The head of an iconic litter-fighting charity says she and her entire team have resigned over long-running frustrations with central government aired today in a scathing open letter.

Heather Saunderson, who’s served as Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s chief executive for more than a decade, has also warned that, without support, the 55-year-old group could fold within weeks.

Known for its famous “Be a Tidy Kiwi” campaign, KNZB runs a dozen community and environmental programmes, involving more than 500 local branches and thousands of volunteers.

In her letter, Saunderson said KNZB received $3 million in 2017 through the Ministry for the Environment (MfE)-funded Waste Minimisation Fund for its three-year “Do the Right Thing” project.

Following that year’s change of government, she wrote of having difficulties with ministers and ministry managers, with a cancer diagnosis in 2020 compounding her own problems.

Saunderson said KNZB still delivered on its deed of funding and after proposing a $3m, two-year extension project, it was allocated $1.3m for what she described as a comparably larger one, with the group being required to pick up part of the cost for workstreams within it.

Elsewhere in her letter - shared with officials last month but sent to news media outlets this morning - Saunderson wrote of ministry “micro-management” during the extension project and “goalposts being changed”, among numerous other specific complaints.

Saunderson said several long-standing staff members had resigned over stress from the project and that she and her team of five had now decided to step down.

Keep New Zealand Beautiful - forever a part of Kiwiana with its retro rainbow logo - could "fold" within weeks without central government support, says its just-departed chief executive. Photo / Supplied

While she’d hoped for more financial support under the new Government, that hadn’t happened.

“We were absolutely set up to fail by the former Government and have made no headway with the current Government.”

The Herald has approached KNZB’s board chair and the office of Environment Minister Penny Simmonds for comment.

In a statement, an MfE spokesperson said the ministry had received Saunderson’s letter late last month and had met with KNZB board representatives.

“We continue to have constructive conversations with the board about Keep New Zealand Beautiful’s situation.”

Former Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage said the 2017-2020 term saw a “major ramping up” in MfE’s waste policies and that, with a more active work programme, funding priorities “change”.

“Keep NZ Beautiful may not have received the ongoing funding which Ms Saunderson believes it deserves,” she said.

“I hope it can continue to work on public awareness and other initiatives to avoid litter and prevent waste reaching streets, parks, streams and oceans.”

Jamie Morton is a specialist in science and environmental reporting. He joined the Herald in 2011 and writes about everything from conservation and climate change to natural hazards and new technology.