|
Indigenous plants complement roses and paving at a busy intersection in Kramerville, turning a once dusty eyesore into a green oasis.
Yakoob Makda, the regional director of Region E shakes hands with Helder Marques, KMD chairperson
A ONCE polluted piece of open ground used as a car park caught the City's eye and was revamped, turning into a triangle of well-managed landscape at the key entrance point into the Kramerville Management District (KMD), in Wendywood.
Region E handed the completed R180 000 greening project - at the corner of South Road and Desmond Street in Joburg's northeastern suburbs - to the district on Wednesday, 5 December, at the intersection.
The project was completed at the end of October, and the plants have been growing strongly ever since. The landscape design entails border paving with shrubs, rose bushes and bollards.
"When I go to the office I drive past this intersection. I was constantly monitoring the development of the project, checking if work was progressing, and I'm happy that the project was completed successfully," said Yakoob Makda, the regional director.
City Parks would be responsible for maintaining the area, and would ensure that the busy road was kept clean.
Cara Reilly, the marketing manager at Kagiso Urban Management, said the space was neglected and polluted. The revamp had given it a fresh look. She was speaking on behalf of the company that oversaw the project.
The landscape design entails border paving with shrubs, rose bushes and bollards
"You can imagine the beauty of the landscape at this intersection. This was just an office area that was neglected and now lies this clean space of palm trees, agapanthus and many indigenous trees," she said.
Brendan Stolle, KMD's operations manager, said that the district was in desperate need of upliftment. "The Kramerville management team put together a proposal for this work, but because the KMD is a relatively new improvement district with a small budget, we needed to get the project funded."
Also very enthusiastic about the work that the City has done was the KMD chairperson, Helder Marques. Such projects should be expanded into other districts, he said. "Other districts are starting to want their areas to be cleaner and have a nice sense of belonging."
Apart from greening the intersection, the KMD is also working on a project to plant 54 acacia Karoo trees at the central point of Kramer Road. It is expected that this will bring about a positive change to the physical environment and will provide a more secure roadway for all users.
The project is being funded by the KMD; property owners in the area, many of whom are sponsoring trees; City Parks; and Region E. The two projects are the first to be undertaken in the district.
Related stories:
|
