Rubbish rules lead to eyesores

Ruapehu Bulletin, 1 September 1992, Page 7

Rubbish rules lead to eyesores

BY

MARNIE

WOODD

Inadequate publicity about rubbish collection has resulted in unsightly rubbish deposits on Ohakune streets. Rubbish collectors contracted by the Ruapehu District Council will only pick up paper 'Kleensaks' on their domestic rounds, according to Council operations manager Kevin Hillman. That message isn't getting through to Ohakune holiday makers. Drive along a street with lots of holiday houses on it on a Monday afternoon and chances are there will be plastic bags and cardboard boxes filled with refuse still sitting on the grass verge beside the road. Council marketing manager Bruce Rollinson agreed this didn't do much for the clean, green image the town was trying to project. "But we are providing environmentally friendly rubbish bags," he argued. Since last Monday the Council has been cracking down on collecting only paper sacks. The council will not pick up plastic bags because they offer little protection to the rubbish collector from sharp objects. Many local authorities have the same policy. "For us to collect all the extra rubbish people put out at the moment would be an impossible task," Mr Hillman said, "We would need a special compacter to contain the litter." He said the cost of one of these machines is $1 50,000-$200,000. The council used to drop off packs of 52 paper bags once a year to each house but stopped that 3-4 years ago because many of the dwellings were holiday homes and the bags were often left where they were dropped until unusable, or stolen. Dwelling owners or leasees can collect packs

of sacks from the council offices in Miro Street. Area engineer Don Sattler said there is a proposal in this year's annual plan to look at

putting big bins into ski resort areas which the council would collect once a week. He said another niggling problem that hap-

pened every year was the dumping of refuse into street bins . Council environmental health officer Colin Turner said the health

risk to humans of uncollected rubbish sitting on the roadside, is virtually nil. "There's possibly more danger to dogs and

cats eating any uncooked or rotting meat from the garbage." He said roadside refuse was most unlikely to attract rats. He believes sensible disposal of rubbish

should just be part of packing up after a holiday. "Surely these people are responsible for rubbish at their own homes," he said. "It just shows a lack of feeling for the community here."