As the year comes to a close, it is time to celebrate the incredible journey of Unity in Community. It has been a year of showing up, standing together, and proving that active citizenship can truly change the heartbeat of a neighborhood.
Here is a review of our collective path this year—our triumphs, our challenges, and the unwavering spirit that defines us.
Our Triumphs: The Power of Participation
This year, the physical landscape of Mount Vernon and Hillary began to reflect the care of its residents.
- Infrastructure Restored: Through consistent logging of faults and follow-ups, once-broken roads now have new tar patches, and streetlights that were dark for years are now shining bright.
- A "Water Miracle": One of the biggest wins was the replacement of the major sewer pipe near Ducasse Park. This fault had been washed away since the 2022 floods, and its repair marks a massive milestone in restoring our local environment.
- Clean and Green: Neighbours stopped waiting for "someone else" and became the solution themselves. Saturday mornings were transformed by residents raking verges, picking up litter, and planting flowers in tires to turn rubble into beauty.
- A Growing Family: We have welcomed dozens of new members into our community fold, from the Ngubane and Pillay families to the Gwala and Munsami families, all committed to constructive dialogue.
- Unity Against Division: When faced with inflammatory or divisive rhetoric, our community and its administrators stood firm, reaffirming that our mission is built on diversity, respect, and looking toward a shared future.
Our Challenges: The Hard-Fought Battles
True change often meets resistance, and this year we faced some steep uphill climbs.
- The Air Quality Crisis: For months, an illegal dumping and burning site has caused a public health crisis affecting Greater Queensburgh and Chesterville. Despite persistent silence from local authorities, we have escalated this to the National Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and the Human Rights Commission.
- The Sewage Struggle: While upstream pipes were fixed, major leaks—some ongoing for over five years—still discharge into our rivers, threatening both resident health and local wildlife.
- Service Inconsistencies: We’ve had to push hard for reliable refuse collection, particularly for orange recycling bags, often having to coordinate directly with municipal supervisors to ensure our streets aren't left behind.
Our Failures: Where We Keep Pushing
Not every effort has yielded immediate results, but these "failures" are simply fuel for next year’s fire.
- The Scouts Hall Restoration: Our efforts to reclaim and restore the historical Scouts Hall at 69 Bayswater Road are still in the early stages. While we’ve confirmed municipal ownership, the road to securing a lease and a restoration plan remains a work in progress.
- Slow Bureaucratic Response: Many of our most urgent pleas to government departments have been met with " deafening silence" or full mailboxes. It is frustrating, but it has only strengthened our resolve to be heard.
- CCTV - Unfortunately, this project has not taken off as many of our residents cannot coordinate at a street level. Until there is cooperation and collaboration, most roads will remain unsafe, decaying, and vulnerable.
Encouragement for the Year Ahead
Every reference number sent, every bag of rubbish collected, and every neighbor checked on is a "small act of resistance against decay" and a "big act of love for our community".
We aren't just a group; we are a community that has moved from saying "it’s not my job" to "this is our home". As we look toward the new year, let's remember: Street by street. Neighbour by neighbour. Unity in Community. 🎄✨