KEY POINTS:
Good on the Waitakere City Council for upping the ante in the war on litter.
A public notice in the paper this week advised that the council intended to raise the fine for littering from $100 to $400, the maximum it can charge by law.
A couple of litterbugs got a nasty fright last week when they were handed $400 infringement notices for throwing their cigarette butts on to the footpath, but they got a let-off. They won't actually have to pay the fines, as the bylaw doesn't come into effect for a couple of weeks, but it's a sign of things to come.
One of the litterbugs thought the fine was too steep, given that the fine for littering is the same as that for not having a current driver licence or warrant of fitness. And her mother agreed, saying it wasn't fair that the fine was the same whether you threw an entire rubbish bag of litter or one cigarette butt on to the road.
I reckon it's fair enough - after all, it's the same mindset. Don't want this, don't need this, someone else can pick up after me. Would that more councils followed Waitakere City's example.
How many times have you gone for a walk in a park only to see the dregs of someone's tawdry night out spoiling the beauty of the landscape? If you want to sit and drink beer and eat your takeaways on a grassy knoll in the centre of the city, go ahead. It's a simple and affordable pleasure. But for heaven's sake, pick up after yourself. The attitude that someone else will take care of your rubbish is so breathtakingly arrogant that a $400 fine seems somehow inadequate.
I have no idea where that attitude comes from. It's like some people haven't progressed past the age of 4. If you don't want the smelly chicken boxes and milkshake containers in your car, why would you think other people would want to see them on the street? If you've gone to the beach to enjoy the pristine beauty of sand and sea, does it not occur to you that other people coming to enjoy the same experience might be put off by seeing the remains of your picnic strewn on the sand?
There are rubbish bins everywhere - the most you would have to walk to dispose of your rubbish is a couple of minutes in any direction. Why is it so hard for people to do that?
I've seen people chucking rubbish out of their car windows, and it's infuriating that there is nothing I can do about it. I'd love to force them to the side of the road, haul them out of their cars, march them back to their rubbish and rub their noses in the mess they've made. But that's just a fantasy and, like my other fantasy involving George Clooney, it's unlikely to ever happen.
The next best thing, I guess, is a whopping great fine. But then it has to be enforced, and how many litter officers are going to be roaming the streets of Waitakere City? And I know it's yet another law and yet another fine, but until people understand the concept of collective and community responsibility, these sorts of bylaws need to be enacted and enforced.
Maybe it's just ignorance - when a number of us were having a rant on radio about the arrogance and self-centredness of litterbugs, a couple of them rang in and said it had never occurred to them that there was a problem or that their cigarette butts or lolly papers were doing any harm until they'd heard the callers. They promised they'd change their ways, and if they do, well, good on them.
And, of course, there were the requisite plonkers - one said that if there wasn't rubbish to pick up, then some people would be out of a job. And another said cigarette butts were just like autumn leaves, and were we going to start chopping down trees because they littered?
In the face of that unbelievable stupidity, there's not really much to say, other than: "Pick up after yourself!"
We live in a beautiful city and a beautiful country. Let's keep it that way.
