TOP STORY: Utter despair at sheer filth

REBECCA HARPER Hawke's Bay Regional Council staff say the dumping of rubbish and car wrecks in the region's waterways, coupled with vandalism and graffiti, is getting worse.
Council engineering officer for rivers Vincent Byrne said a "disproportionate number" of offenders identified in a surveillance operation carried out by council, and from his experience in the field, were islanders.
"I would say they just don't know it's not allowed. It could be a cultural difference, it could be a lack of education," he said.
"It could be the dumping cost, that they don't have the money to take it to the transfer station. Or it could just be laziness."
In the 2006 census the Hawke's Bay population (according to regional council boundaries) was 147,783. Of that number, a mere 5265 identified themselves as 'Pacific peoples'.
Mr Byrne said more than 50 per cent of offenders were also beneficiaries. "I have to go through the rubbish to see what's being dumped and to identify the offenders," he said.
"More than 50 per cent of the time there are letters from Work and Income NZ, debt collection agencies, or the courts. A lot of this evidence points to islanders, as well as the photos. It's a sad indictment given their small representation in the community."
Some of his more disturbing finds included drug paraphernalia and chemicals.
The Bay might be known for its pristine beaches, rivers, and lakes, but he was at the end of his tether and did not know how to stop the growing problem.
"I'm on the rivers all day every day and I'm sick and tired of it. When you take a drive around our region I'm talking trailerloads and bags of rubbish dumped everywhere," a frustrated Mr Byrne said.
"It goes without saying - just don't do it. But what can you say? People don't listen, it's just ignorance" He was at a loss to understand the point of graffiti, as it had no financial gain and achieved nothing.
"It defies me what we can do to these people. What we do is largely reactive, as it's just about impossible to catch these people red handed - they're very clever," he said.
While he did have delegated authority from the Napier City Council and Hastings District Council to issue up to a $500 fine, people very rarely paid them and he had no way of making offenders cough up.
Mr Byrne suggested it would take community will to stop the dumping and vandalism. More resources, static patrols, or further surveillance operations were also possibilities, but he admitted the cost would be huge.
"It needs education and possibly a fulltime position for a person to go around schools. It's plain common sense," he said.