On a typical Auckland “four seasons in one day” morning we set up for the first ever Unitec clean-up of Oakley Creek Te Auaunga, the longest urban stream on the Auckland isthmus, extending some 15 kilometres.

With the support of ‘The Friends of Oakley Creek,’ and after a safety brief we headed off with a group of 10 staff and students and three Sustainable Coastlines crew. The starting point was the bridge close to Great North Road where the new Waterview Connection motorway.

As we worked our way along the eastern side of the river we pulled out 100kgs of trash, most of this was single use plastic, along with several tyres and a road cone. It will be interesting to repeat the clean up in 6 to 12 months time to see if we have managed to make a long term difference to the area.