New park development for Eldorado Park

"Our aim is to enable residents to enjoy the best possible outdoor experience on offer in Johannesburg," said City Parks in a statement on Monday.

The new park boasts a soccer-field, water features, playground equipment, braai facilities, picnic areas, new landscaped lawns, trees, park furniture, seating areas, paved walkways and a big outdoor screen for public viewing of educational, environmental and sporting programmes.

 "We will be deploying a 24-hour security presence as part of the drive to encourage residents to refrain from littering, breaking bottles, spraying graffiti, consuming alcohol, damaging play-equipment and contravening any of the municipal by-laws, at the park." .

The outdoor screen will be for public viewing of educational, environmental and sporting programmes, said City Parks.

"The screens will be used to flight sporting, environmental and educational programmes and will act as a catalyst to build more active and healthy communities."

However, with this right to high-quality parks, comes the responsibility to care for the park.
City Parks has urged residents to retain the integrity of the park by protecting and nurturing the facility to enable our children to enjoy a safe, clean and fun-filled experience in the park.

As part of the greening campaign ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, City Parks will this year plant at least 20 000 trees under the Greening Soweto initiative, while 50 000 will be distributed in homes.
City Park spokesperson, Jenny Moodley said in January they were going to be tougher on the rules of the parks.

"We need to make sure that parks are ready by 2010," she said at the time, adding that it is not only about 2010 while emphasizing that the project will benefit Soweto residents after the world cup.

To help reduce costs and fast track the tree planting, City Parks is developing a tree nursery, to grow its own trees and to supply surplus stock to communities for other greening projects and planting in their gardens.

The nursery, which will be based in Nancefield, will produce up to 100 000 tree seedlings a year.
In five years, the seedlings will be large enough to plant on pavements and in parks.
Younger trees will be given to householders to plant in their gardens, particularly where pavements are too narrow for trees.

Much focus is also going to be put on awareness programmes. An estimated 15 000 learners from around Johannesburg will be taught about the importance of a clean and green environment.

Source: BuaNews