Great news!

About two weeks ago we received an email with fantastic news! The City of Cape Town has allocated Maynard Park a budget of R50,000 (under the ward allocation project)! The council has really been such a great help with our project so far, so this is really the cherry on the top.

We had a meeting with Pauline McConney and Charl Marais (from City Parks) on site on Friday and presented them with a budget.

We requested the following:

• A jungle gym with a slide, swings (suitable for older children), monkey bars and a roof/house
• Rocking horses (see my previous posts) - these are suitable for older children also
• A lapa (similar to the one in De Waal Park)
• Removal of the young palm in the center back of the park
• Benches
• A hose pipe (the irrigation system was installed on Thursday and it will have a hose attachment instead of taps)

A very big thank you to David Curran and also Brett Herron for all the help along the way. It really wouldn't have been possible without you.

10 things to look for in a great playground

I found this the other day while compiling my Pinterest Park board - it's a blog post about the 10 things to look for in a great playground. My favourites are a mound and a slide.

KidBuddie Jungle gyms

KidBuddie Rocking horse

I saw these awesome rocking horses at a park in Knysna on the Thesen Islands, and have finally found the supplier KidBuddie Jungle Gyms. They deliver nationally and have a large catalogue of innovative play equipment.

Wood and tyre bench

I love the simple ideas in the tyre playground book. This one is in progress.

From the book: Entyrely Fun Playgrounds by James A Jolly.

First tyres planted

Tyre steps

Yesterday the first tyres were planted, making some steps for kids to climb on.

The design for this, and future tyre projects, are coming from a fabulous book called Entyrely Fun Playgrounds by James A Jolly. The book is available in the public domain (i.e. it's free and you can print out your own copy), and it features so many plans to create a fabulous and fun park using tyres.

I'll be posting some of my favourite designs over the next few weeks.

Tyre steps can be found on page 28 and 29.

New tree

New tree donated by Gardens Nursery

Thank you to Eltje Daun from Gardens Nursery Scott Street for all her support. We have a beautiful new tree in the back corner.

Gardens Nursery is tucked away on Scott street. Phone number: 021 462 0441

The wall is mostly finished! Whew...

The wall

the rockery

digging grass

Thank you to Ben and everyone who donated money so far to the wall. Over R4000 was spent, building foundations and plastering the wall. 

FairCape donated the labour to build the wall and the it was the council who provided bricks and cement (A big thank you to Dave Curran). Your neighbours worked hard also! The Shul will be responsible for painting.


Today we spent the morning digging up old grass and planting new seeds. 


A Cape Ash tree and a hibiscus bush were planted to the right of the pedestrian gate. 


The wooden box is now being used as a sandpit. It is covered by the tarpaulin to stop cats using it as a large litter box.




If you would like a key, please leave a comment or contact Glenn.


More information will be provided soon about the budget and what will happen next.

Tyres from Speedy Cape Town

Thank you to Speedy Tyre & Fitment in Cape Town (Buitenkant Street) for providing us with old tyres to use for the park. According to the plan we are going to use tyres as flower beds and in construction for play things. We will need about 50 tyres, these pictures are of the first delivery.

Contact details for Speedy CT: 
88 BUITENGRACHT STREET, CAPE TOWN
http://www.speedy.co.za
(021) 424-5370

New fence

The City of Cape Town Municipality has erected a beautiful new green palistrade fence. Thank you for making our dreams a reality. After spending so long on the exterior, we can now finally focus on what's going to happen inside the park.

Rules, what do you say?

There have been some discussions on Maynard Street, around the park, about how the park will be used. That means rules. Do you have some input? Please share on the comments.

Some ideas:

• no drinking, smoking or drugs
• no sleeping/camping
• play area for kids under 14

Park designs

Here are some 3D images designed by Jan Klingler of kr2 architects

"I envisage planting of aromatic bushes (rosmary, lavender, buchu, malva and others in tires along the back wall. Protected by these tires could be a vegetable patch.

Along the wall against the Shul could be some benches (for mom and dad) and tire snakes (for kids). In this same zone could be items like swings, pipes and others. This will be a built and 'organised' play area.

Further towards Maynard Street we should keep an open field for running around and for bigger gatherings.

Along Maynard Street, between the palm trees, I see a kind of a multifunctional platform in timber: stage, projection screen, play house, clean gathering area for picnic, games & others."

Thanks to everyone who joined us today

We had a great afternoon. Thanks for coming. We loved the rabbits, the Easter egg hunt, the boerie rolls and most of all meeting our neighbours.

If you couldn't make it, please check up on the blog for the 3D designs of our park vision. Created by kr2 architects.

Donations!

If you are interested in donating money to the park initiative, here are the banking details. The Friends of Maynard Park have formed under the Gardens Neighbourhood Watch, so it is audited. Please clearly indicate that the donation is for the park.

Gardens Watch
Standard Bank
Business Savings Account
Account no 676701825
Branch: Cape Town
Branch code 020009

Thank you!!

Park Picnic 1 April @ 3pm

Please join us for a picnic in the park to meet your neighbours and discuss plans for the park.

1 April 2012 at 3pm

More building. Thanks Faircape!

Work started on the construction of the wall between the Shul and the park on Thursday. FairCape are organising the labour for this and the City of Cape Town is providing (most) of the building materials.

After months of hard work, what seemed like unachievable six months ago, is finally happening.

Keep checking for updates!

Planting...

Eltje Daun from the Gardens Nursery (Scott Street) is getting involved with planting grass and general landscaping.

Thank you!

Work starts

It may seem as if nothing has been happening to our proposed park, but don't worry, discussions have been happening, and more importantly, headway is, slowly, being made!

Unfortunately the park needs some maintenance before we can let the kids in, and one of those things is to repair the wall between the park and the Shul. Fair Cape have offered to help with the labour to build the wall, but not the foundations, so on the weekend some of your neighbours set to work.

Here are some photos.