Generous donation helps clear illegal Hawke's Bay rubbish dump

Contractor Matt Dodge cleans up the area where rubbish was illegally dumped near Te Aranga Marae, Flaxmere, Hastings. Photo / Warren Buckland

The Dodges don't mind tackling community issues head-on.

Dodge Contracting donated $2000 worth of time and equipment to remove the remainder of an illegal rubbish dump plaguing Flaxmere residents.

Landowners Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga had cleaned up two skip bins of the massive dump on Wednesday.

Dodge Contracting father/son team Tim and Matt Dodge felt they should help after seeing pictures of the dump in the Hawke's Bay Today.

"It just got to me," Tim Dodge said, speaking of the mess.

"I just, I don't mind doing things for the community," Dodge said.

Marae member Pam O'Keefe was ecstatic to see the end of the dump.

"I'm jumping for joy," O'Keefe said.

Dodge said hopefully people would not dump rubbish there now the pile had been removed.

O'Keefe asked people to think about those who spent time cleaning up the pile before dumping there again.

"Please respect the people who took the time to clean it up," O'Keefe said.

A spokesperson for TTOH said they would be checking the location daily and taking any remedial action required to keep it tidy.

TTOH is planning to build a co-housing development on the land.