Cleared weeds dumped at park

GREEN waste being dumped at Kitchener Park near Feilding contains noxious material that community workers at the native bush reserve have spent years trying to clear.

Three loads of rubbish including wandering dew, ivy, Japanese honeysuckle and agapanthus have been subtly scattered in an area off the southern walkway just inside the park’s entrance.

Curator Gavin Scott said he had never seen rubbish dumped in such a way during his 20-year involvement with the park and described the incident as “annoying” and “disheartening”.

“We’ve been successfully eradicating the Japanese honeysuckle over many years, but now it’s being reintroduced by indiscriminate dumping,” he said. “The agapanthus is a pesky plant, the lily poses huge problems and the wandering dew has been largely cleared from this high value conservation area over the past year or two.”

Mr Scott said it appeared the new dumping ground, other than the carpark, had been chosen because of the better public access to New Zealand’s tallest kowhai tree on the walkway.

“We’ve opened up the gateway for the public to walk through, but these people have taken advantage to dump their rubbish.”

He said some of the plants would soon spread if they were not immediately removed and were likely to threaten the only two regenerating pukatea native trees in the park.

“We are getting some good natural regrowth, but then this type of thing happens, and it becomes a double whammy.”

Parks and Reserves Manager Albert James said it appeared the dumpers were trying to hide the material and hoping park workers would not see it.

“It is disturbing for the workers trying to clear the weeds to have it coming back.”

Mr James said penalties for the dumping of waste were severe and he requested that people dispose of it in the proper manner by taking it to the transfer station.

“Security cameras are operating in the area and we do request people to keep their eyes out and report any cases of illegal dumping,” he said.