Some grafitti is an expressive art form, and when done well it can even be beautiful. Other grafitti is ugly and offensive. Some of it even marks gang territory. Covering every available flat surface with tags and offensive slogans is undesireable in a public park. Most of the users prefer a neutral space to rest their eyes...
Several years ago the old Swimming Pool area became a target, especially as the buildings became derelict. The public toilets in the Play Park weren't spared either. This ugly environment reflected the undesireable attitudes of some people hanging around there at the time.
Fortunately, with the general upgrade of the Play Park, the toilets and the Dog Park, this is now less of a problem, and the residents are determined to keep it that way, with the kind asssistance of City Council. Enclosing these areas with palisade fences has helped to keep things unspoiled.
For more on Queens Park Issues, click here.
Wednesday, 7 January 2004
Tuesday, 6 January 2004
QPWEB Issues - Truancy
Queens Park caters for a huge number of kids of school-going age - they are its largest visiting group, in fact.
However, if they are in Queens Park during school hours (and not part of a formally organised School event, such as a Sports Day) they are probably playing hookey!
While probably every one of us bunked off school a few times when we were at school, this is not a good idea to encourage. Children need every hour of education provided by their school, especially at High School level.
Also, away from school in an unsupervised area, these children are vunerable to drug dealers and muggers. There are at least two documented cases of children who were mugged (in broad daylight) for their cellphones and wallets in Queens Park.
The local residents do report kids in the park who should be in school, to their relevant institution. The schools are very grateful for such assistance. Where they can spare the personnel, a staff member will be sent to collect the kids to take them back to the school. If that isn't possible, the SAP should be contacted, though our police often have far more important issues to deal with (such as violent crime). Another option is to contact the relevant Community Improvement District vehicle, who have proven very helpful in the past.
The more often truants are reported, the less likely they will want to use the Park as their preferred venue.
The various high schools within walking distance of Queens Park are:
For a cautionary tale about truancy at Queens Park, click here.
For more on Queens Park Issues, click here.
However, if they are in Queens Park during school hours (and not part of a formally organised School event, such as a Sports Day) they are probably playing hookey!
While probably every one of us bunked off school a few times when we were at school, this is not a good idea to encourage. Children need every hour of education provided by their school, especially at High School level.
Also, away from school in an unsupervised area, these children are vunerable to drug dealers and muggers. There are at least two documented cases of children who were mugged (in broad daylight) for their cellphones and wallets in Queens Park.
The local residents do report kids in the park who should be in school, to their relevant institution. The schools are very grateful for such assistance. Where they can spare the personnel, a staff member will be sent to collect the kids to take them back to the school. If that isn't possible, the SAP should be contacted, though our police often have far more important issues to deal with (such as violent crime). Another option is to contact the relevant Community Improvement District vehicle, who have proven very helpful in the past.
The more often truants are reported, the less likely they will want to use the Park as their preferred venue.
The various high schools within walking distance of Queens Park are:
- Queens Park High School
- Salt River High School
- Zonnebloem Nest School
For a cautionary tale about truancy at Queens Park, click here.
For more on Queens Park Issues, click here.
QPWEB Issues - Bad Behaviour
Queens Park is for everyone in the local community to enjoy. The rich mix of cultures and backgrounds of its visitors represents a microcosm of the greater South African society.
When bad behaviour occurs in the park, it spoils the environment for all users (including the perpertrators!). However, a delicate balance must be maintained. For example, a group of adolescents has as much right to be there as, say, a yuppie couple and their children. But all have the right to feel safe in one of the few public open spaces in the area.
When the critical mass of respectability has been achieved, as has now happened in Queens Park since its redemption from the bad old days, the bad elements tend to be subdued.
Bad behaviour needs to be dealt with quickly. For example, early in 2014 a gang fight happened in the Dog Park. Prompt cell-phone calls from respectable park users summoned the SAP, who arrived in time to intercept the perpertrators as they moved westwards out the Dog Park along Palmerston Road.
Important here is that the community didn't confront the gang, but they were quietly assertive in reclaiming ownership of their park from others whose bad behaviour has no place there.
