Ward 84 councillor reports on first six months

It has been six months since the municipal elections have taken place and new ward councillors took up office. But what has happened so far?

The Record spoke to the councillor for Ward 84, Gert Niemand, about the challenges and successes he has experienced since being elected, as well as what his plans for the ward are.

Gert was elected as the new councillor for Ward 84, which consists of Reefhaven, Technikon, Roodepoort North/ West, Manufacta, Roodepoort, Georginia, Cresswell Park, Hamberg, Florida Lake (west of Westlake Road), Discovery, Selwyn and Horizon View. According to him, the biggest challenge he faced was the ageing and neglected infrastructure throughout the ward. “This creates daily problems such as power outages due to failing parts, water outages due to burst pipes, and sewer line breeches. The Roodepoort Central Business District (CBD) is an especially challenging area due to illegal dumping, crime and overall neglect,” he said. He also mentioned that the area has a total of 27 declared parks as well as several green belts that pose their own unique challenges in their daily maintenance.

But, it is not all bad news – he has already recorded a few successes in various matters. “During October of last year I had a public engagement session pertaining to the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the ward. The inputs and outcomes were very encouraging, and through the inputs of the community members, an IDP was developed that will form the blueprint for the ward going forward,” Gert said.

He mentioned the Hammerkop Bird Sanctuary in the Florida Lake area, which is the second largest urban bird sanctuary in the City of Johannesburg. “This sanctuary boasts more than 140 different bird species and is well worth visiting. I have become part of the committee and we are working very hard to develop it into a spot that people will want to visit,” he said.

Gert has also engaged with a number of community and block watch forums in the ward, and said this interaction has already proved to be very successful in service delivery and urban issues.

He does however, still have quite a few issues that need attention, and he has a plan of action to address them. “The developed IDP outlines the ward’s plan for the next five years and is quite a comprehensive document. It can be viewed at https://ward84.joburg/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WARD-84-IDP-Submission-FINAL.pdf,” he said.

Gert highlighted some issues that will be prioritised, such as the total upgrade of the Roodepoort railway station and the surrounding area, more social housing in the Roodepoort CBD, the utilisation of the old police barracks for social housing, the revamp of the Discovery Recreational Centre and a total upgrade of the Roodepoort library.

He invited residents to sign up for daily news updates on www.ward84.joburg. “This will improve communication between me and the residents,” he said.

Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.

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