Park looks like new after clean-up

On a cold rainy Saturday, a large group of residents, a church group and security companies came together to clean up Excel Park.

According to Ward 126 councillor Mike Tonkin, the park is one of the hidden jewels in the area and it used to be a green oasis with a dam that was full of fish, where people used to visit for weekend outings.

“Things changed when the park was neglected by City Parks and the grass grew to about a metre high, which was to the advantage of the criminals as they used to hide all of their stolen goods in the bushes,” said Tonkin.

He explained that the park now looks like its old self after a clean-up that took place on 16 August.

“I was surprised at the number of people that pitched up to help us clean the park as the weather was not in our favour.”

He added that the biggest surprise of the day was when workers from City Parks showed up with their equipment and started to trim some of the longer patches of grass in the park.

“A large group from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints also helped out, which made the workload a bit lighter.”

CPF Sector 2 chairperson Neville Burnett explained that one of the main focus points during the clean-up was to remove solanum mauritianum – an invasive plant species better known as Bugweed.

Tonkin said, “I want to thank members from the Riverwell and Panorama Resident’s associations who took time out of their busy schedules to help us with the clean-up. A big thanks also goes out to Beagle Watch Security, who took time to help us out. It is very easy to see that the park is starting to look like its old self after the clean-up.”

Details: Mike Tonkin 082 564 0160.