Northland local discovers another dump in native bush

Bill Taylor says discovering this huge illegal dumping ground in native bush near Helena Bay was "really upsetting". Photo / Michael Cunningham

The extent of Northland's illegal dumping issue is "coming out of the woodwork", with the discovery of another huge pile of trash in native bush.

The Russell Rd site - about 3km up the road from Helena Bay - was discovered last week by Whangarei's Bill Taylor, who owns a bach in the area.

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

Whangarei District Council contractors will clean up the dumping ground this week. The council advised that contact from the Advocate yesterday was the first it knew of the site, but field officer Grant Alsop immediately headed out to do an assessment.

"I just about threw up," he said of the dump's smell when he arrived yesterday afternoon.

He put the cost of the job at about $5000, and WDC spent upwards of $80,000 a year cleaning up after fly-tippers. Contractors would also search the rubbish for any evidence that could identify those responsible.

"It's really disappointing," Mr Alsop said. "There's rubbish and scrap metal there that could have been recycled for free."

This was similar to the situation at Ngaiotonga Scenic Reserve, where Far North District Council clean-up crews were working to get rid of another illegal dump, about 28km north but on the same road.

They estimated up to 80 per cent of the material could have been recycled free.

So far FNDC had spent $14,000 winching 36 cu m of rubbish from the steep roadside site at Ngaiotonga, but technical officer Allen Cammell said there was "still significant work to do".

"It's an issue that's certainly coming out of the woodwork," Mr Cammell said. "Several years ago it was less of a concern to people. Now we've got six sites [in the Far North] we're trying to deal with."

Back at Helena Bay, rubbish sacks, old computers and beer bottles hug the base of kauri trees.

"It's heartbreaking," Mr Taylor said as he surveyed the scene yesterday.

"All the wash-off from this dump goes down into what we call the Helena Bay catchment... Right into the ocean."

Mr Taylor discovered the full extent of the dump last week but said he complained to council about people dumping rubbish there some seven years ago.

At that time he did not investigate the site so did not realise the scale of the problem.

"Then the other day I was passing and saw a car nosed in here with the boot up, I slowed right down and the guy was trying to hide," he said.

"So next time [I passed] I stopped and had a look. I couldn't believe what I saw, it was just too much to believe."

Mr Taylor said it appeared much of the rubbish had been there "for years".

"There's rubbish of every nature you can think of and a lot of it will be covered by leaves."

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

Meanwhile, Mr Cammell said he was organising a meeting between the four Northland councils and other agencies in the New Year to try to get a handle on the illegal dumping issue.