Rubbish in parks wastes ratepayers’ money

Regional park rangers are an industrious bunch who work hard to maintain Waitaha/Canterbury’s three regional parks and make them appealing places to be. But clearing rubbish is one task on the park rangers’ weekly to-do list that (literally) stinks.

In the last 12 months, rangers hauled over 36 tonnes of illegally dumped rubbish from Waimakariri River Regional Park and Ashley Rakahuri Regional Park.

Disposing of this rubbish cost more than $13,000, with the bill passed on to ratepayers. This hefty weight doesn’t include the large number of animal carcasses that are collected each year and buried in appropriate locations in the parks.

A waste of limited time

Each week, it takes two rangers a full day to deal with rubbish in the parks.

“Dealing with dumped rubbish is a huge waste of our limited time and resources when we’re trying to manage 12,000 hectares of land,” said parks and forests team leader Chuck Dowdell.

“Collecting all manner of rubbish from parks and rivers each week is beyond unpleasant for our rangers. It’s not what they signed up for, and it takes them away from the positive work they want to be doing.”

Rangers deal with household rubbish, animal carcasses, tyres, vehicles, and even asbestos-containing construction materials in the parks regularly.

In the past year, 971 tyres and 30 cars have been removed from the two parks. A specialist contractor removed and disposed of the latest batch of asbestos-containing construction waste earlier in 2024, costing ratepayers $3,500.

Fines and trespass notices

Park rangers can issue instant $750 fines to those spotted littering in the parks. They can also trespass offenders from the regional parks for up to three years. However, with fly tippers going out of their way to avoid detection, we need your help.

How you can help

• Be responsible for your rubbish. Do what most Cantabrians already do, and dispose of rubbish safely and in the appropriate place. Find out about your local waste transfer stations on your district or city council’s website. For the sake of your health and your community’s health, you must dispose of asbestos properly, following Worksafe guidelines.
• Help with clean-up or planting events. Look out for opportunities to contribute to the wellbeing of your parks through events like river clean-up days and planting days. Our last planting day of 2024 will take place on 22 September at Baynons Brake in Waimakariri River Regional Park. Register as a planting day volunteer. 
• Encourage others to do the right thing. If a friend or family member dumps rubbish in the parks, let them know it’s not the ‘free’ option they might think it is. It costs ratepayers big bucks to have that illegally dumped rubbish retrieved, and it reduces the whole community’s enjoyment of the parks.

“If a mate is dumping their household waste, commercial rubbish or carcasses in the parks, don’t look the other way,” said Dowdell. “Tell them your go-to local, legal options for waste disposal.”

Remember, if you find rubbish in the regional parks or see someone fly tipping, report it via the Snap Send Solve app, give our Advisory Team a call at 0800 765 588, or contact the park rangers directly by emailing duty.ranger@ecan.govt.nz