars or in view while you are driving, and remain vigilant at all times when you are driving.

SECURITY GUARD LAWS
We have been reminded that buildings are not allowed to use general workers as security guards – by law, any person “carrying out the activities of a security guard” has to be registered (and trained) as a security guard, and has to be working under the supervision of a certified security supervisor. This applies to all general doormen as well. If your guarding system is not currently compliant with these laws, you need to urgently rectify the matter or you could face serious fines. There are a few ways to resolve this – contact Charles Whyte at charleswhyte@icon.co.za if you need advice.

“A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”
(Elton Trueblood – 1900-1994)

Pothole Repairs:
JRA only repairs potholes which are “serious”, and roads with high traffic loads are naturally given priority. The NKRA therefore conducted a patch-up of the worst of our potholes. We also “polyfilled” some other areas where the road is ablating, to slow the deterioration while we wait for JRA to resurface the roads in question.

We are currently investigating the state of our pavements, which are becoming quite dangerous in some places. This is more complicated, because some pavements are tarred, some are brick-paved and some have grass or plant-beds. We will therefore need to do these repairs in separate phases, possibly also using different contractors. Quotes are being investigated, and we will be taking decisions soon.

Traffic Safety:
The intersection of 3rd Street and 4th Avenue has a blind corner, due to the zig-zag in the road. Cars rushing down 4th Ave to beat the traffic lights at the Riviera Road intersection are also a safety concern. Traffic in rush hour along 4th Ave and Main Road generally makes it risky for our own residents to enter these roads from side streets or driveways, and makes it dangerous for pedestrians to cross the roads.
JRA has agreed “in concept” to the installation of additional speed-humps, and to improve existing speed-humps, in Main Road and in 4th Ave. An engineer has been retained to do the design and project management work, and we hope to see this implemented in the next month or three. Other areas of traffic safety concern will thereafter also be considered.

Street Sweeping:
The existing PikiTup street-sweeping service has long been seriously inadequate. We therefore appeal to all buildings to take care of their surrounding pavements, including taking in the rubbish which gets dumped under trees, piled against road signs and bins, and generally scattered around. A lot of this comes from the scavengers who empty out the wheelie-bins of those buildings which do not yet recycle, in search of recyclable waste. We also appeal to buildings to take in the white and khaki bags which are spaced out along the pavements occasionally by PikiTup sweepers, as the truck which collects these also comes erratically.
However the taxi-areas in 1st Street and in Killarney Road are by far the worst areas for littering, and the illegally-parked cars in Killarney Road add a great deal of litter as well. The NKRA has therefore contracted with a cleaning company to provide a street-sweeper for 3 days per week, to clean up these areas in particular. We thank Dukes Court for allowing the sweeper to put that rubbish into their recycling and waste-removals systems. This project is adding much value, and we hope to roll it out to other areas, starting shortly with 4th Avenue and Main Road.

Pole Painting:
As part of the beautification process, the poles of the many street-signs in the area are being repainted. The wires and strings left behind by illegal advertisers are being cleaned off, the rust is being removed and they are being given a thick fresh coat of regulation grey enamel paint.

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Our newsletters are kindly sponsored by Nomsa Nene Properties.

(NOMSA NENE ESTATE AGENT (CRS) (PDE) (NQL4)(RPL) SECTIONAL TITLE SPECIALIST)
Email: Nomsa@neneprop.co.za I Website: www.neneprop.co.za | Fax to email: 086 617 4662
Office tell: 011 486 0569 I Office fax: 011 486 4698 I Mobile: 083 964 2665 4662