Raucous recyclers rile residents
A rural resident’s tranquil paradise is becoming a nightmare as frustration builds over the piercing noise of glass smashing at a nearby recycling centre.
Caroline Smith says she wasn’t told containers for the mini recycling station would be set up only a few metres from her Halcombe property less than two weeks ago, and she is startled by the constant barrages of banging and clattering as bottles are flung into glass bins.
A complaint to the Manawatu¯ District Council saw the bins shifted yesterday to the opposite side of the section in a bid to curb the annoyance. Two other locations for the station elsewhere in the town were rejected, council recycling officer David Mcmillan said.
Similar setups in Pohangina, Himatangi, Tangimoana, Sanson and Rongotea haven’t drawn any complaints.
Mcmillan said ‘‘some’’ neighbours were consulted on the positioning of the bins, but Smith was not. While ‘‘canvassing’’ the neighbourhood, he missed Smith’s home because it was hidden among trees and didn’t have a letterbox. ‘‘That was my fault entirely.’’
Smith believed the commotion would lower nearby property values, create traffic congestion and damage the town’s rustic beauty.
‘‘It was a nasty surprise. It’s all hours of the day and night,’’ Smith said. ‘‘No-one puts [glass] in nicely.
‘‘I love recycling. I think it’s fantastic, but this is disturbing my idyllic piece of paradise.
‘‘What really rubs salt into the wound is I wasn’t consulted on it. I pay $1200 in rates and I didn’t even get a phone call.’’
She works at home and estimates about six to eight interruptions each day, while goats and ponies in a nearby paddock were often spooked. ‘‘It’s like fireworks going off for them.’’
While urban recycling was wellestablished, rural recycling still continued to be primarily community-driven, Mcmillan said. The rugby club, which bordered Smith’s property, offered to home the bins in its car park because of its accessibility and security, he said.
‘‘Everyone wants recycling, it’s just a matter of where,’’ he said.
‘‘As with most projects, there are some unknowns and, in the Halcombe site, glass-bottle noise was one of them.’’
The Halcombe station is on a sixmonth trial, but Mcmillan said it was likely to continue. The council would look at the cost of erecting a tall fence in the meantime to reflect the noise, he said.
The station cost ratepayers $15,000 to establish and $174 a week to service.
‘‘I love recycling. I think it’s fantastic, but this is disturbing my idyllic piece of paradise.’’
Caroline Smith