Rubbish leads list of complaints about Dyers Rd

Friday, 3 July 2026

Over three weeks, volunteers collected rubbish from a busy thoroughfare that they say should be the responsibility of a state agency.

Dyers Rd passes through the oxidation ponds in Bromley, and volunteers from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust have collected 59 bags of rubbish so far, former manager Tanya Jenkins said.

Dyers Rd is also known as State Highway 74 and owned by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA).

It should be collecting the rubbish, Jenkins said.

Tanya Jenkins, who organises and volunteers for the Estuary Trust, cleans rubbish off the sides of Dyers Rd, in Bromley on Monday.

“NZTA has limited funding available for non-urgent maintenance such as rubbish/litter collection and upkeep of vegetation that does not pose a safety risk,” NZTA regional relationships director James Caygill said.

NZTA’s North Canterbury contractor, HEB Construction, is contractually required to do litter collection every two weeks and “does its best” to respond to need, he said.

About 25% of the collected rubbish looked like debris intended for the Bromley EcoDrop station, Jenkins said, referring to cardboard boxes, large pieces of plastic and polystyrene.

Matt Murphy, left, and Bill Simpson get their hands dirty beside Dyers Rd in Bromley.

Most looked like it was thrown from car windows - bottles, coffee cups, crisp packets and drink cans. It was unsightly, she said.

The volunteers could see more rubbish that had presumably blown into the oxidation ponds, which are part of the 340-hectare Te Huingi Manu Wildlife Refuge and home to many native and exotic birds.

Even the estuary trust is not allowed on the ponds.

The two fences: On the left, NZTA’s fence and on the right, the city council’s, with rubbish between them.

Jenkins had given up on NZTA and hoped the Christchurch City Council would award a contract to the likes of Citycare to tidy the roadway regularly.

Citycare provided the rubbish bags and collected them for free after the five cleanups so far. The volunteers will be going back every second Monday afternoon to collect garbage.

This stretch of Dyers Rd also came up at a Christchurch City Council meeting on Wednesday, when local community board chairperson Paul McMahon complained about a “decrepit” NZTA fence.

NZTA has limited funding available for non-urgent maintenance such as rubbish/litter collection, regional relationships director James Caygill says.

There are four fences along the oxidation ponds, two on each side of Dyers Rd. Two are taller, owned by the council, and in good shape. The other two, about a metre closer to the roadway, are shorter, owned by NZTA, and in bad shape.

McMahon, speaking for the community board, wants the NZTA fence removed for safety and aesthetic reasons.

“The good news is that NZTA will allow the fence to be removed, but the bad news is that we [the council] will likely have to pay for it,” he said.

The community board had Better Off funding provided by the Government but did not want to spend it on removing a Government fence.

City councillor Pauline Cotter agreed and said that “doesn't sit right with me”.

NZTA said it was talking with the council about the fence and “related arrangements and costs”. It hoped to share more soon.

McMahon also lobbied the council for a speed reduction on Dyers Rd and traffic lights to be installed at Maces Rd and Dyers Rd.

“Dyers Rd - including this intersection - is owned, operated and maintained by NZTA, so the council does not have authority to make changes,” council planning and delivery transport manager Jacob Bradbury said.

Such changes were unlikely in the short term, Caygill said.