For more on Queens Park Issues, click here.
For Security matters, click here.
When bad behaviour occurs in the park, it spoils the environment for all users (including the perpertrators!). However, a delicate balance must be maintained. For example, a group of adolescents has as much right to be there as, say, a yuppie couple and their children. But all have the right to feel safe in one of the few public open spaces in the area.
When the critical mass of respectability has been achieved, as has now happened in Queens Park since its redemption from the bad old days, the bad elements tend to be subdued.
Bad behaviour needs to be dealt with quickly. For example, early in 2014 a gang fight happened in the Dog Park. Prompt cell-phone calls from respectable park users summoned the SAP, who arrived in time to intercept the perpertrators as they moved westwards out the Dog Park along Palmerston Road.
Important here is that the community didn't confront the gang, but they were quietly assertive in reclaiming ownership of their park from others whose bad behaviour has no place there.
For more on Queens Park Issues, click here.
For Security matters, click here.
Monday, 5 January 2004
QPWEB Issues - Vandalism
The park and sports facilities provided by City Council are funded by the rates and taxes paid by Cape Town's ratepayers and are there to be enjoyed by the local community.
Sadly, anti-social elements work to degrade these facilities, from time to time.
Sometimes is it clearly theft of metal to be sold as scrap:
Another issue is adults who sit on the swings in the Play Park. These tyre bucket-seats. designed to carry the weight of 14-year-olds or lighter, tear and eventually break when heavy people sit in them!
For other Queens Park issues, click here.
For Security issues, click here.
Sadly, anti-social elements work to degrade these facilities, from time to time.
Sometimes is it clearly theft of metal to be sold as scrap:
- When the old Victorian-style palisade fence was being replaced, sections of that old fencing were stolen by vagrants, sometimes in broad daylight!;
- The beautiful brass slipway in the Play Park's slide was stolen one evening. (It has now been replaced, but with something less classy);
- The copper pipes in the public toilet vanished years ago. (Fortunately they have been replaced with less-desireable Polycarp pipes);
- The transformers in the Soccer Club's floodlights were also stolen for scrap metal. These have been replaced with sturdy steel plates to prevent that happening again;
- The Soccer Club's steel goal posts were stolen least year! (That must surely win the prize for the largest single metal theft ever in Queens Park);
- The padlocks for the Play Park and Dog Park have been vandalised from time to time.
- The public toilets suffered this fate a couple of years ago. Now they are securely locked at night;
- The old Swimming Pool's buildings and pool were progressively vandalised over the years, even though two security guards were on the premises, 24/7.
Another issue is adults who sit on the swings in the Play Park. These tyre bucket-seats. designed to carry the weight of 14-year-olds or lighter, tear and eventually break when heavy people sit in them!
For other Queens Park issues, click here.
For Security issues, click here.
Sunday, 4 January 2004
QPWEB Issues - A Vagrant's Fate
Early one morning in 2012, a lady walking her dogs noticed a male vagrant (whom she thought was sleeping) lying face down on the Queens Park Soccer Field. The night before had been cool but not cold or wet. Other walkers noticed the figure later on, but it was at around eight a.m. that somebody tried to rouse him and found him to be deceased. There were no signs of foul play.
The SAP were contacted and they duly arrived. An arriving group of school children from a neaby school had to be rapidly diverted by their teacher back from where they had come. Some time mid-morning, the corpse was removed by the mortuary van.
This sad but factual event illustrates what the ultimate fate of vagrants in Queens Park often is. Death by exposure to the elements.
Back to Vagrancy Issues here.
Back to Queens Park issues here.
The SAP were contacted and they duly arrived. An arriving group of school children from a neaby school had to be rapidly diverted by their teacher back from where they had come. Some time mid-morning, the corpse was removed by the mortuary van.
This sad but factual event illustrates what the ultimate fate of vagrants in Queens Park often is. Death by exposure to the elements.
Back to Vagrancy Issues here.
Back to Queens Park issues here.
QPWEB Issues - Vagrancy Solutions
What to do about the vagrants in Queens Park?
