Pieces of rubbish are regularly found alongside rural roads in New Zealand. PHOTO/LINDA KIRKLAND
GIANINA SCHWANECKE
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Fed up with growing piles of litter and rubbish along the main road to Castlepoint, a Tinui woman has organised a roadside rubbish collection on Saturday to help clean up.
Lucinda Maunsell said she’d simply had enough and wanted to do something about it.
“Living out in Tinui, I do a lot of driving and it was very noticeable,” she said. “It was just horrendous.”
She said in recent months the grass had died and flattened, making it easier to see the rubbish on the side of the road.
“There’s just so much of it,” she said.
She worried what kind of impact it might have on tourism in the area.
“It’s not a good look. Castlepoint is on the rise as a tourist destination.
“There’s a lot of industry on the road too, with honey and forestry workers.”
Maunsell’s e-bike tour business Rahui Coastal Loop was recognised in the Wairarapa Business Awards in September.
She said she became more aware of the issue during a 2012 trip to Vietnam.
“We were in the middle of nowhere and it was full of plastic. Coming home from that my eyes hurt.”
It was easy enough for people to collect rubbish along their property boundaries, or better yet easy for the drivers not to litter, she said.
“I want to have it looking nice,” she said. “It’s not hard.”
She said there had been good support from the district.
On Tuesday morning a council contractor could be seen collecting rubbish along the Masterton-Castlepoint Rd just east of Tauweru as part of regular services, a council spokesperson said.
Those helping with the main road collection are asked to meet at the Tinui pub at 10.30am this Saturday.
Residents are asked to grab a bag for rubbish collection and drop it off at the Tinui Hall this Saturday before 2pm, when it will be collected by council staff.
- For more information contact Lucinda Maunsell on 06 372 6663.
