The Observatory Improvement District (OBSID) has embarked on massive clean-up of the common green areas of the suburb. The programme entails the proper and ongoing maintenance of public green spaces in Observatory, as part of the area’s improvement initiatives.

“Historically, various community members worked to improve the public areas by cleaning them up and planting new plants. However, over time the gardens became overgrown, have been used by the homeless as toilets and to store their belongings and with the recent drought many of the plants have died.  Trees and bushes have also been obstructing the roads.

“The OBSID has now made provision in its budget for a greening and maintenance programme, which includes tree and shrub trimming, tidying up on green spaces, fertilising, top soiling and mulching as well as sourcing of plants / planting”, commented the OBSID CEO, Amanda Kirk.

The project started in May 2019, with a full clean of identified green areas, including:

• The beds around the community centre (corners of Lower Main, Station and Rawson roads) plus trimming of trees inside of the Metro Police Training College
• The Village Green plus trees / shrubs on the paved area (war memorial) as well as planted beds
• The trees in the station car park
• The station garden (Milner Road) plus the traffic island corner Lynton and Lower Trill (opposite the station garden)
• 3 x kerbside gardens – such as Norwich Avenue between Nuttall and Trill Roads
• Trimming of plants along railway line (Milner Road / Florence Avenue – between Lower Trill and Strubens Roads.

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Going forward, further spaces will be identified and added to the scope of the project, as it progresses. “Once the clean-up is completed, the service provider would continue with ongoing maintenance, managed by the area / precinct manager. It is envisaged that part of the social development programme’s work element could also include basic garden maintenance,” said Amanda.

“It is also envisaged that some of the plant material collected will be converted into mulch for the Observatory gardens.”

The OBSID employed gardener, Ibrahim Chiwaya, has been deployed to keep the parks clean and tidy, and to provide basic garden maintenance and cleaning as a supplementary service to that offered by the City of Cape Town whilst still looking after some of the smaller green areas in the neighbourhood.

Amanda says that the programme with its ongoing maintenance plan should see a steady improvement in the appearance of public places, and also deter littering and vandalism.

There are plans to include other public green areas while maintaining the ones that have been worked on. The OBSID is calling on the community to suggest spaces that should be focused on, and also to donate plants, compost, mulch and any gardening equipment, that can benefit the project. Please contact the OBSID offices, if you can help with the programme.

For more information about the OBSID, please contact: Amanda Kirk, Chief Executive Officer, Observatory Improvement District (OBSID), 021 448 7090, [email protected]

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