Tararua District concern over illegal rubbish dumping

Roadside rubbish like this found in Hawke's Bay is a real problem in Tararua District. Photo/Warren Buckland

Those who are caught dumping rubbish on public sites around the Tararua District could find themselves charged with not only an infringement but also the cost of clean-up.

At the July meeting of Tararua District Council, regulatory services manager Jim Single tabled a report which noted there were 114 incidents of illicit dumping reported for the 2023/24 financial year.

While that was down on the previous year, it was still considered relatively high compared to previous years.

In one incident, several items, including a sofa and beer bottles, were dumped over the side of the bridge.

“It was very difficult to clean up,” Single said.

“It’s a significant cost to the ratepayers to clean up so we are trying to capture costs to cover that.”

Under the litter policy, the council staff would carefully go through the rubbish to see if they could identify who had dumped the items.

An infringement notice would be issued and an invoice would be sent for clean-up costs.

“If there’s some miraculous reason as to why their name has mysteriously appeared in the rubbish and it wasn’t them, they’re free to come in and have a chat about that,” Single said.

He said the council would issue probably about two infringements each month.

However, if there was a significant amount of dumping, the council could seek prosecution which could lead to a fine of possibly up to $20,000.

Single said the council was looking into using cameras at known dump sites in the hope of being able to capture footage of people dumping, or identifying a vehicle registration number.

There were a number of sites including Poplar Reserve, Halls Rd, and Marima Reserve in Pahīatua and Ballance Road in Woodville.

Councillor Alison Franklin said she was concerned about the statistics for the southern rural area.

She had been working with New Zealand Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi over dumping at the Polish Memorial site on State Highway 2, and there were also incidents at a lay-by just north of Woodville.

“There’s got to be some way of deterring it.”

Vehicles left abandoned are also an issue.

Single said abandoned vehicles was also a problem, with 97 reported for the 2023/24 financial year.

In June, there were two vehicle fires, both within minutes of each other, near Pahīatua.

Mayor Tracey Collis said illegal rubbish dumping was a growing concern in the Tararua District.

“It not only burdens our ratepayers with unnecessary costs but also diverts valuable time and resources from our staff.”

She said the environmental impact was also significant as it could harm local ecosystems, including soils, waterways and wildlife.

“Seeing rubbish around really spoils the beauty of our district that we all cherish.

“We understand the financial strain on members of our community; however, it is not acceptable the costs of illegal rubbish dumping are passed onto other ratepayers.”

Collis urged everyone to dispose of their waste responsibly and recycle and reuse where possible.

“Unfortunately our district is not doing very well in recycling,” she said.

Poor recycling was also placing the burden on other ratepayers with a recent waste audit showing that 49.9% of waste could have been recycled, reused or recovered.

Clean-up of rubbish and towing of abandoned vehicles was a significant cost for the council and to ratepayers.

For the 2023/23 financial year, there were 114 illegal rubbish dumping incidents, costing $19,000 and 97 abandoned vehicles were towed, costing approximately $48,500.

Council asked if anyone observed any such incidents to call police at 105, or to report vandalised public facilities or rubbish dumping to use the Antenno App or call council.

Information on rubbish disposal and recycling in the district can be found on the council website: Rubbish & Recycling | Tararua District Council (tararuadc.govt.nz)