Editorial: Time to get tough on dumpers

Household rubbish dumped outside a house in Irongate Rd. Photo/Warren Buckland

I have never been in the unfortunate position of having someone dump their rubbish outside my house, but I reckon it would be enough to drive anyone mad.

On Monday Hawke's Bay Today ran a story about a Hastings woman, Shirley Wilson, who has grown tired of people regularly dumping rubbish outside her house in a cul-de-sac - Irongate Rd West. We have been following the story since then because it has sparked fierce debate on our website (hbtoday.co.nz) and our Facebook page.

A number of people are saying that it is sheer laziness and people need to dump their rubbish in the right locations like everyone else. Others are saying that the council's transfer stations are too expensive and that is why people are doing it.

Even if some people find the transfer stations too expensive, that is no excuse to just dump your rubbish anywhere. Don't make your problem someone else's problem. The Hastings District Council website indicates that the Henderson Rd Transfer Station charges a minimum of $12 for rubbish and $8 for green waste.

This seems quite cheap when it is weighed up against a potential fine of $400.

The good thing is that the council is now taking this seriously and is looking at ways to catch the culprits. Temporary CCTV monitoring will be used and obviously the rubbish is checked to see if a name or address was accidently left there.

Some of our readers even suggested getting fingerprints off the bottles.

That may be going too far, but it does show people are really annoyed by this.

So if you see someone dumping rubbish illegally, let the council know.

A hefty fine will soon stop them.