29 July 2004

Spring Cleaning Comes Early to Manukau

It's been a long, cold, wet winter, but the return next month of Manukau City Council's annual inorganic rubbish collection means that residents can get their spring cleaning underway.

The inorganic collection runs from August through to mid-December. Council's Senior Policy Analyst Patricia Facenfield wants to remind residents of the importance of putting their rubbish out at the appropriate time.

"All residents will receive a blue leaflet about ten days before collection in their area. The leaflet sets out the collection date for your street and detail on what can be collected. It is important that people don't put their rubbish out until the weekend before the collection to avoid health risks and to keep up Manukau's image as a clean vibrant city," says Ms Facenfield.

Residents should stack their rubbish neatly on the berm outside their homes, not on street corners or Council reserves. "During last year's collection dumping was a real problem, particularly in rural areas.

"The roadside reserve in Whitford Park Road adjacent to Whitford Golf Club was a particular area of concern last year, despite the erection of 'no dumping' signs and barriers. I would like to assure residents, particularly those who live on Whitford Park Road, Brownhill Road, and Arakotinga Road that Council's contractors have always collected and will continue to collect their inorganic rubbish from outside their properties," says Ms Facenfield.

Council contractors will be keeping the Whitford Park Road reserve under surveillance and anyone caught dumping rubbish in this and any other roadside reserve will be prosecuted.

Ms Facenfield would like residents to act as the 'eyes and ears' of the community by calling Council's twenty-four-hour Call Centre phone 262 5104 if they see anyone dumping rubbish in a park or reserve.

Three separate collections will be made, including one for tyres, another for items such as metals that can be recycled and one for other inorganic items.

Last year Council collected 9,511 tonnes of rubbish, of this 1079 tonnes of metal and 104 tonnes of tyres were recycled.

Collection schedule for each ward:

" Mangere August "
Papatoetoe September "
Otara October "
Manurewa mid October/November "
Pakuranga mid November "
Howick late November "
Clevedon early December

"Most people look forward to our free inorganic collection because it is an easy way to get rid of unwanted rubbish stockpiling in the backyard. However there is also a certain amount of responsibility that goes with the collection; keeping to the dates specified, encouraging your neighbours to do the same, and stacking rubbish safely outside your house," says Ms Facenfield.

For more information about the collections please phone Council's 24-four-hour Call Centre on 262 5104.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>