Nor'West News: September 10, 2019

8 Tuesday September 10 2019
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NOR’WEST NEWS
News
Charity shops seen as a rubbish dump
• By Laura Hitchon
PEOPLE ARE discarding
damaged goods and other
rubbish outside charity shops to
avoid paying refuse station fees.
Charity shop staff are turning
up to work on Monday mornings
to discover large piles of damaged
goods lying on their front
door step and, although some
items are saleable, many are not.
St John Opportunity Shop
volunteer Brian North said many
people dropped off the goods at
their Addington store at night
or during the weekend when the
shop was closed.
“We would prefer that people
drop off their goods during the
daytime when we are able to
inspect them.
“People think that just because
they donate something, we will
accept it but we need to be able
to sell these items and if they’re
damaged, we can’t,” he said.
Salvation Army Family Store
Hornby shop manager Terry
Murray said some people genuinely
believed the goods they
were donating were in an acceptable
condition but many people
knew the goods were rubbish
and donated them anyway.
Damaged goods being donated
included lounge suites, drawers,
mattresses, tables, chairs,
ANNOYED: Salvation Army Family Store Hornby shop manager Terry Murray
(right) and volunteer Neville Walton stand next to the overflowing rubbish skip
filled with donated goods they cannot sell.
sporting equipment, crockery,
glassware, artwork, books, clothing
and shoes.
The money generated from
selling donated goods goes back
into the charity to help people
in need, however, this was being
jeopardised by the cost of having
to dump other people’s rubbish.
Mr Murray said they emptied
their skip about three times a
week which cost them about
$140 each time.
“One of the biggest expenses
we have is taking damaged
goods to the dump.”
Mr Murray said the cost of
taking rubbish to the refuse
station was a possible cause of
people dumping their unwanted
goods at charity shops.
“Many people don’t own a
trailer and can’t afford to hire
one let alone afford to take their
rubbish to the dump, so they just
leave it on the charity’s doorstep,”
he said.
To dump one tonne of general
waste, the EcoCentral website
lists it at $253.40.
WASTE: Salvation Army staff members Leane
Robertson (left) and Karen White with dirty,
stained and faded clothing.
PHOTOS: LAURA HITCHON
Mr Murray said it would be
beneficial if the city council
collected large waste from the
charity once a month and subsidised
the dumping fees to ease
pressure.
A city council spokesperson
said they expected residents to
dispose of their unwanted items
responsibly and that people
should only make donations to
charity stores that are open, able
and willing to take their items.
The spokesperson said dumping
damaged goods at charity
bins or store fronts could be seen
as illegal dumping and could
incur a fine for the person disposing
of the litter.
“The kerbside collection
service is a standard service
funded by ratepayers and we
are unable to provide additional
services above the entitlement of
a property.”
The spokesperson said
unwanted goods could be
disposed of at one of three
EcoDrop recycling centres across
the city at a cost.
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The launch of the cross-party
Mental Health and Addictions
Wellbeing Group is a huge
step in bringing a long-term
commitment to mental health that
won’t change when governments
change. Last year, I wrote to
every MP asking them to back me
in taking a cross-party approach
and it was important to me to
negotiate this while in Opposition.
As a new MP, an elderly
gentleman told me not to talk
about my background in mental
health because “we don’t talk
about mental health in New
Zealand”. I think he speaks of
a generation that didn’t have a
vocabulary to talk about mental
health and faced a lot of stigma
around it. Now, we’ve a younger
generation with the vocabulary
to talk about it and they don’t
face as much stigma — and
they’re driving politicians to bring
change.
I enjoyed visiting the Northern
Corridor project site recently
and was impressed by its scope.
Combined with the Western
Belfast Bypass, which has
diverted 50 percent of commuter
traffic off Main North Road and
away from residents’ homes,
it will move traffic seamlessly
into Christchurch. These
projects, designed by National to
futureproof our region’s transport
needs, were the first tranche of
our roading solutions.
Last week, I brought NZTA
to a public meeting to address
residents’ concerns about the lack
of investment after Government
cancelled the four-lane Belfast to
Pegasus motorway, the logical
next step in our roading solutions,
and which National in 2017
had committed to building. The
representation from all sectors at
the meeting tells me there’s real
concern in our community.
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