St Vincent de Paul shop on Old Taupō Rd regularly has rubbish dumped outside its doors. Photo / Stephen Parker
St Vincent de Paul shop on Old Taupō Rd regularly has rubbish dumped outside its doors. Photo / Stephen Parker
Rotorua's op-shop workers are getting fed up with people dumping rubbish illegally outside their shops at night, saying it happens far too often, especially over the holidays.
Salvation Army spokeswoman Louise Parry said while they were grateful for whatever they received, they preferred to take donations during the daytime whenthey weren't at risk of being stolen.
While they tried to make use of everything, there were some goods that couldn't be used, she said.
"There are some goods that are just damaged or unsuitable or dangerous," Parry said.
Rubbish dumped outside the St Vincent de Paul shop last year. Photo / File
The shop had cameras up to deter people but she said they took "no notice" and continued to dump rubbish.
She said the council told her they couldn't help because it was private property. The shop, however, neighboured a walkway where people went through and littered as well.
"People ... dump [their rubbish] out the back of the shop," she said.
The manager of one of Rotorua's SPCA op-shops said she had come back from her three-week Christmas break to find rubbish outside the store.
"There was a couch out there and a whole lot of clothes that have been gone through."
She said the shop had a sign outside to discourage overnight donations, which "seemed to have helped" but dumping still happened "once or twice a week".
"We've been fortunate these holidays, it hasn't been quite as bad, although in saying that I filled the bin up within the first couple of days of the shop being closed," she said.
Both managers had particular issues with people dumping large items, such as lounge suites and bedroom furniture, that were heavy and costly to remove.
Rotorua has had a spate of illegal rubbish dumping recently, with the Rotorua Daily Post reporting on a pile of rubbish found by the Rotorua International Stadium over the Christmas break.
Rubbish found dumped near the Rotorua International Stadium just before New Year. Photo / File
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure group manager Stavros Michael told the Daily Post at the time that it was a community issue that required a "long-term community ownership approach".
Illegal dumping costs the council about $100,000 a year.
Waste services and sustainability manager for Rotorua Lakes Council, Prashant Praveen, said the council did not have jurisdiction to deal with incidents of dumping on private property.
"Unfortunately, there are always people who choose not to do the right thing," he said.
"These matters can be reported to the police."
He also said they had dealt with matters on a case-by-case basis in the past.
Anyone who needed advice or wanted to report illegal rubbish dumping could phone the council hotline, he said.
