A Gonubie resident afraid children may be hurt if they use the neglected boardwalk, sealed off both ends of the structure with hazard tape on Friday morning.
By Saturday, the tape had been removed and people were again strolling up and down what was once the pride of the seaside suburb but has become a hazard due to a lack of maintenance.
Rico de Beer said he roped off the walkway because he was terrified a small child could dash through one of the large gaps on the sides of the walk and plummet over the edge.
“I didn’t close the boardwalk for my sake,” said De Beer, who strung up about 30m of red and white danger tape just before 8am on Friday morning to close the entrances.
“I did it for the community. People on Facebook said they would support me if I closed it, but I was the only one there.”
De Beer, who is the founder and manager of Love in Action (LIA) a community social service group, said that by Saturday the tape was gone.
Besides Facebook posts commending De Beer’s attempt to bar the public from the boardwalk with its smashed benches, brittle, unvarnished foot planks and missing droppers, he also drew support from Grade 7 pupils at Gonubie Primary.
Teacher Terri Kleyn said the children, who held placards reading ‘Please fix our boardwalk’ and ‘Gonubie Boardwalk needs TLC’ were part of the community and wanted to show their support when the walk was shut on Friday.
In December 2014 a four-year-old survived a 3m fall through the missing droppers and onto the boulders below, suffering a head haematoma (swelling) and fractured arm.
Kleyn said two years ago the school’s fathers’ club had offered to varnish the boardwalk and replace loose boards, but was told by a BCM official they could be charged with defacing it.
BCM had not responded to questions by the time of writing yesterday. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Activist takes a stand for safety
By Saturday, the tape had been removed and people were again strolling up and down what was once the pride of the seaside suburb but has become a hazard due to a lack of maintenance.
Rico de Beer said he roped off the walkway because he was terrified a small child could dash through one of the large gaps on the sides of the walk and plummet over the edge.
“I didn’t close the boardwalk for my sake,” said De Beer, who strung up about 30m of red and white danger tape just before 8am on Friday morning to close the entrances.
“I did it for the community. People on Facebook said they would support me if I closed it, but I was the only one there.”
De Beer, who is the founder and manager of Love in Action (LIA) a community social service group, said that by Saturday the tape was gone.
Besides Facebook posts commending De Beer’s attempt to bar the public from the boardwalk with its smashed benches, brittle, unvarnished foot planks and missing droppers, he also drew support from Grade 7 pupils at Gonubie Primary.
Teacher Terri Kleyn said the children, who held placards reading ‘Please fix our boardwalk’ and ‘Gonubie Boardwalk needs TLC’ were part of the community and wanted to show their support when the walk was shut on Friday.
In December 2014 a four-year-old survived a 3m fall through the missing droppers and onto the boulders below, suffering a head haematoma (swelling) and fractured arm.
Kleyn said two years ago the school’s fathers’ club had offered to varnish the boardwalk and replace loose boards, but was told by a BCM official they could be charged with defacing it.
BCM had not responded to questions by the time of writing yesterday. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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