Reserved for rubbish

A Clevedon reserve is being spoiled by filth dumped down the bank into the bush below - but whose responsibility is it? asks Rowena Orejana.
Lindsey Britton grimaces as she picks up a wet pink blanket dumped into Ngaheretuku Reserve in Clevedon. There's another green one in the pink tub not so far away.
Scattered all around the area where she stands are pieces of rusting metal, some obviously were once parts of appliances.
"This is nasty," says Ms Britton, a Clevedon resident and a member of the South Auckland branch of the Royal Forest and Bird Society.
This collection of rubbish is nothing compared to the farm carcasses and dead dogs, car bodies and parts, furniture, garden plants and a great deal of unidentifiable debris the group found when it did an extensive clean-up in March.
Ms Britton has been trying to get Manukau City Council to help the society keep the area free of rubbish.
But all she has been getting is the same refrain: the reserve is not the council's responsibility because it is owned by Forest and Bird.
"Even if they don't have a legal obligation, we would like to think they still have a moral obligation to help because all rubbish is coming off council property.
"People are standing on council land when they shove it into our reserve," she says.
The council owns a triangular piece of land above Twilight Rd. It always clears rubbish from there.
It has put an earthen barrier on the side but this has not deterred the determined dumpers.
The stuff rolls into the bush.
It has encouraged the growth of weeds. Some of the debris has even become embedded in tree roots.
The situation has been compounded by flame trees that the council planted to stabilise the winding road's steep banks.
"When a piece of flame tree gets broken off, it roots -  wherever it lands it roots. So we're starting to have a lot of problem with flame trees appearing and moving into the bush," adds Ms Britton.
Manukau City's communications department says officers are investigating the matter but it is too early to comment on it.
Ms Britton wants a round-table discussion between the society and all council officers involved in issues that plague the reserve.
"They just keep saying it's our problem, it's our problem.
"We're all volunteers. This land belongs to Forest and Bird which is a non-governmental organisation. It's not for profit.
"The people who manage all the Forest and Bird reserves in all of New Zealand are all volunteers. There's nobody paid to look after this," she says.
"At the end of the day, this is a piece of bush that we own and [that] looks after everybody."
Up close and on the land

How to get there: Ngaheretuku Reserve is at 196 Twilight Rd, 2.5km northwest of Clevedon and 28km southeast of Auckland.
Walking tracks: None.
The locals: Birds found in the reserve include tui, kereru, North Island fantail, silvereye and grey warbler.
The name means "bush gift" or "a gift of native bush", recognising Hugh Alexander's gift of the land. It's a 15ha reserve set on a steep tract that contains significant stands of kauri, kahikatea, totara, rimu, taraire, puriri and tanekaha. The reserve has one of the largest kahikatea in the Auckland region, which can be viewed from the road.