Oakdale residents cleaned up Vlei Park and planted trees there on Saturday October 5.
The park has also been fitted with six floodlights, while speed humps have been installed in Sydney, Ashtown and St James streets which surround the park.
Kenny Dinwoodie, of the Oakdale Neighbourhood Watch, said: “We as the community decided to come out and make sure that we clean up our park and keep it looking good. We believe that if the residents get involved with these types of projects then they will have pride in the area and keep it clean and safe.
Hopefully, this can be a start of things to come because we are now looking to organise clean-ups in all the zones in Oakdale on a monthly basis.”
Mr Dinwoodie said the park had been home to drug users in the past. It had also attracted illegal dumping and been used as an escape route by criminals.
He believes recent improvements will change all that.
“The speed bumps were built two months ago while last month the City put in the floodlights. The upgrades have already helped the patrollers during the night time while the speed bumps have stopped the cars from flying down the road. This has been a great help especially in Sydney Street where there is a church and a creche.”
Ward 2 councillor Leonore van der Walt said the R100 000 worth of upgrades had been requested by the residents. The speed hump cost R22 000 and the lights more than R48 000. Â