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Resident appalled at rubbish in river

Jackie Shields,and her neighbour swim at Nelson’s Black Hole every hot day in the summer.

One Sunday earlier this month, the 82-year-old and her friend, also an octogenarian, went to check out their favourite spot on the Maitai River, taking a peek to see how the channel had changed over the winter.

Caption: Jackie Shields went to the Black Hole on the Maitai River earlier this month and was appalled by the rubbish that was dumped there after council removed the rubbish bins in August. Credit: Braden Fastier/Nelson Mail

There, she was confronted with over a dozen plastic food and beverage containers, alongside other rubbish.

After the council removed rubbish bins in August, there was no receptacle in sight, so she picked it up and brought it home to dispose of.

Shields said she hated to see the rubbish there, and bemoaned the removal of the rubbish bins.

“They’re nuts. It doesn’t make sense, because the plebs will always [litter],” she said.

Every time Shields walks downtown, she said she inevitably picked up a can or a plastic bottle that some “slob” had thrown.

The council’s argument that the bins were full of household waste was “their excuse”, she said.

Shields said not having rubbish bins at the spot wasn’t going to work, and added that she refused to pick up rubbish again on behalf of the council.

“People haven’t even started swimming there yet,” she said.

“It’s not good enough.”

Nelson City Council group manager community services Andrew White confirmed that two rubbish bins were removed from Black Hole Reserve as part of the broader waste-free parks initiative.

The bins were removed in August following a phased removal process that saw 66 rubbish bins taken out of local parks, reserves, walkways and esplanades over three months.

The removal of the bins is expected to reduce bin collection costs by about $41,500 over the course of a year.

White said the rationale behind removing bins, including those from Black Hole, was to reduce costs associated with emptying bins that were increasingly being misused for household waste.

It was also to encourage a shift in public behaviour towards more sustainable waste management by adopting the “pack-in, pack-out” approach – taking all rubbish home after visiting parks, he said.

Before the removals began, council’s audit found that 53% of rubbish collected from park bins was household waste, which White said cost ratepayers and took resources away from essential services.

The audit would be repeated with results helping to determine the council’s next steps, and to confirm if there had been any change to this number.

Although fly-tipping was a concern during the transition, White said contractors carried out regular checks for rubbish in areas where bins had been removed and the council would implement further measures if needed, including signage, cameras, and fines of up to $400 for illegal dumping.

“We are confident that with community cooperation and small acts of individual responsibility, such as taking litter home or reducing unnecessary waste, parks can remain litter-free and environmentally friendly.”

Residents who come across a lot of litter should contact council to report it – either via the Antenno app or via council’s customer service centre.

By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail

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