Generous of their time and resources, Jeffreys Bay residents , Loanda ter Bruggen, and her husband, Shaun ter Bruggen, have continued to maintain the large green belt next to their home in Bushwillow Avenue for six years and recently installed a bridge to improve the safety of people in the area.
Loanda said that when they moved to Bushwillow Avenue in 2015, they noticed that the green belt next to their home needed to be maintained since it was overgrown and neglected.
She said that the area was often used as a short-cut for pedestrians walking to and from Bushwillow Avenue and Poplar Street, and in 2016 they began neatening the area.
“We felt the need to spruce up the park and stream area as it had the potential to develop into a parklike space,” said Loanda.
She said that when they began cleaning up the green belt almost six years ago, they painted the existing bridge to brighten it up.
They then created a pathway by planting various plants on either side of the pathway which Loanda said proved to be a long and expensive process trying to figure out which plants would survive the drought and wind.
In addition, they invested in paving stones and with the assistance of their part-time helpers, Tedious Mushambi and Zebron Kumwenda, a paved path was laid while more shrubs and plants were introduced and nursed into a well-established flora.
She said in October last year they joined the Dorp van Drome organisation and were introduced to Kouga environmental and waste management manager, Christa Venter, by Dorp van Drome member, Soria Swart.
They then shared their idea to build a new bridge with Christa, who then helped by donating the necessary material they needed to build the bridge.
Shaun then single-handedly built the new bridge which they named ‘Froggy’s Leap’.
Loanda said that over time they acquired interesting features to add to the scenery of the green belt and the bridge.
Donations of arum lilies for the stream, as well as a huge garden pot from Sonja Murison, were placed at the bridge.
“We wanted to make Froggy’s Leap an aesthetically pleasing experience for locals and visitors alike to enjoy whilst taking their daily walks and wanderings through our neighbourhood,” said Loanda.
Apart from maintaining the green belt, she said her husband also regularly cuts and trims the grass and shrubbery at the Albatross Beach parking area and the plot and green belt area which links Bushwillow Avenue to Mike Herholdt Street.
“It is an onerous task and I admire him greatly for all the effort he puts into these areas in our community,” said Loanda.
