Plan in hand to clean up dump spot

Craig Morley is pleased areas like this one next to the reserve on Froude St will be getting a clean-up next week. Photo / Stephen Parker

Broken glass, used tyres, a fridge and a deflated paddling pool are among the items you could find near the reserve on Froude St, which has become a popular dumping site.

Negligence of the site will soon be over, however, with a clean-up planned as part of Keep Rotorua Beautiful week, to tie in with the nationwide Keep New Zealand Beautiful Clean Up Week this week.

The site is about 20m from the picturesque Puarenga Stream, with loads of potential to become a spot for recreation, said Nadine McClay from Keep Rotorua Beautiful.

"This spot is perfect for things like Scouts."

But the area has become overgrown with weeds from dumped green waste, as well as solid waste like corrugated iron sheets and plastic bags.

Keep Rotorua Beautiful chairman Craig Morley said neighbours noticed cars and trailers parking down the street and throwing waste on to the site.

"We've got sofas here too - it's like a dead-end street so people can come in and drop things off."

He invited the community to get in touch to let them know what areas needed to be cleaned up, and to volunteer to clean areas for the week.

"People have a lot of civic pride. Once they contribute to clearing up an area it often becomes ongoing."

He said people could adopt an area or get their business involved, either for the week or as part of ongoing projects.

Keep Rotorua Beautiful is funded by grants and sponsorship, with support from Rotorua Lakes Council.

Visit the Keep New Zealand Beautiful website for a list of events around the district, or to register your own event, at www.knzb.org.nz or email keeprotoruabeautiful@gmail.com