Lookout used as rubbish tip

Before Stormy Point becomes a major regional tourist attraction, it needs to lose its status as a rubbish dump, says a local farmer.

Destination Manawatu is looking to develop a tourist trail known as The Country Road: Stormy Point, with the lookout as the main feature.

However, farmer Dave Richards said something would have to be done about the piles of rubbish that are often dumped at the carpark of the State Highway 54 lookout, north of Cheltenham.

Rubbish would often pile up along the fences next to the road, he said.

When the Manawatu Standard visited the lookout, there was rubbish dumped in the carpark near the lookout and pieces of broken glass.

Normally the New Zealand Transport Agency would be responsible for cleaning up a site next to the state highway, but NZTA state highway manager Wanganui Errol Christiansen said Stormy Point was different.

A 1995 agreement between NZTA [then Transit NZ] and the Manawatu District Council said the latter was responsible for maintaining and clearing rubbish from the lookout area, including the shoulder/carpark area, he said.

Council parks and reserves manager Albert James said the area was cleaned by Fulton Hogan contractors every couple of weeks during summer, and about once a month during winter.

Smashed glass at the lookout was a big problem. "People used to leave it in piles, now we've got these wallies who smash it."

The council would be happy to work with Destination Manawatu to get the area cleaned more often, he said. And that would please Destination Manawatu chief executive Lance Bickford, who said he was even happy to organise people to clean up the lookout.

- © Fairfax NZ News