Despite some cloudy weather, nothing could weigh down the obvious excitement of guests and members of the community, at the opening of the new Diazville Cottager Park multifunctional sport field on Thursday, 14 July 2022. This project, a partnership between Saldanha Bay Municipality and the Western Cape Government’s Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning through its Regional Socio-Economic Projects (RSEP) programme was presented to the Diazville community as part of ongoing, citizen-centric initiatives.
Councillor Wilhelm America, Mayoral Committee Portfolio Member for Community and Operational Services welcomed the guests in attendance. Councillor America reiterated the importance of sport as a building block in society. In addition, he also made an appeal to the community to take ownership of the new facility and to look after it so that the local community can benefit from it for many more years. Shastelle Philander from Western Cape Government (RSEP) expressed her appreciation for all the role players that were involved with the development. She said she hoped that the community would enjoy the facility and echoed Councillor America’s request that residents must look after what was presented to them. Ward 4 Councillor, Cllr Gerald Cleophas told the guests and residents in attendance how important it was to take care of even the smallest community facilities so that much bigger projects can be brought to fruition within the area.
Local children wasted no time to make use of the outdoor gym equipment and spectators enthusiastically encouraged the informal, friendly neighbourhood soccer matches that were played between some of the local youngsters who officially inaugurate the freshly painted soccer field that was just beckoning for some action!
The Cottager Park facility boasts the first astro turf sport field build by Saldanha Bay Municipality. It is envisioned that more of these amenities will be constructed in different parts of the municipal area.
