Toys, rubbish dumped on New Brighton streets

Some of the rubbish dumped along Oram Ave in New Brighton. Photo / Christchurch Star

Residents of New Brighton, Christchurch are getting fed up with rubbish being dumped on streets.

Chessa Crow has lived in Oram Ave for seven years and said the problem was getting worse.

"There are upwards of three dumps of rubbish at any one time."

Photo / Christchurch Star

City council records show a big increase in Oram Ave, and nearby Hood, Rodney and Shackleton streets, over the past two years. There were 15 rubbish pick-ups in the year to April and the same amount the previous year, costing the city council around $1000, plus dump and tonnage charges.

In 2014/15, there were only four pick-ups.

Photo / Christchurch Star

A city council spokeswoman said the number had "increased from a few years
ago, but are now possibly steadying".

It costs about $35 to take a load to the dump, plus tonnage costs of $200 a tonne.

Mrs Crow said she had never caught anyone in the act.

"I imagine they're midnight marauders," she said.

Couches, beds, bikes and televisions make regular appearances.

Mrs Crow believed the problem could be put down to a combination of laziness, the cost of taking items to the dump and a perception that New Brighton is a "derelict place anyway, so why not".

She used the city council's Snap Send Solve app to report incidents, and it usually took three to five days to collect the dumped rubbish.

Photo / Christchurch Star

The city council might also need to look at alternatives, she said.

"I'm originally from Toronto and they have drop-off locations where, once a month, you can take your televisions or couches and it doesn't cost."

The city council spokeswoman said there were no plans to introduce a kerbside collection.