Some of the concrete piles dumped on the grounds of Waingakau Village. Photo / Supplied.
The Flaxmere community is reeling after 27 truckloads of concrete, bricks, soil and rubbish were dumped on the grounds of a new housing development outside the entrance of Te Aranga Marae.
Waingākau Village is a co-housing development on 15.5ha semi-rural land in Kingsley Chatham, western Flaxmere.
Construction began on June 14 and aims to provide affordable and high quality homes.
Waingākau Village project manager Emma Horgan said she was "shocked" at the dumping.
Witnesses told her that the concrete and rubbish was dumped in the past three to four days.
"But because there is construction work going on at the site people didn't realise that it wasn't part of the site."
Te Aranga Marae spokesman and Flaxmere Ward councillor Henare O'Keefe said it was "obscene, disrespectful and disheartening".
"We will find the culprit. How dare they?
"Here we are building these magnificent homes for the community and they have stamped on the mana of what the Waingākau Village is about."
He said it brassed him off that people could be so disrespectful.
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"The homes at the village are almost completed and the whole community has been looking forward to it. Now this has happened.
"It has taken us 30-plus years to get the project off the ground and these people just don't appreciate it."
The concrete was dumped at the main entrance of the marae as well and O'Keefe said it's a unpleasant, disheartening sight.
"It is the main arterial route into the marae. The marae is very popular and to be greeted with that is not a pleasant sight."
Horgan said she could tell 27 truckloads had been dumped, because there were 27 piles of rubbish.
She said she would make a complaint to police in the next few days, but would re-consider it if the perpetrator cleaned up the development site.
"They have an opportunity to come down, clean it up and we will not take any further action."
She said the next steps were to get a quote for the clean-up and making the site more secure to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Father-of-three "cut his teeth in the shearing industry" and had achieved home ownership.
