Pictures posted to social media show a pile of household rubbish and bottles dumped into the creek between Georges Drive and Douglas McLean Ave. Photo / Supplied
Pictures posted to social media show a pile of household rubbish and bottles dumped into the creek between Georges Drive and Douglas McLean Ave. Photo / Supplied
One of Napier's well-known urban waterways is a favourite spot of local fly-tippers.
Pictures posted to social media show a pile of household rubbish and bottles dumped into the creek between Georges Drive and Douglas McLean Ave overnight and found on Wednesday morning.
A Napier resident who did not wish to be named said fly-tipping has been an ongoing and prolific issue in the area for a very long time, but this was the worst they had seen.
He said it happens every few weeks, sometimes more frequently, and he believes he knows who the same few culprits that are doing most of the dumping are.
"They are constantly dumping stuff like broken chairs or just last week there were car tyres. One time I did ring the council, somebody had stuffed a whole couch in the creek straight opposite Barker Rd.
"Even the Mob house that puts out 40 dozen empty beer bottles every week can put their bins out on the sidewalk for collection."
A Napier resident, who did not wish to be named, says fly-tipping has been an ongoing and prolific issue in the area for a very long time, but this is the worst they have seen. Photo / Supplied
He said it had gotten to the point previously where he and another neighbour had dealt with piled up trash themselves.
"The council has given us all, through our rates, a wheelie bin. Every week it gets picked up. How hard is it to put some stuff in it?"
He said even more surprising was the fact that even a council recycling bin was among the pile of rubbish.
"Maybe half of the rubbish was cardboard, plastic bottles and glass bottles, along with household stuff like children's soft toys, but half of it could go in the council recycling bins and one of those was in amongst the rubbish.
"What have we done as a society that we've got a whole lot of people that have no respect for their surroundings?"
A Napier City Council spokeswoman confirmed the pile of rubbish had been cleaned up on Wednesday.
"It took three people to collect the rubbish, half of which was in the creek.
"This is the first sizeable amount to have been left at this site, usually there is the odd rubbish bag, chair or discarded bike parts.
"There was also a large trailer load of rubbish dumped on the side of Puketitiri Rd.
"Evidence of addresses were found at both sites, and the waste minimisation and compliance teams have been given this information to follow up."
