Council is frustrated with all the fly dumping happening at Whakamahia Beach and other areas around the district; and is calling on the community to report any illegal dumping.

 Engineering manager Jamie Cox said it was beyond a joke sometimes.

 “We're asking our community to be our eyes and ears and report any suspicious behaviour through to council or the police,” he said.

 "It costs council in excess of $20,000 a year to clean up illegally dumped rubbish.

 “Fly tipping or fly dumping is the illegal and deliberate dumping of rubbish on public property. It’s an offence that can carry fines of up to $1500.

 "If you do see people fly tipping, please make a note of the vehicle type, colour and registration and a description of the person fly tipping. Report the incident to us even if you were not able to take these details.

 “Using your smart phones to take photos of this type of behaviour will help us when we seek to prosecute people breaking the law by fly tipping.”

 “Fly dumping is a very expensive method of dumping rubbish and we actually operate one of the cheapest landfills in the country, with it costing $3.70 to deposit 20 kg of rubbish.

 “Some of the illegally dumped rubbish is also recyclable material like plastic and glass bottles. We operate a free recycling drop-off, so there should be no need to see this stuff around the district.” 

31 October 2018

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