Obs census yields important info
The Observatory Civic Association, Observatory Improvement District and the Two River Urban Park Association and Obs Neighbourhood Watch would like to thank all Observatory residents, tenants and business owners who participated in the Obs Census.
The information gathered gives insight into the demographics of the neighbourhood and is helpful in making informed decisions about the improvement and development of Obs.
The Obs Census will continue to run and residents are encourage to take part in order to make the findings more accurate.
From the sampled Observatory population, the first instalment of findings showed that 70.9% of the population are home owners, 21.9% are tenants and 4.6% makes up the percentage of businesses.
The census also gave insight into the utilisation of the TRUP area and wetlands. TRUP is located between the Liesbeek and Black Rivers and is one of the largest urban green lungs in the city. 74% of the sampled population said that their households use the TRUP area.
Of the 74% of those who use the TRUP area, 53.6% were home owners, and 15% were tenants.
15% of home owners, with an average of 2-5 people per household, do not use the Two Rivers Urban Park but are interested.
6% of tenants also expressed that they don't use the Two Rivers Urban Park but are interested.
Through participating in the Obs census, community role-players are able to gauge resident's interaction and utilisation of the space, which is under threat of a large scale development.
The information obtained will not only go towards aiding preservation of the space, but can also be a footpath into exploration of creating environmentally friendly community recreational facilities in the area.
Increased participation in the Obs Census yields broader results.
In the next census publishing edition, the outcomes of the survey concerning security will be assessed and used to improve the safety model in the area.
To find out more about TRUP, visit http://trup.org.za. Click on http://tinyurl.com/obsCensus to complete.