Rubbish dumped on Bell Rd next to the Tauranga Eastern Link over bridge. Photo / Andrew Warner
One of the Western Bay of Plenty's most scenic spots has become a dumping ground for an abandoned boat, bunk beds and car tyres.
Papamoa mum Jamie Rush takes her 3-year-old son to the end of Bell Rd by the Kaituna River a few times a week.
Rush said they visited the area to watch the boats
"It's nice down there," she said.
Rush visited the spot yesterday morning and found an old boat and bunkbeds dumped near the Tauranga Eastern Link overbridge.
When Rush first saw the boat, she said she thought it was stolen and dumped "but saw it was filled up with rubbish and not seaworthy".
"Why not just take it to the dump? Times are tough but not that tough."
Rush said dumping in the area was an issue that was getting worse over the past month.
"There's been a lot of things dumped there. From household items to the interior of buses," she said.
"Some things have been moved but there are car tyres and all sorts that have stayed there for a while."
Rush said she was disappointed people were taking the space for granted.
"Harsher penalties and signage would be good and just people to keep an eye out on others dumping and report it."
Rubbish dumping cost the Tauranga City Council $54,300 over the past three years. Tauranga City Council's Kath Yule said hot spots tended to be quiet, out-of-the-way parks and places where people could be hidden from view.
The council was installing CCTV cameras in dumping hot spots "but for now we rely on the public reporting incidences to the council", she said.
The Western Bay of Plenty District Council, which looks after Bell Rd, was looking into the incident.
Between 2015 and 2018 about 320 tonnes of illegal dumped waste was collected by contractors, comprising of:
• Household waste 22.27 per cent
• Furniture 19.60 per cent
• Rubbish bags 18.04 per cent
• Tyres 15.37 per cent
• Bedding 12.69 per cent
• Other 12.03 per cent
Source: Tauranga City Council
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.