KEY POINTS:
Throwing away a cigarette butt or a food wrapper in public places will soon risk a $400 spot fine in Manukau and Waitakere City.
Yesterday, Waitakere councillors voted to lift the maximum penalty from $100, effective from today, saying it would be a deterrent to offending.
Manukau City Council has given 14 days' notice that it will follow suit.
A change to the Litter Act a year ago raised to $400 the maximum fine of $100 that had served for 29 years.
Council officers no longer need to prove there was an intention to litter and councils are allowed to keep the fines.
Auckland City quickly adopted the new maximum but is now proposing a schedule of fines instead.
"We don't feel that it's very fair for small offences," said Auckland City services request manager Jackie Wilkinson.
"It's right if someone has dumped a truckload of stuff into a stream but probably not for someone who puts rubbish outside their property and leaves it there."
Instead, councillors are to consider a schedule of fines to make them more fitting to the offence.
This would mean that a $100 fine would be payable for dumping up to two supermarket bags full of rubbish, $200 for between two bags and a wheelie bin load, and $400 for more than a wheelie bin load and animal carcasses.
Ms Wilkinson said $400 fines had been issued to about 10 serious repeat offenders and they had not reoffended.
"But my staff would not issue $400 for a cigarette butt that's for sure."
North Shore City's top fine is still $100 but councillors are awaiting a staff report on the merits of adopting the updated maximum.
Manukau senior environmental analyst Patricia Facenfield said the higher fine was enough to deter anyone who would drop and stomp out a cigarette on the street, throw rubbish out of a car window or continually put rubbish on the footpath ahead of scheduled collection day.
She said there was considerable public support for the move. "Litter has shown up in surveys as one of the top issues that people feel spoils the city.
"It's so much a throwaway society. When people are stopped they say, 'Someone will come and clean it up'. They don't realise they are doing it or that they are doing anything wrong."
About 23 people had been fined for littering in Manukau in the last 18 months. Issuing of infringements have been limited to situations where an officer saw the offence being committed because it cost too much to investigate a case to demand a $100 fine.
For serious offences councils may take offenders to court where the maximum fine is $20,000.
What you'll pay
* Waitakere: $400 spot fine (up from $100) from today
* Manukau: $400 spot fine (up from $100) in two weeks
* North Shore: Still $100, councillors considering an increase
* Auckland: Sliding scale from $100 to $400
