The members of Keurboom Park Association (KPA) are holding their collective thumbs for the City of Cape Town to approve their application to turn the seasonal frog and dog pond located on the north eastern corner of Keurboom Park into a perennial one.
For this to happen, the City needs to approve a proposed borehole at the site.
Presenting his chairperson’s report at their annual general meeting (AGM) held at the Western Province Cricket Club (WPCC) in Rondebosch on Tuesday 30 May, chair Phil Flockton said he was not going to share too much about the new frog and dog pond and borehole “until it gets Council approval”.
“It would be bad luck,” said Flockton.
A document shared with delegates, however, did provide some of the history behind the pond.
Today the park is inundated by visitors who stroll along its paved perimeter path. But this wasn’t always the case. Back in 2009, the paths were simple, unpaved mud tracks, especially during the winter months when the stormwater from the higher-lying WPCC and the Rondebosch Boys’ High School cricket field would settle there.
For a proper path to be laid, the seasonal inundation problem in the northern and eastern quadrants had to be solved first. A detailed report by consultant Dr Liz Day, a specialist freshwater ecologist, recommended “encouraging seasonally inundated depressions for seasonal pooling” and “to create an attenuation pond (where the frog and dog pond is now)” to “substantially reduce concentrated flows”.
With these recommendations successfully put into effect, construction of the new path was begun and completed three years later in 2015.
But the problem of having too much water soon changed to having too little. During the drought years (2016 to 2018), the newly planted trees at the park were dying. With Day Zero imminent, hoses couldn’t be used. According to KPA, however, thousands of cubic metres of rainwater was gushing into the canal.
Going on Day’s report and another from conservationist Alex Lansdowne, the decision was made to actively encourage seasonal ponding.
(Lansdowne was elected as a PR councillor in 2021 and is currently the chair of the mayoral advisory committee for water quality in wetlands and waterways.)
In 2018, KPA received approval from the City’s Department of Recreation and Parks for the ponds. Now established for some years, not only are the ponds loved by park users and animals (both tame and wild) alike but they are also used for park watering in addition to their main purpose – to reduce bank erosion. That is when they are full.
For the seasonal frog and dog pond to become a perennial (meaning all-year-round) one, its bottom will need to be waterproofed (with bentonite and a liner) and a natural filter will need to be added in the upper part of the pond. It will also need a top-up water source. Here is where the borehole comes in.
Reading between the lines of Flockton’s report, it seems that the KPA has had quite a job in persuading the City of the benefits of such a pond. Katherine Christie, councillor for Ward 58, who gave a talk at the AGM, also made mention of City officials’ less than enthusiastic support of the project. Christie has been a staunch supporter of the project, and the KPA, since the get-go.
“Our City officials are very risk-averse and were quick to point out the possible issues with having a permanent pond here. They are trained to be risk averse and to say ‘no’ at all times until convinced otherwise.”
The councillor added, however, that Flockton and Justine Thornton (KPA committee member) managed to persuade the Parks and Water Catchment officials of all the benefits of a permanent pond and to dispel any notions of risks.
She also shared that R130 000 had been set aside for the project in Ward 58’s 2024/25 financial year budget, starting on 1 June next year.
While this money will go towards paying for the borehole, the rest of the funds required will be raised and paid by KPA.
People’s Post contacted the City for comment, asking when Council would decide on the matter. No reply had been received by the time of going to print.
