What was once a major dark blot on the Pandora landscape is now nothing more than a few dark smears as old used tyres continue to be removed by the truckload.
"It's progressing well," Land Information New Zealand's property manager Bill Naik said.
"All the tyres are expected to be removed from
the site by the end of the calender year."
The removal of the tyres has led to collective sighs of relief from Napier City Council officers and emergency services. Apart from being an eyesore the thousands of tyres had posed a major fire threat.
Mr Naik said a contract had been awarded to Waikato-based firm Waste Tyre Solutions to remove the pile which had been built up on Crown land, administered by LINZ, at Pandora.
The tyres had been gathered as part of a private export business which had failed as the recession bit.
Mr Naik said the cost of removing the estimated 200,000 tyres was between $1 million and $1.25 million. It was being funded from LINZ's existing budget and the first truckloads were taken away last December.
He said where possible the tyres were being reused in a number of ways - from building retaining walls, racetrack safety barriers and farm silage containment walls. Some tyres had also been removed and placed in approved, safe storage for later recycling.
Mr Naik said when the last of the tyres had been removed LINZ would then "consider the options" on what to do with the vacant land.
