New boardwalk for Noordhoek Beach
A new boardwalk giving wheelchair access to the beach is the latest initiative by Project Noordhoeked.
The non-profit organisation is dedicated to keeping Noordhoek safe and clean and providing jobs, according to Karoline Hanks, an environmentalist and a member of the organisation.
Ms Hanks says SANParks built the original boardwalk many years ago. Project Noordhoeked has extended it from the beach to the car park. “There was no wheelchair access before. Now it’s completely safe and has made a vast difference to the site,” she says.
Ms Hanks says two local businesses donated materials and plants and the NPO plans to put up a sign soon giving thanks to these donors.
Project Noordhoeked employs four people, three from Masiphumelele and one from Red Hill for three days a week. They pick up rubbish along roadways and in the wetland down to the beach. They also empty the wire whale, Kakapo, when its belly is full of litter picked up by beach users (“NPO uses wire whale for recycling”, Echo January 9, 2020).
The workers have also landscaped what was previously a degraded area around the eco-brick bench they built two years ago.
The team also cleans pavements, keeps the beach free of ocean-borne plastic and picks up dog poo. They also keep the beach area and toilets clean.
