Illegal rubbish dumping rises at same time as summer temperatures

Rubbish dumped on Eriksen Rd in Napier. Photo / Paul Taylor

Rubbish has been dumped down Eriksen Rd in Napier, with councillors and the depot saying spring and summer is a particularly bad time for the illegal practice.

Napier City Councillor Api Tapine said the issue gets worse over spring and summer.

"The reason why we see an increase in the warmer months is that it is easier to take that rubbish somewhere and dump it.

"You don't have to traverse across wet paddocks and fields and empty sections."

He said spending time outside over summer is another reason the problem might increase.

This rubbish will be checked to see if it identifies the culprits who dumped it illegally.

"You're sitting outside having a cup of coffee or a beverage and all you can see is the rubbish in your backyard."

The problem of rubbish dumping, also known as fly-tipping, is a particular problem in the communities which Tapine represents, such as Te Awa and Maraenui, but he said a lot of the time it is not residents from those communities creating the issue.

Instead, people come into the community from other areas.

"There's low population density, poor lighting at night, all that sort of stuff combines to the perfect storm for dumping rubbish and fly tipping."

He said while there were some people who simply do not want take rubbish to the tip, there were also questions to ask around accessibility and cost.

"Fly-tipping is an indicator of a problem, and we could pick up the rubbish but we would only be picking up the rubbish and not dealing with the challenge."

Manager environmental solutions at Napier City Council Cameron Burton said, like other councils across the country, NCC spend thousands of dollars picking up illegally dumped rubbish.

"This is often picked up as part of NCC's usual litter runs, & we rely on our in-field staff and the public to tell us about other rubbish left around the city in the places which may not be on those routes.

"There are particular hot spots for dumping where we carry out additional patrols and where rubbish is found that has evidence in it or where members of the public can give details of the event sufficient to carry out enforcement action, we will do so."

He said they often find dumped rubbish which could be useful if donated to charity or given to friends and family.

As well as this council can collect 120 litres per household from the kerbside each week, as well as the Redclyffe Transfer Station being available for people to appropriately dispose of their rubbish.

"Unfortunately, some people take short-cuts or make poor decisions which collectively, all ratepayers end up paying for."

He said anyone who sees illegal dumping or fly-tipping to contact council with as many details about time, location, and descriptions of vehicles and people as possible.

"We will involve the police or track through any of our CCTV cameras to track down those that abuse our roading reserves, parks, gardens, waterways and sports grounds by dumping things that should be disposed of properly."

The City Services team at NCC confirmed they were made aware of the rubbish on Eriksen Rd on Friday morning and it was due to be removed later that morning.

"Unfortunately all of Napier's outer suburbs seem to attract illegal dumping at this time of year."