After finding hundreds of nails, staples and pieces of glass in the beach he loves, a Tauranga man is worried coastal Mount Maunganui will be ruined if action isn't taken quickly to save it.
After finding hundreds of nails, staples and pieces of glass in the beach he loves, a Tauranga man is worried coastal Mount Maunganui will be ruined if action isn't taken quickly to save it.
The area between Oceanbeach Rd and Hart St is littered with the debris,says Mount Maunganui local Leigh Sefton.
It believes it is only a matter of time before the "hazardous" material makesits way into someone's foot.He said there were bonfires most nights on the beach this time of year, with many people choosing to burn old wooden pallets.Mr Sefton said local teens were storing the pallets in the sand dunes and then burning them at night.
"Each pallethas 60 to 100 nails or staples in it so that is left in a pile and then unfortunately some groups are smashing bottles on to that too."
Mr Sefton said he had already removed two trailer loads of palletsfrom the dunes over the pastfew weeks.
Nails, staples and glass left on the beach. Photo/George Novak
The issue was not contained to Mount Maunganui - it was also happening in Papamoa East, he said.
Mr Sefton said he had contacted Tauranga City Council to help remedy the issue with beach cleaners but the pieces were too small for the machines to pick up so the mess was only spread further along the beach.
"You can't step two paces withoutfinding 20 or 30 nails.
"We are not talking one of two fires, we are talking 30 to 40 fires that have been held there which have turned a whole section of beach into an absolute nightmare."
An avid beach user and lifeguard, Mr Sefton said there was only one thing people should leave on the beach - their foot prints.
"They are oblivious to what they are creating or they just don't care," he said of those who left the remnants of their fires on the beach.
"I don't want to see a kid with a nail through its foot, that kid will be one too many. We have this amazing beach here, it's world class and I am watching it being destroyed."
Nails, staples and glass are being left on the beach from fires lit from pallets. Photo/George Novak
Mr Sefton said he was working on organising a mass beach clean-up.
Keenbeach walker and surfer Brett Morrison said if people had hands to carry wood and alcohol down to the beach, they should have the hands to remove the rubbish left behind after the fires.
Mr Morrison said it was not just humans who could be hurt by sharp objects on the beach, but dogs too.
"I don't have a problem with people lighting fires, as long as they are past the high tide mark, take their own unprocessed wood and take their rubbish away."
Fires on the beach:
Fires may be lit between 5am and 11pm on the coastal beach. All fires must be below the high tide mark, be less than one metre in diameter and must be under supervision at all times.
