East Coast Region News ArticleTaskforce Green workers add a touch of colour

A green crusade kicked off in early August with thirty Taskforce Green workers joining the ranks of the Hastings District Council. There are many shades of green amongst the new recruits: their backgrounds include an art graduate, youth worker and a laboratory technician.

Two sparkling green examples are Emily Chang and Clayton Baylis from the Environment Enhancement project. They're handling work such as recycling and managing household waste, composting and graffiti management.

Both Emily and Clayton are casualties of the recession. Emily was a quality control lab technician for a horticultural exporting company, while Clayton was a full-time youth worker.

The Work and Income-funded Taskforce Green initiative has helped the council pay for their jobs. Both Emily and Clayton are proud to be new ambassadors for the city, sporting their khaki green "Keep Hastings Beautiful" vests while they're out and about. The vests have a certain 'ask me, I'm an attendant' appeal.

"They work," says Clayton. "People often stop and ask us what we're up to. It's a great opportunity to spread the green message."

One of Clayton's projects is completing a park survey of council rubbish bins to determine how much recyclable and non-recyclable material is deposited.
"Potentially about 60% of the park rubbish could be recycled," explains Clayton.

"It's mostly takeaway wrappers and drink containers - that kind of thing, so introducing recycling stations could be a good move in some areas."

Emily's main responsibility is dealing with graffiti. Part of this is the "adopt a spot" initiative that encourages local businesses to look after an appointed area in the city, in partnership with the Council.

"My job's about getting the community involved, identifying areas where tagging is most common and keeping on top of it. It makes a bit of change from peering in a microscope all day long," laughs Emily. "The people contact and the support of the business community has been fantastic."

Meanwhile, out at Roy's Hill, three Taskforce Green workers have been kept busy adding green touches to a former land-fill site, ten minutes drive from Hastings City.

They're here to transform the old dump through new plantings of native trees and shrubs. Once finished, it will be opened as a public park. 

Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule is full of praise for the progress of the new breed of Council workers.

"They have fitted in particularly well, some of them have even joined the Social Club. It's a win-win for everyone," he says. "Our community is benefiting from their skills, 30 families have a guaranteed income for six months, and the recruits gain new skills while they're here. I'm sure good job offers will be coming their way."