SANParks have been working on a plan to upgrade the Tokai Manor House precinct, and at last make proper use of the buildings in that area.  This week they had an open day to share the proposals with the public and ask for feedback.

Mike and I popped along before heading out for a run, I think both of us prepared to argue and fight SANParks for wanting to mess up our playground - the Wild Card debacle over the past 2 years making us less enamoured with them.

I for one, was pleasantly surprised and excited about their proposal.

Basically they want to tidy up the area:

• Fix the road from the Swaanswyk intersection and up, including separate tracks for horse riders and mountain bikers
• Have a single point of entry/permit check along that road
• Turn the Manor House into some form of restaurant/exhibition space/etc, etc
• Rehabilitate the terraced garden at the back of the Manor House for picnics, including the swimming pool (yes!)
• Fix up Orpen House (to the right of the Manor House) and use it for arts and crafts
• Fix up the stable area to the left, and possibly use that for adventure sports - showers perhaps, a bike shop even, more ideas?
• Move TMNP's Head Office into the smaller buildings in the area
• Add more parking to accommodate the peak traffic
• Enclose some of the area in fencing to keep the baboons out, so you can actually picnic in peace
• A whole lot of stuff for horse riders
• And a bunch more "tidy up and make pretty" projects

SANParks and TMNP have realised they need to add some commercial use to the area to make it financially sustainable, which is fair enough - hence a restaurant, and so forth.  They have also realised that thousands of Mountainbikers descend on the area every weekend, so try to keep them there longer and bring their families around, too.

The whole proposal is still in a planning phase, where they are looking for the public's input in what we want to see happen there.  And they want your comment by 21 Feb 2012.

Some comments I am keen to pass on to them are:

• Have showers for mountain bikers
• Have a proper bike wash and perhaps even a bike shop - give BEN some space there?
• Include a bike park along the edge of the lawns/restaurant, so that we can park our bikes and keep an eye on them while we in turn park off post-ride - so that we don't clutter lawns with bikes
• If you're going to encourage and support more biking, then increase the number of trails - have some open process whereby people can suggest and build new track
• Create some marked routes (eg Black, Red, Yellow, Blue as Oak Valley & Lebanon) - so that people new to the area can find their way
• Have some directional trails for peak times
• Make sure that we can still access the mountain after hours - eg for early morning training rides and mid-week night rides
• Make sure that we don't have to suddenly pay double to enter the area...

What are your thoughts?  What would you like to see there?

You can view the proposal documents on their website or you can go to the Tokai Library.

Send any comments to: elavalji@telkomsa.net

PS - any comments posted on here will not necessarily be passed on to SANParks, so please get vocal with them instead :)