Porirua Harbour Trust
Onepoto Arm gets its annual clean up – 172 large items removed
12 Dec 2013
The community assisted Porirua Harbour Trust and Keep Porirua Beautiful with two clean up events concentrating on the Porirua Stream delta where it enters the Porirua Harbour. A total of 172 large items were cleared out of the harbour with 132 car tyres, 35 road cones, shopping trolleys, bikes and other rubbish removed.
“The clean up in the intertidal zone is a key contributor to the visual beauty of the Porirua Harbour” says Porirua Harbour Trust chairperson Grant Baker. “The Porirua Stream mouth is the first part of the Porirua Harbour that people travelling north on the train see, and keeping it clear of rubbish is a challenge as it is the main collection point for rubbish both from Porirua Stream and from the prevailing wind on the Onepoto Arm”.
“It’s pleasing to see that this year’s annual clean up produced significantly less large items than the 260 collected last year.” says Mr Baker “But there is still a long way to go. The amount collected will be one of the harbour scorecard measures which will be announced by the trust early next year”.
“A big thank you to the missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Helping Hands and all the other volunteers who helped haul this stuff out of our harbour. It is hard physical work” says Sharli Solomon from Keep Porirua Beautiful. “There are still more tyres in there and we need to get them out. The people using our harbour and waterways as their own personal rubbish tip need to Stop Right Now” she says.