To ignore the problem doesn't help.
Some believe that everybody has a right to live wherever they choose. How would they feel if vagrants started living on their front stoep, or in their back garden?
Some people even provide food for the vagrants. While this is a noble guesture, it is also short-sighted. Ironically, doing so guarantees the continued suffering of those poor people in the great outdoors. Which tends to be a short and unpleasant life, considering Cape Town's weather, .
The solution must surely be to rehabilitate vagrants back into a sustainably productive life where they can take responsblity for their own wellbeing. The Displaced People's Unit provides a recovery path to achieve this. But only with the consent of the person seeking recovery. Some do take that option and it works for them. Others also do, but opt out when they discover that alcohol is discouraged at the recovery venue.
If a homeless person refuses the DPU's help or other Social Welfare options, they have chosen that lifestyle. Which choice nobody else can make for them, but there are consequences to living that way. Here is an example.
Technically, if anybody sleeps overnight in a Council-owned Public Open Space, they are breaking a municipal law and can be arrested. In practise, it usually takes a little longer to resolve the matter.
Various agencies can be approached to deal with issues of vagrancy. They are:
To ignore the problem doesn't help.
Some believe that everybody has a right to live wherever they choose. How would they feel if vagrants started living on their front stoep, or in their back garden?
Some people even provide food for the vagrants. While this is a noble guesture, it is also short-sighted. Ironically, doing so guarantees the continued suffering of those poor people in the great outdoors. Which tends to be a short and unpleasant life, considering Cape Town's weather, .
The solution must surely be to rehabilitate vagrants back into a sustainably productive life where they can take responsblity for their own wellbeing. The Displaced People's Unit provides a recovery path to achieve this. But only with the consent of the person seeking recovery. Some do take that option and it works for them. Others also do, but opt out when they discover that alcohol is discouraged at the recovery venue.
If a homeless person refuses the DPU's help or other Social Welfare options, they have chosen that lifestyle. Which choice nobody else can make for them, but there are consequences to living that way. Here is an example.
Technically, if anybody sleeps overnight in a Council-owned Public Open Space, they are breaking a municipal law and can be arrested. In practise, it usually takes a little longer to resolve the matter.
Various agencies can be approached to deal with issues of vagrancy. They are:
- The South African Police;
- The Metro Police;
- The CCC Land Invasions Unit;
- The Displaced Persons Unit;
- The appropriate Ward Councillor (who will usually refer your complaint to Land Invasions and/or the DPU).
QPWEB Issues - Vagrants
The plight of the homeless in Cape Town is the result of many factors, not least of which are the influx of people from beyond the Western Cape and the difficult economic climate where jobs are scarce.
While the humanitarian issues are very real for homeless people in Cape Town, vagants people sleeping in and around Queens Park are a problem because:
The local residents and park users also have the right to a clean, healthy, safe, litter-free recreation area.
For these reasons, vagrancy is discouraged in Queens Park. Oh, it's also illegal in the CCC regulations, for very good reasons.
Fortunately there are solutions, which are discussed here.
For other Queens Park issues, click here.
While the humanitarian issues are very real for homeless people in Cape Town, vagants people sleeping in and around Queens Park are a problem because:
- Vagrants, like all other human beings, produce urine and faeces on a regular basis. If there isn't a public toilet available, this creates a potential health hazard. This is particularly relevant to a sports facility such as the QP Soccer Field;
- Sad to say, but there is a directly proportional relationship between the presence of homeless people and the litter factor;
- Homeless people know that there is safety in numbers. Often, what starts off as a perfectly harmless couple sleeping under what shelter they can find turns into something far more serious. More people join that group. And more. If nothing is done to address this issue, it deteriorates. Unfortunately the criminal gangs know this too and will exploit any loophole they can for their purposes.
The local residents and park users also have the right to a clean, healthy, safe, litter-free recreation area.
For these reasons, vagrancy is discouraged in Queens Park. Oh, it's also illegal in the CCC regulations, for very good reasons.
Fortunately there are solutions, which are discussed here.
For other Queens Park issues, click here.
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