Country Living – Double standards on rubbish

By Julie Cotton

It looks as if our lovely rural communities are suffering from a bit of a hangover and, unfortunately, it is not of the alcohol variety which is a pity, because perhaps a greasy hamburger could have easily fixed the problem! Nope, I believe our hangover stems from a massive population explosion in Auckland pushing people and their rubbish out to our communities. Steadily, over the last two years, I have watched in horror as our beautiful rural landscapes have become the dumping ground for the disrespectful losers who believe that their junk and rubbish looks better in our communities than in their own backyards. I mean for goodness sake at the end of my rural road I have got half a flat! Dirty couches, a cupboard and just general junk (and don’t get me started on the pack of roosters that have been dumped as well).

I don’t believe for a second that this dumping is being performed by our locals. Generally speaking, I believe that people who choose to live in communities such as ours have a certain sense of affection and pride, which is clearly not instilled in these shameless and faceless characters who are dumping their rubbish all over the show. The other rubbish dumping bugbear I have is this freedom camping gig. So, Auckland Council advertise to the world that you can come and stay in our communities for free, but don’t provide enough rubbish disposal facilities for them to dump all their rubbish and junk. So, once again, our beautiful picnic and camping spots are littered with rubbish. Why is it when we go to parks and beaches we are told to “take your rubbish home”, but these freedom camping spots are cesspits, with broken camping chairs and anything else they don’t want crammed in their vans dumped wherever. It is ironic that citizens like me who are paying serious amounts of rates and can’t get our rubbish collected have to help pay for the rubbish to be collected for people on holiday! I mean honestly, if you can afford an airfare from Europe to come here, surely you can afford to help contribute a small amount to our communities (coin operated dumpsters perhaps?) I honestly believe that nothing should be free while our communities go without basic, core services.

I, like many others of my ilk, have a deep affection and love for both our communities and our beautiful landscapes, and it’s just heart-breaking to drive around and see this utter filth and disrespect. Let’s start a campaign to “dob in a dumper”, let it be known to all and sundry that our place in this beautiful country deserves so much better than the unwanted garbage dumped by the insolent few. So, to the dumpers out there, it’s called a “waste disposal facility” and if you can’t get your head around that concept then then we politely ask you to take your rubbish, pack your bags and leave!