With Westville having three wards, The Westville Weekly Gazette spoke to two councillors in the area Cllr Caelee Liang and Cllr Melani Brauteseth on some of the issues of concern which residents have been questioning.
The councillors stated that the issues include, water bursts, electrical cuts and the extension of the M19 road. Ward 92 PR Councillor Caelee Liang, said: “Regarding service delivery issues in Westville and surrounding areas, the community has been hit by constant water pipe bursts as well as electricity outages and slow response times by departments. There have also been issues with the backlogs of verge cutting, streetlight repair, tree removals and curb clearing as well as pothole filling. We have had intermittent disruptions with refuse and recycling collection. The response we are getting from the municipality departments is that there is lack of spares, resources and a shortage of staff as well as shift amendments due to Covid-19 regulations.”
Liang said that Dawncliffe has been really hit by water outages for about four years. “Before pipes were able to be replaced due to the deteriorated infrastructure. This is now happening in Cowies Hill and large sections of the Westville North area. We have been urging the city to take action urgently due to the intermittent outages. Cllr Brauteseth has been liaising with the department heads regarding the long-term solution to this matter, however, during these times where it is imperative that our residents have access to water, these repairs need to be urgently attended to,” said Liang. She has urged residents to report burst pipes and power outages, especially as they occur in order to get faster response times.
Ward 18 Councillor, Melanie Brauteseth, said: “After a number of years, communicating with the provincial Department of Transport about the extension being done on the M19 and along Rodger Sishi Road, finally a fence has been erected. This will prevent the constant the foot traffic coming and going across the freeway. Also to deter the possible criminal activity in the neighborhood which has been a great concern for a long while with local community.” She said regarding to the water shortages, water cuts and pipe bursts, Westville North has experienced a number of bursts pipes as well as other services delivery issues. “Together with Cllr Caelee Laing we will continue to engage with municipal departments for service delivery issues. I am aware of the continuous bursts and I will continue to push the water department for water pipe replacement project in the Westville North area,” said Brauteseth. Cllr Liang said they have both compiled a list of references from the community to follow up on and also note how often the issues are being experienced. For any service delivery issues in Ward 18 contact Councillor, Melanie Brauteseth on 073 257 8574 and Councillor Caelee Liang for Ward 92 on 082 891 2108.
