Guardians plan inlet cleanup

Carefully balancing an empty takeaway coffee cup on the bridge rail, a well-dressed young woman makes a phone call and heads off to Paremata Station to catch her train.

It is a matter of seconds before her polystyrene cup is blown into the waters of Pauatahanui Inlet.

This example is the sort of mindless littering that messes up the inlet and distresses those who care about it. And it’s the sort of carelessness that makes the annual cleanup a vital part of keeping the inlet healthy and safe.

‘‘ You have to wonder about people,’’ says Tony Shaw, from the Guardians of Pauatahanui Inlet. ‘‘Where did she think that cup was going to end up? It wasn’t going to walk off to a rubbish bin on its own two legs, was it?’’

Whether it’s a polystyrene coffee cup, an old tyre, bottles, cans or a sheet of iron, the annual cleanup attempts to collect them all. And for the effort to be successful, ‘‘we need community-minded people to come along and help’’, says Mr Shaw.

The cleanup has for many years been a joint effort between the Guardians of Pauatahanui Inlet, Keep Porirua Beautiful and Plimmerton Rotary. Mr Shaw this year paid particular tribute to the Rotarians, many of whom take part in the cleanup every year.

‘‘ They also provide the very welcome free sausage sizzle back at Browns Bay when the cleanup is finished.

‘‘If you can see the inlet from your sitting room window, if you walk your dog along the Te Ara Piko pathway, if you sail, swim or just enjoy messing around in the water, you want the inlet to be clean and safe. Please come along and help to achieve just that.’’

Annual Pauatahanui Inlet Cleanup, Sunday, November 25, 11am. Meet at Browns Bay. For more information see www. gopi. org.nz/annual-clean-up-2/