Whanganui District Council battling rise in illegal rubbish dumping

The infringement fee for illegal dumping in the Whanganui District is $400. Photo / NZME

Illegal rubbish dumping in Whanganui is increasing and has cost ratepayers almost $80,000 so far this year.

Around 51 tonnes of illegal waste has been cleaned up in 2024.

Whanganui District Council has received 471 reports regarding illegal dumping since January.

Four clean-up jobs were contracted out, including one for specialist asbestos removal and one for rubble and green waste weighing around 3.5 tonnes, according to a report from council’s waste services manager Morgan Harrison. She told the Chronicle there had been 61.6 tonnes of illegal waste from July 2022 to June 2023 and 72 tonnes from July 2023 to June 2024. The infringement fee in the Whanganui District is $400 - the maximum the council can charge under the 1979 Litter Act.

Harrison told the council’s operations and performance committee it was “a persistent issue” at rural bin sites and three - Kauarapaoa Rd, Te Hue Rd and Ngaturi (Mangamahu Rd) - were prone to high levels. “Where evidence is found, this info is passed on to the compliance team to follow up and potential infringements are made when possible.” Her report said CCTV was in place at Ngaturi and was set to be installed at the other two sites. There had been an increase in animal carcasses dumped at Ngaturi, “which poses health concerns for locals who use this service”, it said.

Council staff discovered 10 full fadge bags containing event disposables such as used coffee cups, cans and food catering containers at the same site just after Waitangi Day but could not track down the owners. The rural service costs $175,000 a year but does not include dealing with illegal dumping across the district.

“This year, illegal dumping at rural bin sites, bag drop-off sites and other locations around the district has cost $78,364,” Harrison said. “This includes staff, contractor and disposal costs.” The Whanganui Re:Sort waste transfer station on Liffiton St has a minimum charge of $78 for a car/trailer/ute/van/truckload of general waste, which rises to $375 per tonne.

A wheelie bin costs $27.50 to dump and a 60-litre rubbish bag costs $10.50. Since July 2022, council has issued 53 infringements. Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford told the Chronicle the current infringement fee was “obviously not enough” as people continued to dump illegally. “It’s a bit outrageous that people are dumping their rubbish and expecting the ratepayer to pick up the tab for cleaning it up,” he said. “That money would be better spent on infrastructure or replacing pipes or even keeping it in the ratepayers’ pocket. “We’ll do our our best. We’ve got our enforcement teams and where we can, we’ll track them down.” Harrison said the council could seek costs through the courts if the offending was serious.

“The Ministry for the Environment was working on amending the Waste Minimisation and Litter Acts, which included providing councils with better tools to effectively manage illegal dumping and looking at increasing the maximum penalty,” she said. “However, these amendments are no longer proceeding.” Large quantities of tyres were being dumped illegally, she said. So for this year, 278 have been recovered by the council. “Motor vehicle tyres from any kind of vehicle that is motorised can be disposed of for free - up to five at a time - at the Whanganui Resource Recovery Centre on Maria Place.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.