By Isaac Mahlangu

Melville’s embattled residents and business owners have unveiled far-reaching plans to rescue the Joburg suburb from crime and grime.

Among the ideas in a proposal they plan to present to the Joburg council in January are an outdoor theatre at the Faan Smit Park in 4th Avenue and a “walk of fame” — which will honour famous people who have lived in the suburb — on 4th and 5th avenues.

The plan is primarily about turning 7th Street — the popular hang-out with restaurants, bars and coffee shops that inspired the SABC2 soapie 7de Laan — into a pedestrian-only street between 1st and 5th avenues.

The redevelopment plan, which was unveiled for the first time at a meeting on Monday at the Melville Junction Church, also proposes that 4th and 5th avenues be closed off to vehicles and possibly turned completely into pedestrian-only areas.

It has been suggested that vehicle access to 7th Street be restricted to weekdays from 8am to 5pm and on weekends from 8am to 2pm, but this is subject to a traffic impact plan expected to cost about R50 000.

Some side streets off 7th Street could become one- way streets, and an underground parking facility is planned at the Faan Smit Park on 4th Avenue.

In recent years Melville has become more dangerous , with more crimes and drunken revellers partying in the streets till the early hours of the morning.

Richard Tait, chairman of the Melville Residents Association, said: “The main problem is that there are too many establishments with liquor licences (which tend to operate mainly at night) and not enough day traders.”

He said bringing back more day traders would attract “a better quality clientele during the day — more along the lines of Parkhurst or the old Melville.”

Johann Strauss, who owns The Space guesthouse and Studio Gesso in 7th Street, said: “ The mix is not right anymore. We have too many bars and too many clubs.”

Nuno de Gouveia, a businessman and restaurateur who has been active in the Melville area since the mid- 1990s, said : “We have the type of guys who come here and have a plate of chips and five beers, then cause chaos.”

He said the suburb needed a face-lift to begin competing with Sandton and Melrose Arch.

“When I had my first restaurant in the area in 1994 , we were averaging R80 per person, but now we are averaging R45 per person. ”

Joburg spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said that, while the city “does not encourage residents to develop their own precinct plans ... residents are not prohibited from developing these plans” if they fitted in with the city’s development framework.

Sunday Times