Wairoa District Council Engineering Manager, Jamie Cox is getting frustrated with all the fly dumping happening and is calling on the community to keep an eye out for illegal dumping.

"It's a bit beyond a joke sometimes. We've just cleaned up 120 kilograms of refuse, from beneath Pilot's Hill. The people even decided to drive right through the guard rails up there so that they could dump their rubbish. It was pretty bad and I think it's time to be more vigilant about fly dumping in our district."

"Basically, we're just spending ratepayers' money to clean it up and it's harmful to our environment, and spoils the look of our district which is not good for anyone. We're asking our community to be our eyes and ears and report any suspicious behaviour through to council or the police."

Fly tipping or fly dumping is the illegal and deliberate dumping of rubbish on public property and is an offence and can carry fines of up to $1,500.

"Most people are law-abiding, what we are dealing with is a small minority that just don't care."

"It costs council $20,000 per year to clean up illegally dumped rubbish."

"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," says Mr Cox.

QRS Landfill Manager, Luke Knight says that some people have suggested that fly tipping is happening across the district because prices have increased at the Wairoa landfill, but he disagrees and says that people will always fly tip because they just don’t care about the impact their actions are having on the environment.

“The prices at the Wairoa landfill haven’t changed, only the minimum weight. The majority of fly tipping has been over 20kg, so this would have been the same price anyway.”

“The dumping at the end of Pilot Hill would have only cost $22.20 to dump it legally at the landfill. This is the same as before.”

"We also operate one of the cheapest landfills in the country, with the next nearest sites minimum charges ranging from $8.50 to $18.00."

“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. People can drop off recyclable material for free at the recycling centre.”

“I just think it would be easier to bring your rubbish and recycling to the landfill. Saves you all the grief of getting caught illegally fly dumping and facing huge fines,” says Mr Knight.

-Ends-

For more information:

Jamie Cox
Engineering Manager
Wairoa District Council
(06) 838 7309

Kitea Tipuna
Communications Strategist
Wairoa District Council
(06) 838 7309

31 October 2018

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