Council sites raided
Horowhenua District Council sites have been raided by thieves three times in the past three months.
The council-owned Levin Landfill, on Hokio Beach Rd, has twice been broken into in the past two months and another council depot on the same road was burgled in June.
Work equipment was stolen, including a ute, during the latenight raids. Most items were recovered.
The first instance at the landfill was just before midnight on July 12, where burglars cut a padlock on the gate, a council spokeswoman said.
The thieves took air compressors, a generator and a ute. The ute was later found on
Hokio Beach undamaged. There was no other damage at the landfill. The equipment belonged to contractors. There was a second break-in about 5.30pm on August 4, where there was minor damage to a fence and machinery was stolen, but the machinery was recovered undamaged.
The other break-in was on June 11, where a small front-end
loader was stolen from another depot on the same road.
Police found the loader three hours later on Kingi St at Hokio Beach. It was returned to the depot the next day. The loader and the depot weren’t damaged.
The other depot is a councilowned facility leased to businesses. The loader was stolen from Downer.