 |
||
|
26/06/2008 02:16 PM - (SA) My garden's ruined! 26-06-2008
The municipality says however, that was the risk Derry Jardim-Da Silva took when she invested time and money on beautifying what is council property. The Da Silva's house in Irene Road has a pavement that, at 560 m² in extent, is larger than many entire erven in the Helderberg, with a budget for maintenance to boot. In an effort to reduce the cost of upkeep, Mrs Da Silva says they spent R60 000 on landscaping the sidewalk, using plastic sheeting covered by large-stone gravel and indigenous plants that require relatively little water to flourish. But earlier this year, a municipal watermain pipe in the road burst and the municipality was called to conduct repairs. The hole they dug in the sidewalk was covered up - but not to the Da Silva's satisfaction. Plastic sheeting - now torn - remains visible, so too the soil that was previously covered up. "I phoned the municipality 20 times to repair the damage they caused," Mrs Da Silva says. "On four occasions they said they would send out a team to take a look." "I thought I was doing the municipality a favour by creating a waterwise garden. I even consulted them on the type of trees I could use. "These people need to perform a service for which we pay tax," she declares. The local authority however, has a different view. City of Cape Town media spokesman Charles Cooper, says the reticulation branch of the Water and Sanitation Department in the Helderberg made every attempt to restore the area to the condition it was in before the pipe burst. "It needs to be stressed however, that sidewalks/pavements are the City`s property. They could house buried water and sewerage pipelines and electricity cables. "The City therefore requires prompt access at all times in case of emergency repairs, maintenance or replacement," Mr Cooper says. "A resident who wishes to beautify a sidewalk must obtain prior permission and, should such permission be granted, it would be on the categorical and documented proviso that the improvements or landscaping is to be done at the applicant's own risk and that no financial recompense would be offered by the City should work or excavations be required in the area where the voluntary work has occurred. "Clearly no hardening is allowed. Such permission would also be predicated on the undertaking that no complex, sophisticated or expensive alterations be undertaken because, while the City will do its best to make good any damage, it is unable to spend public funds to ensure a 100% restoration if an expensive material was used in the landscaping," says Mr Cooper.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
