St Clement's Church is the first to sign a new petition calling for action on Grahamstown railway station to be saved.
St Clement's Church is the first to sign a new petition calling for action on Grahamstown railway station to be saved.
The church, which adjoins the station, has Organisers say copies of the petition, which draws attention to the plight of the derelict 142-year-old building and rail yard, will be issued to owner Transnet, Makana Municipality, the Eastern Cape provincial legislature, the South African Heritage Resources Agency and Parliament.
The group behind the petition aim to hold the organisations accountable for the derelict condition of the station. The station is a national monument.
The petition cites as grievances the loss of heritage due to neglect on the part of Transnet and ongoing vandalism; the loss of an opportunity to reinstate rail transport to and from Grahamstown; and the increasing security problem of the area to citizens and neighbouring institutions.
The petitioners say that not only would a restored and maintained train station be good for the local economy; it would also be good for the environment – particularly if the track was electrified. Historian Fleur Way-Jones, one of those behind the petition, said St Clement's Church, next door to the station was the first to sign the petition.
Members of the historic church described as an "ungodly act" the ransacking of their premises in September last year. In a series of break-ins, the church lost kitchen equipment, communion items and music equipment. In an article in Grocott's Mail on 6 September church warden Margaret Speckman said the area has become deserted and unsafe.
"I believe that after they finished vandalising the train station, they then aimed at us," she said. The petition is available for signing at Makana Tourism, the Albany History Museum, Rhodes University's Cory Library and by members of the Grahamstown Residents Association.
On 8 August Grocott's Mail reported on DA MP Andrew Whitfield's promise to take the plight of the Grahamstown station to Parliament when it re-opened this week. In an interview he described the station as "a symbol for the whole of Grahamstown and what has become of it".
