"We don't try and go into these sort of sites in inclement weather."
He said it was a typical spot - an isolated area with a place to pull off the road.
Mr Alsop said the cleanup would happen this Friday. The road would be closed and a 30 tonne crane brought in to lower a skip bin from the road down to the rubbish site for contractors to load up.
He said it was disheartening to see native bush being polluted.
"Why? You're standing here looking at native bush and just throwing stuff into it."
He said if people were having problems with dumping fees, he wished they would contact the council and something could possibly be worked out.
Mr Alsop said the rubbish bags would be looked through to see if any offenders could be identified. Offenders face a $400 fine.
The dump is estimated to be 12cu m in size. Some items are rusted and the bush has overgrown it, indicating it has been there for years.
Other items appeared to be newer.
He said he would look into putting a bund, a type of retaining wall, to stop people from being able to pull over at the rural site.
After this one has been cleaned up, another illegal dump site on Puhipuhi Rd, which was discovered in July, is next on the agenda and will also need a crane.
Mr Alsop wanted to encourage the public to be the council's 'eyes and ears'.
"We need the public to help us minimise this occurrence."
Cleaning up illegal dump sites in the district cost the council $200,000 in the last financial year.
Last month, a large site was found on Ruapekapeka Rd, south of Kawakawa. It was estimated to be "easily" 100cu m.
In July, a site was found in Parakao, near the Whangarei and Kaipara border, which also needed a crane.
In 2016 the Far North District Council spent $14,000 cleaning up a 200m-long dump site in steep bush beside Ngaiotonga Rd, about 20km from Russell.
