Dumped on their doorstep

The managers of a Kapiti hospice charity shop are considering installing cameras after a rusty barbecue, stained mattress and other damaged goods were dumped at their back door.

Aroha Cook returned to the Arohanui Hospice Shop in Otaki after the Christmas and New Year period to find the goods strewn behind the Main St property.

The dumped items also included two old couches and damaged footstools in no condition to sell.

Cook posted about the incident on the ‘‘ Sunny Otaki’ Facebook page immediately after making the discovery.

She said the rubbish was likely dumped so the owners would not have to pay landfill fees.

‘‘I felt like turning around and going home again.

‘‘I just think it’s pretty stink our community is doing that. I hope people saw the post and thought, ‘I shouldn’t have done that’.’’

It was not the first time the shop had been targeted and similar incidents were becoming more frequent.

Cook said there had been ‘‘more than half a dozen’’ similar incidents in 2016, more than the year before.

She said although volunteers moved the rubbish on this occasion, it usually cost between $50 and $70 to get rid of it.

Goods left on other occasions included broken drawers and an old pool table top.

‘‘Because it rained [the pool table top] was so heavy,’’ Cook said. ‘‘That was the one that cost us a bit.’’ The debris was likely dumped late on January 3 or early on January 4.

Cook and co-manager Chanel Milne drove by the shop each day while it was closed for the holiday period, from December 23 to January 3.

They found only bags of high-quality clothes and magazines in that time.

Cook said they had thought about building a gate around the back of the property, but it would not solve the problem.

‘‘It’d still be easy to dump rubbish whether there was a gate or not.’’