Household rubbish blocks waterways

Household waste is a challenge to remove.

A routine operational activity by the Tararua Alliance and Tararua District Council to clean and remove dumped rubbish in urban waterways is increasingly becoming a challenge as more and more rubbish is finding its way there, distracting the Tararua Alliance from its core business.

There is a range of rubbish, including potentially recyclable material, green waste such as tree limbs, grass clippings and collected leaves being dumped into the drain area, even shopping trolleys and road cones.

Waterways polluted by household rubbish.

This all needs to be retrieved from the waterways to ensure the drains are functional.

There are a number of implications resulting from this issue:

* It completely blocks the drains or reduces their capacity which can cause increased flooding issues, especially around inlet grates on an already vulnerable stormwater network.
* It increases the costs to maintain the drains, which is funded by ratepayers. This will either result in increased rates to fund the activity or a reduced level of service.
* It causes contamination and other water quality issues, which may contribute towards public health issues and unswimmable waterways further downstream. This goes against the social change towards looking after our natural and manmade waterways.

Rubbish collects to block culvert inlet grates.

Rob Sharp, planning manager for the Tararua Alliance, says, "This is a community issue which affects everyone throughout the Tararua District, which we need to address publicly. An issue that has environmental, aesthetic and financial impacts to our townships as well as downstream rural areas."