Rusting and sand-covered car wrecks have been removed as part of the annual clean-up at Waiuku’s Karioitahi Beach.
More than 50 people turned up for the Conservation Week event and they were joined by members of the Manukau 4WD Club, who used their own vehicles to pull the hulks from their resting places.
Locals say some of the wrecks have been in place for a long time and that made removing them challenging, with several deeply buried and weighed down by large amounts of sand.
The annual clean-up is supported by the Glenbrook Steel Mill and the Franklin Local Board and locals are delighted to see the back of the dumped cars, which will be disposed of at the mill.
No one knows for certain how the vehicles got on the beach, but locals believe they are dumped by joy-riders, and Auckland Council environmental staff say they are a risk to wildlife and people, with sharp steel exposed as they rust, and fuel, oil and grease leaching into the marine environment.
