Hawke's Bay Regional Council today approved a new plan to improve river access areas.
Plagued by increasing costs of removing illegally dumped rubbish, illegal use and dumping of vehicles, and random vandalism, the Council has been looking at tougher measures for a number of river sites.
“Rubbish, car dumping, graffiti and vandalism continues to be the most significant issue for Council with increasing costs falling on ratepayers for cleaning up the mess left by a few irresponsible people, but as these events are random they are difficult to police,” says Works Business unit manager, Graeme Hansen.
Council are proposing covert surveillance of some public access areas to gather evidence of illegal activities to enable prosecutions. They will also adopt a new approach to rubbish by removing all rubbish bins from some areas and promote a “you bring it, you take it away” approach.
A stronger approach to enforcement of litter enforcement notices was also signalled, with stronger fines for litter and rubbish dumping offences being advocated. The Regional Council is working with city and district Councils, which are also battling rubbish and vandalism problems, to find ways to pool resources and save costs.
Council staff are also working with a recreational group to establish a dedicated sports facility for motorcycle riders on Council owned land.
“We believe the best approach to tackling destructive use of the region’s river access areas will be to make incremental improvements and work more strongly with other Councils and key interest groups who want the river areas to be safe, attractive places for everyone to enjoy, ” says Mr Hansen. |