Mounds of illegal rubbish an eyesore for Far North beach town

One of several piles of rubbish found illegally dumped throughout Whatuwhiwhi last week. This one on Inland Road. Photo/ Supplied.

Mounds of illegal rubbish have been found scattered throughout a Far North community, creating havoc for locals and the environment.

The rubbish made up of household waste, furniture and kitchenware has been strewn across several locations in Whatuwhiwhi, including directly across from a Far North District Council rubbish site on Inland Road and Ramp Road.

According to Te Whanau Moana Me Te Rorohuri Haititaimarangai Marae Kaitiaki ranger Nina Raharuhi, the illegal dumping of rubbish in the community had been a problem for years.

She said the latest series of events had brought to light the issue once again and renewed calls for action to make it stop.

"It's just a paru (filthy) eyesore which we, the community, have taken it upon ourselves to clean up because we're sick of this sh** happening," Raharuhi said.

"The people doing it have no respect for the community or the environment, especially as most of the stuff being dumped can be recycled or taken to the local dump, which isn't far."

Raharuhi said she had been working with the community to try to keep on top of the problem, but felt without adequate support from authorities, there wasn't much more anyone could do.

Household items, as well as furniture and general waste has been strewn across Whatuwhiwhi in what locals are calling a 'paru' eyesore. Photo / Supplied

She said she was also concerned about another fire starting as a result of the rubbish, which someone had decided to burn recently.

"It's one thing being on the main road which makes residents angry, but I'm also worried that some idiot will try to set the rubbish alight again, just like they did with the old rubbish crate on Inland Road provided by FNDC for yellow rubbish bags.

"That was working well until that happened and the fire ended up going through tea tree, and destroying lots of flora and fauna in the vicinity."

Raharuhi said it was largely the community banding together that was responsible for cleaning up the latest mess.

"I want to acknowledge Hikitia Hita for her swift action through her networks getting someone down there last week to help with the clean-up and Yogi Greaves, even though it wasn't his doing, who came with a trailer to take away as much as he could.

"I want to thank Haina Tamehana from DoC as well, who also took action with the clean-up and disposal."

Raharuhi said it was her wish moving forward, that local hapū, DoC and FNDC could work together to stop the problem from re-occurring.

FNDC confirmed it had received a report about an illegal rubbish dump on Ramp Road, Whatuwhiwhi, on the afternoon of Friday, December 18.

The council said initial investigations had indicated this illegal rubbish had been dumped on private land, which was outside FNDC's jurisdiction.

According to Raharuhi, however, the most recent spates of dumping occurred last week and again on the weekend of Northland Anniversary. Some on private property and others on Ramp Road/Inland Road.

FNDC (acting) Communications Manager Ken Lewis said anyone who witnessed illegal rubbish dumping should take down details that may help identify those responsible and immediately report it to the council.

"The Litter Act 1979 allows the council to issue infringement notices up to a maximum of $400 for any offence under Section 15(1) of the Act," Lewis said.

"We encourage residents and visitors to report all illegal rubbish dumping and to help protect the local environment from this nuisance.

"The cost of removing illegal rubbish is a financial burden to all ratepayers and the council shares the public's frustration."

According to FNDC, in most cases as much as 80 per cent of illegal rubbish was recyclable and could be recycled for free at council-operated refuse transfer stations and community recycling centres.

The Whatuwhiwhi Refuse Transfer station is approximately 6km north along Inland Rd and is open seven days a week from December 20 to February 14, and five days a week for the rest of the year.

Taipā Refuse Transfer station is another nearby option for residents and is open seven days a week, all year-round.

More waste, this time along Ramp Road at Whatuwhiwhi. Photos/ Supplied.

The dumping of rubbish on Public Conservation Land is illegal, and under the Conservation Act an individual can face up to two years' imprisonment or a fine up to $100,000 for contaminants.

Corporate entities can face up to a $200,000 fine, and under the Litter Act an individual can be fined up to $5,000 and a corporate up to $20,000.

Since the passing of the Conservation (Infringement Systems) Act 2018, the Department of Conservation now has the ability to issue infringement notices for minor instances of littering, with anyone found to be littering on public conservation land incurring a $300 Infringement fine.

DoC confirmed it was aware of the dumping of rubbish on public conservation lands in Whatuwhiwhi and that it was not a one-off situation.

DoC Operations Manager Kaitaia Meirene Hardy-Birch said staff had been working with the council, the Kaitiaki of Tokerau and community volunteers each year to pick up and dispose of the dumped rubbish.

She said this type of behaviour reflected a lack of community pride and care of the environment and had been an issue for some time.

"The impacts are broad-ranging environmental, health and also leads to being fuel for fires," Hardy-Birch said.

"The Inland Road fire on the Karikari Peninsula recently began where rubbish had been dumped on the side of the road.

"The effort we have to go to cleaning up and disposing of rubbish takes our team away from core conservation work and diverts our resources from protecting threatened species and improving visitor experiences."

Anyone who sees rubbish dumping or similar behaviour is urged to take down details of any vehicles or people they see involved.

Registration numbers, vehicle descriptions and photographs are very useful and information can be provided to DoC by the public via: 0800 DOC HOT (0800 362 468)