Recycling area becomes an illegal dump
After months of picking up other people’s rubbish, St Andrews people have had enough.
Their recycling centre, located in the town’s centre on Bluecliff’s Rd, is being used as an illegal dumping area, along with a nearby beach.
Rubbish bags were strewn around the centre over the weekend.
St Andrews and District Residents and Ratepayers Association secretary Bern Sommerfeld said the recycling centre had been used as a rubbish dump at least once a month for more than a year.
It was likely to only be ‘‘one or two bad eggs, who flaunt the system’’, Sommerfeld said.
Several St Andrews people, including Sommerfeld, had picked up the rubbish and sorted it into the different wheelie bins for two hours on the weekend. The dumpers had scraped the labels off a number of pill bottles so they could ‘‘beat detection’’.
One person briefly took the matters into the own hands on Monday, putting an unofficial closed sign outside the centre.
Waimate District Council asset group manager Dan Mitchell said the council had not recorded any complaints about the specific rubbish dumping incident, but it had been made aware of some illegal dumping before Christmas and after New Year’s Day.
‘‘In both cases, the local residents assisted by cleaning up the detritus, but are clearly keen to explore options than may alleviate or mitigate the issue,’’ Mitchell said.
Some council staff would meet at the centre with residents on Thursday to discuss options.
About 12 incidents of illegal dumping had been recorded in the Waimate district during the past 12 months. Environment Canterbury cleared rubbish from riverbeds and NZTA maintained the State HIghway corridor, which meant the numbers did not necessarily represent the full extent of the problem, he said.
Suspected ratepayers had been written to in the past, but it was often difficult to prove they did it, he said.
Councillor Tom O’Connor said the cost of rubbish dumping was often used as an excuse for illegal dumping
‘‘Most of this last lot we fitted into several of our local residents’ wheelie bins and what was left I took to the Timaru landfill for ten dollars,’’ O’Connor said.
‘‘I think some people are simply too lazy to be bothered.’’
The last lot of rubbish had been traced back to a name and address outside of the town and the matter had been handed over to the authorities to follow up, he said. He had also had to pick up two lots of industrial from the beach near the town during the past year.