Rubbish dumping sites at Brunswick and Okioa may be moved further from Whanganui city or removed to prevent continual illegal dumping.
According to a report from Whanganui District Council waste adviser Stuart Hylton, an average of 68 per cent of the bags at the Brunswick site didn’t have a pre-paidsticker from August 30, 2022 until January 10, 2023.
And for seven out of the 16 weeks, bobcat services were required to clean up illegal rubbish and large items.
At Okoia, the average amount of sticker-less bags was 78 per cent.
A collection on January 10 revealed 93 per cent non-compliance at Brunswick and 83 per cent at Okoia.
There are three peri-urban (transitional zones between rural and urban) land bag drop-off sites but Hylton told a Whanganui Rural Community Board meeting the Kaiwhaiki Rd location was running well.
That wasn’t the case at the other two, with illegal dumping prevalent.
“What we mean by illegal dumping is bags that don’t have stickers, or things that aren’t rubbish bags - couches, fridges etc,” Hylton said.
“The cost of picking up that extra rubbish is borne by the ratepayer.”
From October 1, 2022 to January 31, 2023, removing non-complying rubbish from the peri-urban bag drop-off points and rural rubbish drop-off points cost $31,139.
On average, the annual cost is $93,418.
Hylton said council officers recommended a new approach to the two problematic peri-urban sites.
The Okoia site at Kaimatira Rd served Longacre Rd only.
“We are recommending Low Cost Bins provides an at-gate service to the majority of Longacre Rd.
“The rest of the road, the far end, will just have to get their bags to a less public place. That spot is yet to be determined but will be done in consultation with residents.”
The existing site, which was “getting contaminated, big time”, would be decommissioned, Hylton said.
He said the Brunswick site (Blueskin Rd) was more problematic.
His report said the contractor had highlighted health and safety issues for its staff on the removal of the rubbish there.
“It’s a great site, probably too good a site, and like Kaimatira, it’s a bit close to town.
“It gets a lot of townies going out there to drop off waste. The cost of waste disposal is going up as the levy at landfills goes up, so we envisage this issue won’t go away.”
The council is recommending Low Cost Bins provides an at-gate service to the majority of Longacre Rd. Photo / Bevan Conley
However, it did serve a greater number of roads than Okoia.
An alternative site - “more off the beaten track” - was recommended.
“There will be a bit of angst for a while because people will still use the old site and we’ll still have to have enforcement and surveillance, but that’s what needs to happen,” Hylton said.
His report said there was a lot of work involved in establishing a new location at Brunswick, including talking to residents about a suitable site.
There would also be potential resistance as a result of people not wanting it in their backyard.
Hylton said he didn’t know of any prosecutions as a result of illegal dumping.
“What we tend to do is infringement first - a $400 infringement fine.”
The board unanimously endorsed the establishment of an alternative service for the Kaimatira Rd bag collection site and a new site for the Brunswick bag collection site.
It also supported decommissioning sites once new services were established.
Elsewhere, Hylton’s report said the seven bin sites on Whanganui River Rd, servicing 107 residences, cost $50,000 per year - approximately $500 per household.
That was paid for by the ratepayer as a general rate, not a targeted rate.
Council staff have met with Tamaupoko leaders on a number of occasions to discuss the issue of the bins and their visual appearance.
Koroniti is the only site that is off the road.
“Tamaupoko leaders have expressed a desire to relook at these sites on the river road to make them more pleasant to the community and road users.
“With this contract currently out for tender, this will result in new bins on the road and a good opportunity to discuss site improvements for the bins.”
Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.
