Native bush used as a tip
A Coromandel woman who happened upon piles of household rubbish discarded illegally in native bush wants dumpers to clean up their act.
Laura Lee stumbled upon abandoned boat motors, fishing nets, car parts, chest freezers, dirty nappies, smashed windows and broken bottles during her walks from Tuateawa to Kennedy Bay during lockdown.
The act shows a ‘‘level of disrespect’’ for the environment, she said.
‘‘I was absolutely heartbroken to see how many people had been dumping items just everywhere – everywhere they were able to stop the car, basically.
‘‘The extent of the rubbish was unbelievable.’’
Lee, whose family owns a property in Tuateawa, on the eastern Coromandel, said although the dense native bush made it difficult to spot the waste from the road, once presented with a closer look, you could see ‘‘litters of rubbish for miles’’.
‘‘I felt really upset and disappointed. It’s native kiwi land and there’s been a lot of work put in to try and boost the kiwi numbers, and when you walk into the bush and see what the kiwi are trying to live in, it’s so sad.
‘‘And the worst thing is, there is a rubbish service provided, so there is absolutely no need for people to do this,’’ Lee said.
Kerbside collections of rubbish from Thames-Coromandel households has resumed following the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown. Lee said many of the abandoned items bore clues that they were dumped by locals.
Thames-Coromandel District Council solid waste manager Mark Cressey said while dumpers can be issued with infringement notices, its current approach was educating people through signage and letters to residents.