Farmer furious at dangerous dumping
A farmer believes his cows, or a member of the public, could have been killed thanks to someone who left a gate open, having illegally dumped rubbish on his property.
Iain MacGregor, a dairy farmer from Tisbury, was infuriated that the people who dumped the domestic trash last week also did not close the gate, leading to Boundary Rd – a busy rural road.
A mattress, bags of clothes and takeaway food wrappers were some of the items dumped, as well as addressed mail from the Ministry of Justice.
MacGregor said he would have been less angry if the dumpers had shut the gate.
A member of the public might have hit a cow, resulting in a serious crash.
‘‘They [his 200 cows] could get run over . . . and I would come out to a scene. I don’t know what I’d see.’’
His property had a been a target for illegal dumpers in the past, with car parts, including car bonnets and wheels, being disposed of.
MacGregor said he had been alerted to the offending by a neighbour and had complained to police about the incident.
He had wanted to visit the person who the mail was addressed to, to ask them to remove the rubbish, but police advised him not to.
Invercargill police confirmed they were investigating.
Area prevention manager Senior Sergeant Greg Baird said ‘‘people living rurally should report all instances of crime to police, even when an immediate response isn’t required.
‘‘The best thing to do is to stay close-knit with your neighbours and work together to prevent crime.
‘‘That means taking notice of people around you, particularly people you don’t know and people exhibiting suspicious behaviour.
‘‘It’s also important to take normal precautions such as clearly tagging your animals, and securing your property. In situations where people have been coming onto your property you may even want to consider locking boundary gates and road access.’’