LIFCO meeting with JMPD

During the first half of 2013 a petition was initiated by Hennie against Trinity school for wanting to use our Suburb as an access and exit route to and from the school. This petition was driven by Hennie with the help of Jaco Engelbreght, the local DA councillor.

After a year of no response from the local authorities, Hennie last week received a call from Sgt Seduku of JMPD. Being the regional supervisor for JMPD, he had been tasked to investigate the merits of the petition. He asked to meet with Hennie and Jaco Englebrecht at 16h00 on the 15th to discuss the petition and also the way forward. Hennie emailed Robert Wilkins and Shaun Cruickshank informing them of the meeting and also inviting them to attend the meeting.

The meeting was subsequently move forward to 16h00 on 13/01/14

A very productive meeting was held with Hennie and Sgt Richard Seduku on the 13th.

Hennie showed Sgt Seduku the entrances from the school into the township and also made him aware of the existing potholes in Victoria Street, Van Damn Street, Wasbank Street and Cascades. These Streets will be directly impacted with the increase of traffic if the school and church use the suburb as an entrance/exit route. It was also emphasized that the problem was not only because of the school, but also because of the present and potential increase of traffic from the church.

Sgt Seduku was of the opinion that the residents is against the location of the school. We stressed that we do believe that the school is an asset to the suburb, but in our opinion no homework was done on the impact it would have on the traffic flow and also increased wear and tear on our roads. (Especially but not limited to the roads mentioned above)

It was mentioned that to keep on patching these roads is not a solution, a whole new road surface need to be constructed.

The other concerns/problems highlighted by Hennie were:

• Speeding on Cascades and also the problem with getting into Cascades from the Southern side of the Township. (As mentioned, the existing problem will get markedly worse with the school and church using the roads ) It was suggested by Hennie that the authorities look at constructing “mini circles” on three strategic entrances into Cascades I.e., 1) Victoria Street at the entrance from the Checkers centre. (This is also the road that would carry the bulk of the traffic to and from the church and school) 2) Mac Mac Street. This is the main entrance from the Southern part of the township into Cascades. This road is strategically placed more or less in the middle of Cascades between the two entrance/exists from Hendrik Potgieter and Fredenharry into Cascades. (Apart from solving the entrance/exit problem a mini circle would also go a long way to assist in solving the speeding problem along this stretch of Cascades Street.) 3) Lisbon Avenue. This is the main entrance from Little Falls ext. 2 (The Lakes) into Cascades. The circles will be at +- 500m intervals in Cascades, thus going a long way in solving the speeding problem. It was suggested that the authorities look at reducing the speed limit from 60Kmh to 40Kmh or 50Kmh along Cascades and Fredenharry road. We also need them to erect speed limit signs along these roads. Although the meeting was about the petition that was lodged and its direct impact on Cascades when meeting with the relevant departments the speeding in Fredenharry road will also be addressed.
• Taxi related problems along Cascades and the intersection at Cascades and Fredenharry. Whilst having the meeting in the courtyard at the Engen Garage, in the span of +-10 minutes at least five infringements were witnessed by taxis along Cascades. The biggest problem seems that they illegally stop in the road. All the taxis witnessed were traveling from West to East. Because of the road reserve on the Southern side of Cascades, it was suggested that the authorities demarcate an area that can be used by the Taxis for drop-off/pickup of commuters. The Taxis would then only be allowed to travel in an East to West direction along Cascades (one way). They would enter Cascades from Fredenharry (BP) and exit back onto Hendrik Potgieter at the Engen side. A “NO ENTRANCE” sign specifically for taxis should be erected at the entrance from Hendrik Potgieter into Cascades at the Engen side. Three areas were suggested: 1) The entrance to the secondary parking lot behind the BP garage next to the Spar centre. (Or the parking lot as it is not used for parking.) 2) On the Southern Road reserve after Mac Mac Street. 3) On the Southern Road reserve after Victoria Avenue. It was suggested that, in the short term the demarcated areas get sign posted, cleaned, and levelled! Sgt Seduku asked the parties to meet the next morning as he would draft a report and then submit it to the various parties for action. He asked for Jaco Engelbreght (the DA councillor) to be present.

On 14 January Jaco and Hennie met him at Eagles View at 08h00, Jaco and Hennie accepted the draft report. Sgt. Seduku will hand the report together with his and the residents’ recommendations to JRA and a Sgt Jannie Steenekamp (082 921 1721) to investigate the impact the school and church would have on the road infrastructure. They would also look at the speeding and Taxi problems.

It was agreed that Jaco Engelbreght as a priority, would convene a meeting between LIFCO and the relevant role players from JMPD and JRA that would be involved in addressing the resident’s concerns/problems.