Pretoria - The City of Tshwane has been given due credit for being on top of things when it comes to the maintenance of the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary in Muckleneuk.
Visitors to The Blue Crane restaurant and those visiting the bird sanctuary yesterday said that while a few things needed improvement, such as the silt levels of the lake, the City was making a notable effort to keep the nature reserve up to standard.
This comes after visitor Thomas Muller-Rust complained about the silt level and thatch roof that had collapsed at the entrance to the bird sanctuary. He said the City needed to desilt the lake, because it was affecting the water level.
The management at the restaurant told Pretoria News that the City had already communicated its intentions to fix the roof, without knowing that the restaurant was planning to do it.
According to restaurant management, the City was doing the “best job”, despite budget restrictions, which was one of the biggest challenges of every (local) government.
A manager, who asked not to be named, said some people might have seen that the silt level had risen during times of extreme heat, which was natural, but he did not want to give the impression that the sanctuary was being neglected (by the metro). He said the City did have people working there, and cleaners for the lake. Occasionally there was pollution, but that would be material that had been dumped into the stream elsewhere.
Patron Jorge Smith said: “This is a very clean and neat place, so it shows that the City does look after it. People love to come here and enjoy themselves with their families. There will always be room for improvement, but so far we love it.”
City of Tshwane’s chief of staff, Jordan Griffiths, appeared to also be confident that the City was maintaining the park. Yesterday, his team invited Pretoria News for a site visit to see for itself.
Pretoria News