Flytipping headache
The hunt for illegal dumpers is on as the Manawatu District Council cracks down on flytipping.
More than 140 reports of wrongful dumping have been recorded this year, coming at a cost of $52,000 to ratepayers every year.
Investigations have led to the council handing out several infringement notices in recent weeks with one illegal dumper facing prosecution.
Senior compliance and enforcement officer Paul Greig said everything from mattresses to car parts were left cluttering Manawatu’s reserves, rivers and streets.
Many of the items are dumped close to waterways and toxic to the environment. Recovery teams have also found oil containers and disposable nappies near rivers. It wouldn’t take much for these areas to flood and have that waste transported 20 kilometres downstream, he said.
‘‘It is quite an extensive issue. It’s ranging from someone leaving a rubbish bag near their neighbour to finding trailer loads left in a reserve.’’
Rangitikei faced similar issues last month with collection teams removing truckloads of rubbish, ranging from car tyres to decomposing animal carcasses.
Rangitikei parks and reserves team leader Athol Sanson told the Feilding-Rangitikei Herald at the time the Bull’s bridge on State Highway 3 was the worst-affected area. A weekly inorganic litter collection was established in response.
The issue seems to have spread across council borders with bridges also the hottest spots in Manawatu.
The majority of rubbish had been collected from bridges and reserves in Pohangina, the worstaffected area.
People often dumped in remote locations at night when there was low visibility and traffic volumes, Greig said.
It disheartened him to know the district’s residents were polluting their own backyard. ‘‘It’s a little bit of a cost thing, but when I look at the vast majority of it, it can be recycled for free. What it seems to be is general laziness. People let it pile up around their house into a stinking heap and then it costs when you’ve got to take trailer loads.’’
He urged residents to use recycling stations and blue rubbish bags. Most houses would only require one or two bags per week at a relatively low cost of $1.60.