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Bottles of Heineken, Steinlager, and Canadian Club 1858 whiskey (37 per cent alcohol) dumped on one side of the road.
Cans of Vodka Cruiser, KGB, Jim Beam, New Zealand Lager, Tui (7.2 per cent alcohol) dumped on the other side of the road. Plus a whole palm tree chopped into pieces, 21 black binliners stuffed with garden waste, a large can of furniture oil, Chicken McSpicy cartons, Li Qun cigarettes … Elevation St in Flat Bush is Auckland's million-dollar dump, a de facto rubbish tip that may be the worst of any street in the metropolis.
Elevation St in Flat Bush, apparently, it's the most littered street in Auckland. Photo / Dean Purcell
"This is not right," said Ravina Prasad. She is the earliest pioneer of Elevation St, the first householder – when she moved into her seven-bedroom home in August, hers was the only family in the street, until January. Their seven-bedroom home cost $1.8 million.
"To pay the amount we did, and then this – it's really upsetting. You want to live in an area to be proud of. We're immigrants. We work hard. But these people, they come in the middle of the night while you are sleeping, to dump their rubbish. It's a shame."
Elevation St in Flat Bush is Auckland's million-dollar dump, a de facto rubbish tip that may be the worst of any street in the metropolis.
Illegal dumping in Elevation Street in Flat Bush has taken over the million dollar neighbourhood. Photo / Dean Purcell
Elevation St is not the new vision of Auckland as a zone of high-density, affordable tiny boxes. Elevation St is the new vision of Auckland as a zone of high-density, unaffordable mansions.
Up high above the plains of Flat Bush, with excellent views of Mt Wellington and, beyond that, Rangitoto Island, it's a street in progress, builders still hard at work, and every empty section is scattered with rubbish. Pukekos pick through it and take whatever disgusting rewards back to their nests in a gully that drops down off Elevation St, and is also filled with rubbish.
Mattresses, armchairs, deck chairs, packing cases, straws, egg cartons … Among the chaos is splendour. The front doorways of the two and three-level homes, many with two-three bedroom granny flats, are decorated with peacocks and elephants, and glassy chandeliers hang from high ceilings. "Wow," said Shafia Shah, who had driven up to Elevation St on Monday morning with a couple of friends to park up, eat McDonald's, and ogle at the new homes.
Too many people are dumping rubbish in Elevation St in Flat Bush. Photo / Dean Purcell
"I just like to look at how big they are," she said. Asked what she thought of the foul mounds of rubbish, she said, "Ugh. I hate it."
About four families are now living on Elevation St. At the other end of Ravina Prasad's home is a nine-bedroom house owned by Minosh Prasad. He didn't know the other Prasads. He moved into his home in February.
The rubbish was bad, he said, but he had a bigger problem with random people parking up late at night to drink and play very loud music in their cars. He's called noise control three times. "Not good," he said.
Ravina Prasad has also called the council, many times, about the illegal dumping, and has provided officers with registration numbers of offenders' vehicles.
Auckland Council general manager of waste solutions Parul Sood confirmed council was "keenly aware" of the situation.
She said, "While a very small number of people take advantage of relatively isolated areas with few residents, they need to be aware Auckland Council does investigate and track down those responsible and we have identified and fined several offenders in the Flatbush area."
She said council has increased site checks, and "periodically" have cameras in the area.
Beer bottles scattered across the ground at Elevation St, Flat Bush are not unusual. Photo / Dean Purcell
But the dumping continues, more than periodically. "They bring all sorts of rubbish," said Ravina Prasad. "Rocks, shrubs, pallets, old mattresses, you name it. And it stinks as well."
A pukeko screamed, and flapped into the tops of a tree with something in its mouth.
It started with a group of eight men wanting to set up a club, now 100 years later the Rotorua Club has more than 400 members and is still going strong.
