FLY-TIP FURY
$20k bill for cleanup of illegal dumping.
About 30 cubic metres of rubbish has been removed from pristine bush north of Whanga¯rei at a cost of around $20,000 to ratepayers. The illegal dump, known as a flytip, down the bank part way along the gravel section of Puhipuhi
Rd was cleaned up yesterday.
For Whanga¯rei District Council waste and drainage field officer Grant Alsop, it’s the latest in a string of costly, frustrating cleanups of fly-tips in Whanga¯rei.
“It’s disheartening for council to be having to clean up this mess.”
Alsop said the clean-up would cost around $20,000.
He said landfills were designed to contain by-products to stop them infiltrating the surrounding environments, but illegal dumps didn’t have that.
“We wish if people are having problems disposing of waste that they come and talk to us rather than polluting native bush.”
In this case he said a lot of the material was recyclable and wouldn’t have incurred a charge to get rid of.
“A lot of it is just laziness as far as offenders are concerned.”
The rubbish was largely household rubbish: cans and plastic, as well as large items including a freezer, a stove and a van.
Alsop said the rubbish was strewn across around 100sq m.
A crew of seven contractors worked up to 40 metres below the road loading rubbish by hand into a 3cu m skip bin.
The bin was lifted up by a 100-tonne crane and emptied into a huka bin on the road.
Alsop said the rubbish appeared to have been at the site for years.
He said the council dealt with about 80 such jobs a month, varying from a rubbish bag or piece of furniture dumped on the side of the road to large sites.
“We need to look after the district for the next generation.”
Alsop said the rubbish hauled up from the side of Puhipuhi Rd would be looked through to find any names.
“Anyone we identify will be sent the maximum infringement notice of $400.”
A bill to amend to the Litter Act to increase the maximum fine for an infringement from $400 to $1000 has passed its first reading in Parliament and been referred to the Environment Select Committee.
If passed, Alsop hoped it would help with the problem and make people think twice about doing it.
The Puhipuhi Rd site was first discovered around the middle of last year, but inclement weather and the need to carry out work on the road to allow a crane big enough to be able to reach the rubbish at the bottom to get through, delayed the clean-up.
An arborist was also required to clear some trees to make access easier.
Ratepayers have forked out more than $300,000 over the past two financial years to clean up fly-tips in the district.
In the 2017/18 financial year, the council spent $123,072 cleaning up fly-tips, and about $200,000 the year before.
Yesterday’s estimated $20,000 clean-up isn’t reflected in those figures as it falls in the new financial year.
“It’s money just wasted; it could be spent elsewhere,” Alsop said.
In July last year, a site with around 45cu m was cleaned up in Parakao. Two sites a kilometre apart were found on Kaiikanui Rd, near Mimiwhangata in September and December last year. All three also needed cranes to clean up the rubbish from down steep banks.