Illegal dumping continues unabated in Whangarei

The Whangarei District Council suspects this pile of household items that contained couches, mattress, TV sets and clothes was dumped on Saleyards Rd at night. Photo / Nick Unkovich.

Two bins full of household furniture dumped on a roadside has prompted a fresh call by the Whangarei District Council for fly-tipping to stop.

Council contractors cleaned up the dump at the entrance to the Kauri Saleyards earlier this month but could find no evidence that identified the offenders.

The pile contained couches, mattresses, TV sets and clothing.

Field officer Grant Alsop said it was not known when the items were dumped but he suspected it was done at night when the chances of getting caught were slim.

After that clean up, Mr Alsop went to Beach Rd in Onerahi on Tuesday after resident Hori Parata complained about a rubbish dump in an area where beautification work is being carried out.

Mr Alsop said the improvement work had exposed the old rubbish dump with a rusted car chassis and glass bottles. That rubbish would be scraped up by council contractors and loaded on to a truck.

He said the work would be carried out next week when fine weather was predicted.

"It all comes down to people being lazy. Occasionally there are items like washing machines, metal objects and plastic bottles that can be dumped at our dump free of charge.''

The council cleaned up between 50 and 60 piles of rubbish each month at a cost of about $8000.

WDC has issued 281 litter infringements since January 2010.

Mr Alsop urged the public to report any fly-tipping sites. Anyone who witnessed illegal dumping should take down a number plate but not confront the dumpers, he said.

In December last year, WDC spent about $5000 cleaning up a huge pile of trash in native bush on Russell Rd near Helena Bay.

The site contained old toilets, recyclables, offal, household rubbish and furniture strewn about 50m down and 100m along a roadside bank hidden to passersby.

Illegal dumpers could face on-the-stop fines of up to $1000, or could be prosecuted and fined up to $20,000.