The illegal dumping of rubbish in the Far North generally involves someone tipping a bag or two over a bank, but some of the locals on and around Ngapipito Road, between Kaikohe and Moerewa, appear to have adopted it as a cost-saving measure on an industrial scale.
The accompanying photo was taken on a forest road near where it meets Ngapipito Road, but aggrieved residents say some of it inevitably blows out on to the public road, where it becomes an eyesore and a cost to ratepayers.
"It's amazing what you see there, all sorts of household rubbish from bottles, cardboard and glass to playpens, a washing machine, clothing, all sorts," one local ratepayer said.
"There are three really bad areas within about six kilometres. It's along most of Ngapipito Road, not only around the forest road entrances but down banks and into the waterways in some places. Whoever is responsible for this has no respect for the land, water or anything else."
Far North District Council communications manager Richard Edmondson said people had been illegally dumping rubbish along Ngapipito Road for years.
