What better focus for Spring than cleaning and greening? Our Woodstock community has recently benefited from an upgrade to the Woodstock Town Hall Park, which was ceremoniously opened along with the new Woodstock Town Hall by Cape Town Mayor Geordin Gwyn Hill-Lewis.
The WID cleaning team has had its hands full – and we had a special visit from learners from the Holy Cross High School, working towards a cleaner environment.
And while we battle with illegal dumping on a daily basis, you can join us in the fight to crack down by reporting any illegal activity through the correct channels.
Woodstock Town Hall Park
Woodstock Town Hall Park has just seen a wonderful upgrade that will benefit the whole community. This includes an outdoor gym with 6 new pieces of exercise equipment, a new Skateboard mural painted on the outside of the skate park thanks to Parks and Recreation, repainting of the fencing with assistance by WID and improvements to the gravel pathway, as well as the allocation of further budget for upcoming repairs to the heritage fencing.
The Mayor planted a ficus tree in the park to kick off Arbour month and was joined by the community in the celebrations of Woodstock Community Open Day.
Ward councillor Ian McMahon has also, with his ward, made allocations towards other parks in the area – including Golders Green Park, Peace Park and Trafalgar Park – in an effort to encourage people in Woodstock to use these spaces more and to benefit from urban green spaces.
“I hope to achieve that over time, more and more residents take pride and also ownership of their public open spaces, looking out for anti-social behaviour, report illegal dumping and taking pride in their spaces,” says local ward councillor Ian McMahon.
WID cleaning team joined by Holy Cross High School learners
On 16 September, the WID team were joined for a clean-up operation by pupils from the Holy Cross High School in Maitland. This forms part of their school project contributing and working towards a cleaner environment.
We spoke to the learners afterwards to get their feedback.
“My experience at the Woodstock Improvement District was eye-opening because I got to see what the workers who work outside experience – it’s very hard. I feel like people should be more considerate of the people working outside and not leave their litter lying around because keeping a place very clean is a hard job to do and help from people from all over the community would be much appreciated.”
“My experience was amazing” said another one of the learners. “I’m grateful that I got to help and clean up the environment to make it better for the new coming generation. I used to judge [people who clean the streets] but now I understand that it’s a hard job.”
“People leave sanitary towels and diapers, which they could throw away in their own bins, instead of leaving them outside in the street, which is very inconsiderate to the workers who have to work so hard to clean up their mess when they could be doing other things instead,” commented another. “But the workers welcomed us with open arms and our experience was very pleasant,” she said.
If you would like your school to get involved in taking part in our cleaning programme, contact Deon, our WID manager.
Report illegal dumping
Illegal dumping is a severe problem in Woodstock and the image below shows a typical dumping mess that the WID cleaning team has to deal with on a daily basis. The City provides the tools to help crack down on this problem and needs citizens like you to get involved. Say no to litter and illegal dumping and join the #SpringCleanCT campaign.
READ: Illegal Dumping: What it is and how to stop it
If you see something, say something!
To report illegal dumping in your community:
- Call the City’s 24-hour Tip-offs line on 0800 110077 (toll-free) or email solidwaste.bylaw@capetown.gov.za
- If you have the culprit’s vehicle registration number and/or can identify the individual you can shortcut the process and call 021 400 6157
