NEWSLETTER – FEBRUARY 2014

Improving 2nd Street:
Most people agree that 2nd Street between Killarney Road and 2nd Ave is rather bleak and unattractive. It’s also hot to walk along there in the midday sun, as there is very little shade and very little vegetation to absorb the heat. Unfortunately we cannot plant any shady trees on that Dukes Court pavement because of all the pipes and utilities buried underneath the pavement.
However for a while now we have been working on a plan to remove some of the concrete from the Brenthurst Court pavement at the corner of 2nd Ave and 2nd Street, and to build a flowerbed and a shrubbery on that spot. This was going to be done last year as part of the centenary, but we ran out of capacity, so we will try to do it this year.

We are currently seeking quotes to break up and remove some of that old concrete. If you have suggestions for plants and shrubs, or if you are willing to donate plants or shrubs, or if you are willing to help finance this improvement, or if you are willing to help us to plant the new plants, please do get in touch with us.

Recycling project:
Our most recent recycling project has proved unviable, and so we are once again searching for a cost-effective way to reduce our impact on our natural environment. We have not yet been able to find a contractor who collects the material for free – they all want to charge us a fee to help them to cover their operating costs.
However the Mondi paper company has long operated a paper-recycling project, called the “Ronnie-Bag” or “Orange-Bin” project. This has been spun off into a company called Mpact, which operates in Killarney-Riviera as well. They only collect paper and cardboard, no plastic or glass etc, but we all generate lots of paper and cardboard, so it’s a good place to start.
Your body corporate can purchase your own ORANGE wheelie bins from them, for a R550 each once-off fee, and the weekly collections are free of charge thereafter. Mpact Recycling will also provide Ronnie Bags for each of your units, and residents can empty the paper from their individual Ronnie Bags into the complex Orange Bin whenever they want.
We urge you all to participate in some form of recycling, as our municipal dumps are almost full, and when they have to transport our garbage to the new dump in Springs it will cost us twice as much. If you want to participate in this project, please contact athompson@mpact.co.za

Weeds and pavements:
With all the rain we have had recently, a large number of healthy weeds have taken root in the gutters, pavements and traffic islands of certain of our streets. Things are starting to look very scruffy in places, which not only detracts from our personal enjoyment of our suburb, but it also encourages other anti-social activities such as littering and illegal dumping. Please could all buildings help to take care of the pavements, gutters and traffic islands in the vicinity of your buildings, for the good of the suburb generally.

Potholes:
There are some serious potholes developing again this season. Please report all potholes on 0860 562 874. You can use the same number to report stolen manhole covers, blocked storm-water drains and malfunctioning traffic lights.

Street-lights and security:
The street lights are unreliable again, especially in 3rd Street. It was again proposed that buildings install LED floodlights of their own to light up high-risk shadowy areas. LED floodlights produce only a fraction of the heat that fluorescent and incandescent lights do, and thus use up to 80% less energy when compared to incandescent bulbs. They apparently last between 20,000 to 50,000 hours, they don’t contain glass tubes so they are less vulnerable to vibration or breakage, and they contain no mercury and are thus fully recyclable. All buildings are encouraged to obtain and install extra lighting to eliminate areas of potentially dangerous shadow.

Improving our database:
Communication is an important part of what the NKRA does, and we get a lot of value from being able to communicate quickly and cheaply with the trustees of various buildings by email. However trustees change from time to time, and they don’t always let us know when these changes happen. Please could you all let us have the names and email addresses of the trustees of your buildings?

Road safety:
It has been noted that a certain regular vagrant in Killarney likes to lie on pavements in 1st Street and in Rivera Road with his legs in the road, seemingly hoping to be run over. Apparently he is mentally disturbed.
The police move him when called, but he keeps coming back. Please all watch out for this guy, who sometimes puts his legs in front of cars at the last moment hoping to get injured.

Register to vote:
There will be another IEC registration weekend on 8th and 9th February, so if you missed the chance in November, please go down to your nearest polling station with your ID book to register. You can check if and where you are registered by sending an sms to 28310.
If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.